# A fire worth watching

> Review: Firewatch

By Jonathan Foye · 30 January 2019 · Reviews / Gaming

Canonical: https://insights1.uca.org.au/articles/a-fire-worth-watching/

**Review: Firewatch**

There are games whose stories stay with you for a long time, leaving an indelible impression on you. Campo Santo’s *Firewatch* is one of these games.

*Firewatch*’s recent release on the Nintendo Switch gives everyone who played it before the chance to experience it again in a portable form. For anyone else yet to experience it, this is the perfect jumping on point.

The opening minutes of *Firewatch*’s narrative are devastating, sitting up there with the likes of *Up* in terms of sheer resonance. Set in 1989, it is the story of Henry, who is drawn into a job in a remote national park after suffering personal tragedy.

[Embedded media](https://www.youtube.com/embed/cJxBMoMkY1U)

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Working in a fire watch tower, he spends his days talking to only one other person, his supervisor Delilah, whose own life circumstances have drawn her to this job. What seems like a relatively peaceful if rugged situation is interrupted by a chance encounter with some teenage girls setting off fireworks threatens to shatter this sanctuary however. As the game’s deeper mystery unfolds, the player is confronted with a steadily engrossing feeling of paranoia.

Perhaps *Firewatch*’s best feature is the game’s setting. Set in Wyoming’s national park, it is an idyllic environment that conveys its isolation well. *Firewatch*’s graphics manage to depict this in ways that are simple yet impressive. The setting prompted *Insights* to consider the biblical setting of the ‘wilderness’; **[an isolated place where character is tested and formed](https://www.bibleodyssey.org/en/tools/image-gallery/e/elijah-leighton).**

More than one player has been prompted by *Firewatch*’s setting to go and **[explore a firewatch tower in real life](https://www.kotaku.com.au/2016/03/firewatch-is-inspiring-a-legion-of-geeky-real-life-firewatchers/).** In one case, the game led to a teenager’s campaign **[to save a disused tower](https://www.kotaku.com.au/2018/02/firewatch-inspires-teenager-to-save-real-life-fire-lookout/)**. With the majority of towers abandoned thanks to the advent of smartphones and satellite technology, this is a conservation effort that may have otherwise not happened.

Henry’s relationship with Delilah is the main driving force behind *Firewatch*’s story. Despite the physical distance between the two characters, they form a connection that comes across as genuine and at times, unhealthy.

*Firewatch*’s characters also have interesting relationships with alcohol, relying on it to get them through the harsh realities of their isolated lives.

As with almost any game, *Firewatch* is unlikely to please everyone. **[Much like *Virginia*](https://www.insights.uca.org.au/reviews/an-unexpected-story-told-in-new-ways)**, the game is one often derided as a “walking simulator”. Even with some extra things to do in the game’s background, and a free-walking mode that shows off its spectacular backgrounds, the game is relatively short, clocking in at a completion time of around four hours.

*Firewatch is rated M and is now available on Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC*

**Jonathan Foye is *Insights*’ Editor**