Firewatch
| Firewatch | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Original title | Firewatch | ||
| Studio | Campo Santo | ||
| Publisher | Panic Inc., Campo Santo | ||
| Senior Developer | Nels Anderson James Benson |
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| composer | Chris Remo | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
February 9, 2016 | ||
| platform | Linux , macOS , Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 4 , Windows , Xbox One | ||
| Game engine | Unity | ||
| genre | Adventure | ||
| Game mode | Single player | ||
| medium | digital distribution , download | ||
| language | English | ||
| Age rating |
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Firewatch is a computer game by the American game developer Campo Santo . The action of the game is set shortly after the fires in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming in 1988 . It is the first video game for the publisher Panic and for the developer Campo Santo.
action
In Firewatch , the player takes on the role of Henry, a fire watchman who took up his duties in a watchtower in the Shoshone National Forest in the summer of 1989 after his wife showed the first signs of Alzheimer's . On his first day, Delilah, his chief fire guard, with whom he only communicates by radio, sends him to an illegal fireworks display between two drunk teenage girls. Henry rebukes them and can take away the fireworks. On the way back to his watchtower "Two Forks" in the evening he meets a stranger who, however, disappears immediately when he is noticed. When Henry arrives at his watchtower, it has been completely devastated, as if it had been searched.
The next day, Delilah asks him to check a broken telephone line for damage. He discovers that the phone line has been cut and there are also signs that it was likely the teenage girls. Henry and Delilah come up with a plan to scare the girls. When he tries to carry it out, however, he finds the girls' camp and tent completely devastated. Both get nervous that something bad might have happened. A note from the girls at their tent accuses Henry of stealing their things.
Henry finds an old backpack with the belongings of someone named Brian Goodwin, who, according to Delilah, was a fire watchman in Two Forks along with his father Ned (an alcoholic) a few years ago. It is usually forbidden to bring your children into the watchtower, but Delilah did not report Brian's presence at the time. One day Brian and Ned suddenly left the watchtower and never came back.
The two teenage girls were reported missing. To avoid punishment, Delilah reports that neither she nor Henry met the girls. A few days later, Henry found a clipboard by the lake with a transcript of his conversations with Delilah. He is passed out shortly afterwards by a stranger. When he wakes up again, the clipboard is gone. In a meadow that was mentioned on the clipboard, he finds an area fenced off by the government. He breaks into it and finds a small monitoring station in which his and Delilah's conversations are recorded in detail.
Henry and Delilah briefly discuss burning the station down, but decide against it. When Henry is about to go back to his watchtower, someone sets a fire in the surveillance station. Back in the watchtower, Henry uses a tracking device that he took from the surveillance station. He uses it to find a backpack with a key to a cave in the bushes south of the watchtower. Shortly afterwards, Delilah answers and reports that someone is in Henry's watchtower. When Henry arrives there, he finds a Walkman with a recording of the conversation between Delilah and himself, which makes it seem as if he had started the fire in the surveillance station.
When Henry climbs into the locked cave the next day, someone locks the door behind him. When he leaves the cave through another exit, he finds Brian's old hiding place, in which there is climbing equipment. With this he climbs deeper into the cave and finds Brian's body there. Delilah blames herself for letting Brian live with his father in the watchtower at the time.
The next day the fire in the surveillance station got out of control and all watchtowers must be evacuated. As Henry packs his things, the tracking device starts to beep and he follows the signal. He finds a tape from Ned. On this, Ned explains that (after his son Brian's fatal climbing accident) he did not want to return to civilization. Now he will retreat deeper into the woods. Henry finds Ned's camp along with all of the girls' stolen things and from his watchtower. Delilah informs Henry that the two missing girls are safe. The supposed monitoring station was just a research station for observing fauna and flora. Ned had been listening to the radio conversations between Henry and Delilah all summer and placed the transcripts in the research station so that Henry would think he was being monitored by the government and was part of a scientific experiment. He wanted to drive Henry away and make sure that no one finds him and his hiding place.
Henry walks through the smoke towards Delilah's watchtower to be picked up by the rescue team. When he gets there, Delilah has already been evacuated by helicopter. They both say goodbye over the radio. Delilah says Henry should go back to his wife. Shortly afterwards the rescue helicopter arrives again. Henry now has the choice of returning to civilization or - like Ned - staying in the wilderness.
