CHENNAI: Over the last few years, there’s been a spate of games with some common trends — they feature exploration of some sort (usually first-person), there’s not a lot of traditional ‘gameplay mechanics’ (some puzzles to solve and choices to make), and they all rely on delivering an atmospheric experience that seeks to immerse players in their unique worlds. Today, we’ll be talking about my personal favourite from that sub-genre — Firewatch.
In Firewatch, you play as Henry — Henry’s volunteered to spend the summer of 1989 as a fire lookout in Shoshone National Park, and his only source of human interaction is the voice of Delilah, his supervisor, over his walkie-talkie. From such humble beginnings, Firewatch manages to somehow tell an impactful story that’s more than the sum of its parts. This is no epic story of redemption and catharsis — but it is a deeply intimate and flawed story of flawed people, and it manages to be all the more meaningful for that very reason.
It helps that Firewatch looks absolutely gorgeous. It’s not going to strain your graphics card or anything, but its brand of understated loveliness never got old. The game’s depiction of Shoshone National Park is inarguably the real hero here, managing to both convey the wonders of nature as well as the loneliness of a fire lookout tower. At times in the story, the park seems so wide and open and welcoming; at others, it seems claustrophobic and menacing and terrifying. But it never ever stops being a place that’s a sheer joy to explore.
As I mentioned earlier, there have been a number of games like Firewatch in recent years, and no trend can be acknowledged as such without it receiving over-the-top criticism. Derided as ‘walking simulators’ or ‘not real games’, they’ve received their fair share of flak; and I can see where some of that is coming from, but I also think they’re missing the point.
When a game about being a fire lookout can connect with you and resonate with you more than a AAA game with millions of dollars behind it, then who’s to say which is more real? I greatly enjoyed my time with Firewatch, and I still remember particular moments; which is more than I can say of Modern Warfare III, for example. This is a beautiful experience, put it that way, and it isn’t for everyone — but if you think you might like it, it’s well worth spending a few hours with Henry and Delilah.
If you’d like to:
Arjun Sukumaran
Twitterhttp://goo.gl/uNBWN3
(Arjun is a gamer, book lover and an all-round renaissance man)