It’s tense, scary, and funny – sometimes all within a few minutes of each other. In fact, Firewatch’s script, unlike most video games, would also make a fantastic novella that’s every bit as gripping as the game is. The writing here is simply head and shoulders above nearly every other game I’ve ever played.
Things get darker – in a figurative as well as a sometimes literal sense – when the teens go missing, and you and Delilah try to piece together the puzzle of their whereabouts while making your own critical (sometimes difficult) decisions. She’s got something to say about almost everything, whether you need advice on how to handle a given situation or you’re just reporting your progress on a task she’s given you, and she’s so engaging that I found myself eager to call about every little thing I came across. It’s a pair of firework-launching teenage girls that set Firewatch’s story in motion, and you can choose to talk to Delilah at almost any time by bringing up your two-way radio. He is fully capable of matching wits with Delilah, who uses humor as a shield for the personal life she doesn’t like discussing as they get to know each other over the course of the summer. Henry – or Hank, as she sometimes defiantly calls him – comes across as a good man at heart, but a flawed one – a man not sure about whether or not to go back to the life he left behind in Boulder, Colorado. “Right from the jump, their relationship feels real, despite the fact that they’re communicating entirely via radio, with no faces on screen to lend emotional cues. Her emotional armor is thick, and she shows the cracks in her personality we’re allowed to see as we play without resorting to being overdramatic. Henry’s boss – and primary point of human contact for the entire summer – is Delilah. Rookie lookout Henry is given a playful vulnerability you can choose to play him serious or funny, and the performance is up to the task either way. Firewatch sounds as good as it looks, thanks to a world-class script acted to perfection by its two leads. In fact, only the strange absence of almost any wildlife whatsoever betrays the convincing setting.
It is a testament to both Moss and Firewatch’s level designers that, even despite the stylized look, the Two Forks Woods sticks in my mind like a real place: the narrow passage through Thunder Canyon, the serene calm of Jonesy Lake, the comically small size of Pork Pond, and the unexplained mystery of the Medicine Wheel. That allows bold reds, yellows, and oranges to color this fictional Wyoming forest’s beautifully painted scenery (a contribution by renowned illustrator Olly Moss) – all in a comfortable and immersive first-person perspective.
The story takes place over the course of an entire summer, with different “days” – which are treated as chapters of the story – playing out at different hours of the day and night. “Once you arrive there, Firewatch’s powerful ambiance takes hold.
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