Firewatch gambling addiction. Firewatch is a story about adults. Review. ⇡ Noise of leaves

Last week, Firewatch was released - a meditative, inhumanly beautiful interactive adventure from the young studio Campo Santo. We figured out why you shouldn't miss this game.

The main character of FIrewatch is a bearded, middle-aged man named Henry. He leads ordinary life- he has a beloved woman, a devoted dog, he loves beer and is in no hurry to have his own children. A misfortune in his life happens on the threshold of his fortieth birthday - his half Julia is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Henry sends his beloved to his parents in Australia, and he himself goes to Wyoming, where he becomes a forester in the local National Forest.

There, Henry hopes to escape from the problems of the world, left alone with the nature of the American West. The main character’s only interlocutor at his new job is his boss Delilah, who communicates with him via walkie-talkie and gives him instructions.

Firewatch - a new game in the popular modern genre of, let's say, contemplative and interactive adventure from the first person. In addition to uninterrupted chatting with Delilah and walks in the park, Henry throughout the entire game, with the exception of the main storyline, there are only a few tasks to be solved - drive away the youth launching fireworks from the park, cut down a few bushes and trees, and also learn how to use a compass and map.

In general, there are no revelations from a gaming point of view, even in comparison with other representatives of the genre. But Firewatch isn't trying to captivate you with multi-level mechanics, complex puzzles (like the recently released one) or an incredibly confusing plot - it's about something completely different. This is a very straightforward and neat work from a plot point of view, but at the same time a work of inhuman beauty. In general, about not the most ordinary problems of an ordinary middle-aged man.

Besides, Firewatch is a classic work of deception, but in games, unlike in movies, you rarely see this. Literally everything - starting with the plot - in the game turns out to be not what it seems at first glance. Having got a job as a forest orderly, you will end up doing anything but your main job for the entire five hours of game time. The same goes for the plot. Starting as a visual novel about a fireman, throughout its entire runtime Firewatch will try to pretend to be an almost survival quest, a village detective story, a manic visual thriller about spying on people, and God knows what else.

Against the background of this masterly game of giveaway with the player, the ending of Firewatch, precisely because of its logic and excessive predictability, is at first very disappointing. But upon reflection, you understand that Firewatch is not a game about global conspiracies, alien invasions or “a dog’s dream” - that is, about those plot structures that are so loved in any entertainment-narrative industry. This is a game about how you can't run away from the world's problems, no matter how hard you try.

Even if you come up with adventures out of the blue and start believing in them. Closer to the ending - this is definitely a spoiler! “Henry will even ask Delilah several times if there is real surveillance on them, and whether they really made it all up.” And all because he does not want to return back to his real life from the beauty of Wyoming - to the sick Julia and other problems.

This is precisely the most important idea of ​​Firewatch, on which the rest of the story is strung. And this is very cool, because the game from Campo Santo does not try to win you over with cheap plot twists or a spectacular ending. It entirely, and especially the ending, essentially hints at something else - that real life is more complex, difficult and, in general, more terrible than all your fantasies combined.

However, this semantic twist in the ending of Firewatch may not be noticed. Because it is presented only briefly in the final dialogue between the main characters and many players can simply skip it. It is precisely because of its non-obviousness that the ending of the game may seem crumpled and disappointing, but in fact it is not.

Otherwise, Firewatch is amazing. This is an incredibly beautiful and deep game with amazing “adult” dialogues (jokes about Tom Cruise’s height, drunken night flirting with your boss, and conversations about incurable diseases are not always found in modern games) and a very simple but logical plot.

As with any performance in the interactive adventure genre, there are reasonable complaints about Firewatch - a certain paucity of gameplay, some limited action (relatively speaking, the hero cannot go where the developers did not intend) and a modest timing that may alienate fans of the vast story games for $60. In addition, the PS4 version has technical problems- falling fps, not such a polished picture - and (yet) there is no Russian language.

But you stop noticing these little things and shortcomings as soon as you find yourself in the virtual forests of Wyoming, as soon as you start flirting with Delilah, drinking whiskey and admiring the killer beauty of sunsets that you rarely see in real life. Firewatch is not a revelation, not a game that will revolutionize the entire industry, but it is, excuse the cliche, a very solid work by modern industrial standards, which we recommend to absolutely everyone.

