#Firewatch game rating how to#
#Firewatch game rating movie#

Related: Firewatch Is Getting A Movie Adaptation The adventure story also seems to have life-or-death stakes attached to the player’s actions, unlike the more Telltale Games-esque predetermined trajectory Firewatch utilized. By her side is Zora, a former partner she swore to never work with again. Set in 1920s Egypt, the player controls Rashida, a disgraced explorer and filmmaker who sets out on one last journey to set things right. Indeed, the studio’s anticipated sophomore effort, In the Valley of the Gods, sounds like a completely different animal as a game. The minimalist emphasis on dialogue, artwork, and voice acting over dynamic gameplay also isn’t one that’s easy to replicate. It’s an intimate, self-contained story about a lonely man in the midst of a midlife crisis who retreats to a fire lookout job in the Wyoming wilderness during the summer of 1989. Do you try to make it work with your wife? Will you survive the summer? Will you end up arrested and implicated for a mysterious crime you didn't commit? These questions all run through your mind as you work through Firewatch, which makes it well worth sticking through to the very end.At first glance, developer Campo Santo’s 2016 indie sleeper hit Firewatch doesn’t seem like a game ripe for a shared universe or a stealth sequel of any kind. When the aforementioned mystery - conspiracy? - that's best left unspoiled here starts to set in, you'll start wondering whether you can trust Delilah, or whether you can trust the feelings that start to develop between you and she.

You buzz in to report on everything you find, and as you're new on the job, she's able to get you up to speed on what you're seeing and where to go next. And although the map isn't enormous, it's big enough for you to unintentionally go in circles and loops.īut when the game unfolds as intended, with engaging dialogue between yourself and your boss, Delilah, the game develops extremely well. That also means you can, and will, get lost repeatedly. You'll need to look all around for drops to take or rock faces to climb. Just because you know something is west of where you are doesn't mean you can simply point yourself in that direction and go.

#Firewatch game rating how to#

There's no such thing here, and you have to dutifully consult a compass and map to point yourself in the right direction - be it to find how to make your way to smoky areas out in the woods or get to a specific creek. There's a learning curve to, essentially, unlearning what a lot of video games have taught you: that you can navigate any area easily thanks to an on-screen mini-map. This adventure goes from a slow crawl to a fairly captivating and strange mystery, which means you'll need to stick with it for a bit longer than you might initially like, but it's worth it. Some students, 16-18 year olds, really engaged with it while others didn't quite have the maturity to accept some of the messages the game presented and were thus indifferent to it. I've taught this as a media text in a senior level high school English class before with mixed results. Worth a play for adults and perhaps older teens as well. I found it refreshing to experience a game brave enough to address such topics as loneliness, infidelity, trust, and resilience in a way that feels very grown-up. Aside from some swearing (f***, s***, etc.) it is this depiction of imperfect adults dealing with adult problems that makes the game unsuitable for younger players. The two central characters in Firewatch are neither all good nor all bad but are just as likely to behave selfishly as they are altruistically. It's an interactive story adventure that deals quite brazenly with the shades of grey that adulthood is known for. There is a lot to love about Firewatch from its simple gameplay and clear structure to its superb voice acting and lush visuals.