I’m late to the party, I know. Firewatch was released in 2016 and was developed by Campo Santo. I wish I picked this game up earlier. This first-person mystery adventure game is a wonderful experience. The compelling story is complimented by the interesting gameplay and amazing visuals.

STORY

As you know, I don’t like to spoil the game’s story so I’ll try to contain myself. The story for Firewatch was one of the best written game stories I have ever seen. The first ten minutes of the game puts you straight into the shoes of Henry, the character you play as. Basically, Henry’s wife is suffering from early onset alzheimer’s and he wants to escape his problems by becoming a fire lookout in Wyoming for a summer, where he is stuck in the middle of a few mysterious events.

GAMEPLAY

A lot of walking and talking, in a good way. As a lookout, you aren’t alone. So, you go through this game chatting with the other lookout with a walkie talkie. The dialogue is set up with choices, so each conversation is sort of controlled by you. The more you talk, the more you learn about the story.

VISUALS

This game shows that graphics don’t have to be realistic to be beautiful. The visuals were so unique and that’s what made me love them so much. Once you finish the game you unlock a free roam of the map and I could probably spend hours in it just looking at the visuals.

Firewatch blew me away with the captivating story, immersive gameplay, and uniquely beautiful visuals.It definitely deserves the first 5 out of 5 Hammers.