Game principle and technology
The game in Firewatch is shown from the first person perspective , so the camera reflects the point of view of the game character. With the help of the WASD keys you move Henry through the game world and you can rotate the camera freely by moving the mouse so that you can look around in all directions. The interaction with the game world takes place via a cursor that is locked in the center of the screen and changes its shape when it is positioned over an interaction point (a so-called hotspot) by rotating the camera. The interaction is then initiated with a mouse click; Henry can, for example, pick up objects and use them elsewhere, open doors or flip switches. His only means of communication is a walkie-talkie , which connects him with his superior Delilah in order to exchange ideas and advise her. In order to speak to her, the player can choose from a number of dialogue options. This usually happens when interactive objects are found and new areas are entered. The player's choices affect Henry's relationship with Delilah. Additional areas will be unlocked during the game. Objects found in the wild can be collected and used later, but there is no classic inventory.
Production notes
The game is only delivered with English voice output, but also has German subtitles.
| role | speaker |
|---|---|
| Henry | Rich summer |
| Delilah | Cissy Jones |
| Julia | Larissa Gallagher |
| Chelsea (teenager 1) | Erin Yvette |
| Lily (teenager 2) | Nikki Rapp |
| Ned Goodwin | Mac Brandt |
reception
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Firewatch achieved a score of 81 out of 65 aggregated ratings on Metacritic . The game was received positively by the media, including Spiegel Online and Focus Online . The specialist magazine Adventure-Treff praised an innovative narrative style, an exciting, profound and well-staged story as well as a "great" atmosphere underlined by graphics and sound. The lengthy entry into the game and the lack of challenges were criticized.
In total, the game was sold over 2.5 million times.
Quotes
- GameStar : "Firewatch lets us explore a fascinating world, but hardly offers any playful challenge."
- IGN : "Firewatch is beautiful, to the point and wonderfully grown up."
- 4Players : "Thrilling adventure with a clever, multi-layered narrative and lively interactive dialogues."
Adaptation
In 2016, the Good Universe production studio worked on a film adaptation of the game. After it was taken over by Lionsgate , the rights were returned to Campo Santo. In August 2020 it was announced that Snoot Entertainment was working on a film or series implementation together with the game's development studio. Keith Calder and Jess Wu Calder (both from Snoot Entertainment) and Sean Vanaman and Jake Rodkin (both Campo Santo) are producers.
Web links
- Official Website of Firewatch (English)
- Firewatch at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Megan Farokhmanesh: Campo Santo's debut, Firewatch, is an exploration of isolation and choice. In: polygon. Vox Media , September 8, 2014, accessed January 11, 2017 .
- ↑ Dave Tach: Before Firewatch was a 3D world, it was a painting. In: polygon. Vox Media , March 12, 2015, accessed January 11, 2017 .
- ^ Dave Tach: Firewatch is Campo Santo's first game. In: polygon. Vox Media , March 13, 2014, accessed January 11, 2017 .
- ↑ Kelly Hudson: Firewatch collectibles walkthrough: Prologue. In: polygon. Vox Media , May 25, 2016, accessed January 11, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Adventure-Treff.de: Firewatch. Retrieved March 10, 2020 .
- ↑ a b Benjamin Schmädig: Test: Firewatch (3D adventure). In: 4Players . February 12, 2016, accessed May 5, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Elena Schulz: Firewatch Test (PC) Atmospheric graphic miracle. In: GameStar. February 8, 2016, accessed May 5, 2017 .
- ↑ a b Robert Hähnel: A "vacation" in hell. In: IGN . February 8, 2016, accessed May 5, 2017 .
- ↑ a b metacritic: Firewatch PC. In: metacritic. Retrieved May 5, 2017 .
- ↑ Carsten Görig: "Firewatch" in the test: It burns so nicely. In: Spiegel Online . February 12, 2016, accessed March 9, 2016 .
- ↑ A game like a good book: "Firewatch" in the test. In: Focus Online . February 10, 2016, accessed March 9, 2016 .
- ↑ a b Mia Galuppo: 'Blindspotting' Producers Snoot Entertainment Developing 'Firewatch' Movie. In: The Hollywood Reporter . Prometheus Global Media , August 17, 2020, accessed on August 18, 2020 .