I have mixed feelings about Firewatch. The artwork was done very well and exploring the map was a real pleasure. The compass definitely comes in handy, as I got turned around a lot. The lag is terrible. TERRIBLE. I'm used to indies having some lag. But they seriously need to patch it. I almost lost my breakfast at one point. But the main focus of Firewatch is the story, so maybe they weren't too concerned with the lag. I love games with a good mystery and Firewatch looked like it would really fit the bill. I don't want to spoil it so I won't go into a lot of detail. At the beginning the game really draws you in with the backstory of Henry, the main character. By the time he makes it to the watchtower you know his story and why he took the job at the tower. And then the mystery begins. They don't spring it on you all at once, there's a slow build up to it. By the time I was halfway through the game I was pretty enthralled with the story. I was imagining something along the lines of an X Files type ending, with government conspiracies and UFO sightings. Ok maybe not aliens. But something like that. So the ending was kind of a let down in many ways. Now there will be spoilers, so stop here if you don't want it ruined. I guess they thought they wrapped up the story neatly, but it really didn't make a lot of sense. Let me explain.
There was a guy and his son working at the tower a couple of summers ago. They disappeared one day and Delilah (the other main character and Henry's supervisor) assumed they'd had enough and taken off. Well at the end of the game Henry discovers the dad, Ned, is still hanging around. His son died in a climbing accident, and Ned wants to make sure no one finds the body. So he's been spying and eavesdropping on Delilah and Henry to make sure they don't have any idea about what happened. Apparently he didn't want to deal with the police and answer a bunch of questions. Nice guy. Which is all well and good, not too bad of ending, right? Little wonky but mostly makes sense. Wrong.
Number one, Henry discovers Ned's base camp. He's been stealing supplies from the rangers to eat. There's also a huge tent, 3 cots, and very expensive equipment lying around. Henry even points out how expensive the setup is. Looks like a major operation, which is why I thought government conspiracy. So how did one guy living off the land (and ranger supplies) manage to afford that equipment? And why on earth was he taking soil samples? It makes no sense. The game would've been stronger if they'd just left the mystery out and focused on Henry and Delilah's story. Their interaction was already one of the best parts of the game. But I guess selling a game about how people deal with life won't make you a lot of profit. Which is a shame, because it had a lot of potential. It's still worth a playthrough, but I would recommend waiting til it's on sale. $20 is a little steep for what you get.
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