Firewatch First Impressions (No Spoilers)

Windows / MAC OS / Linux / PS4

Firewatch is a brand new gaming experience which was released just today by the publishers at Panic Inc. and developer studio Campo Santo.

Below you will find my first impressions after playing a couple hours of the game.

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The first thing I noticed about the game is that its looks gorgeous...  And it doesn't run very well.  Even at lowest graphics settings with a really low resolution, the game was having framerate issues.  I spent a few minutes fiddling with that to find the best balance between performance and visuals, as I couldn't find a way to get it to run completely smoothly.  I'm hoping the devs work on optimizing this performance later on.

Lookout tower at night

After fiddling with graphics settings for a bit, I finally started the game.  The very first scene is actually like a text based game.  Through this text, the game introduces us to the protagonist, Hank.  It provides a very quick yet informative backstory on Hank, and makes you feel empathy for his situation very quickly.

After this, the actual gameplay starts, and you find yourself in the Wyoming wilderness.  It is your job to take care of the park and maintain the grounds.  You pick up the walkie-talkie on your first day, and you use it to talk to your supervisor, Delilah, who instructs you on what you need to be doing to take care of the park.  Slowly the game introduces new mechanics, and you quickly become accustomed to the control layout.  Its not like any other control scheme I have used before, but it works incredibly well.

Firewatch is what I'd call a 'walking simulator' at first glance.  As I haven't played too much of it at this point, I will reserve final judgement on the game's genre until I have finished it in its entirety.  But mostly gameplay consists of walking around through the woods and clicking on a few random little things here and there whilst bantering back-and-forth with Delilah.  While this may sound a little boring in concept, the developers seem to have filled the world with a lot of depth and interactivity.

Conclusion:

So far I'd say it is a very compelling experience.  Despite only being an hour or two into the game, I already feel a connection to Hank and his supervisor, and I truly care about what might happen to them in the rest of the storyline.

Initial score:  8.5 / 10

I hope this helps you make a slightly more informed purchase if you are looking into buying the game!  If this isn't enough info for you, stay tuned for my final game review which I should have done in the next few days.

If you have any first impressions, please share them below!  And please try to keep them spoiler free!