Introduction

When last year gaming exhibition At PAX 2014, the unknown indie company Campo Santo presented its Firewatch quest, but few people paid any attention to this announcement. Yes, the trailer showed beautiful landscapes, but after The Vanishing of Ethan Carter it’s difficult to surprise the audience with graphics.

The American company, it seems, also understood this and decided to take it not only with a beautifully executed visual part, but also directly gameplay. And the plot. And soundtrack. And indeed everyone.

If this is not ideal, then it is something very close to it.

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"You see Julia..."

It is with these words that the grand adventure called Firewatch begins. From the very beginning, Campo Studio's creation positions itself as something special, something that game industry I haven't seen it yet.

Indeed, in what other modern game In the quest genre, can we now see elements of a text quest? That's right - in none other than Firewatch.

Moreover, the ten-minute “text” segment here was not made for beauty at all, and the decisions made at the beginning will affect the content of the dialogues in the future.

In bare text they paint before us pictures of the difficult life of an ordinary guy from Colorado named Henry. Having pretty much given up in a bar back in 1975, he falls in love with a certain Julia, after which it seemed they would have a long and happy life - they live together, get a dog, think about children...

But fate puts everything in its place - soon Henry’s beloved is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, after which she is sent to the care of her parents in Australia. Left alone, Henry decides to run away from the hustle and bustle of the world out of grief and gets a job as an observer on one of the fire towers in the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming. Well, it’s not a dusty job - just sit on your tower, read books, and think about the frailty of life.

But he still fails to completely avoid human society - on the spot, his new acquaintance and part-time colleague, Delilah, begins to communicate with him on the radio. She will be the one best friend player for the entire duration of the passage and will be the second main character of this story along with Henry. Even despite the amazing fact that we will never get to see her.

The best phrase that characterizes Firewatch is pleasant solitude. During the entire passage main character will not meet a single living soul and will communicate only with his friend Delilah. However, despite the small number of characters, the story is surprisingly well received, and you will not tire of following it until the very last point.

But making a non-trivial plot is only half the battle, because you need to attach a working and (preferably) interesting one to it game mechanics. And the American indie studio coped with its task.

Firewatch, without exaggeration, provides a new and unique experience in interacting with the surrounding game world. The fact is that Henry can have conversations with his new colleague on literally any subject, just hover over the object with the walkie-talkie icon and press the “Shift” button.

Starting from an intimate discussion of the beauties of American nature...

... and ending with condemnation of careless youth who throw beer cans everywhere.

After all, what is the interaction with the outside world like in the average quest? The main character, under the control of the player, carefully studies the location, objects and sometimes makes some brilliant conclusions, thereby moving further in the plot. In Firewatch, things are a little different - everything interesting that Henry sees, he can discuss with Delilah on the radio.

Moreover, these will not be dialogues pre-written by the developers; here the player is free, like in some RPG, to choose the answer options he likes. The only thing that upsets me is that decisions made and the phrases spoken will only affect your conversations with Delilah in the future, but you can’t count on more - there is only one ending in the game (not counting the secret one) and you won’t be able to influence it in any way.

The Shoshone National Forest has plenty of attractions and... interesting places, which, however, are easy to miss on your first playthrough. So in order to get the most out of the game, it is better to go through it at least two, and better yet, all three times.

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And here I want to compare Firewatch with the recent Life is Strange. These games are very similar both in plot structure and visual accompaniment (which is discussed below). “Strange Life” also grabbed you with a cool plot in the initial episode and kept you in suspense until the very end, after which it eventually became clear that the writers were unable to surprise with anything.

And about the same thing happened with Firewatch: if at the beginning the story of forester Henry begins quite ordinary (although not without a twist), then gradually it unwinds to such incredible proportions that even the writers of The X-Files could not have dreamed of. You don’t want to look away from the game even for a second, and a quote from Fox Mulder keeps repeating in your head: “The truth is out there somewhere.” Yes, it’s really close (the game can be completed in about five hours, no more) and, unfortunately, it turns out to be nowhere simpler.

Paradoxically, despite the weak ending, Firewatch's plot is stronger recent years five were not in computer games. There was a place for mysticism, conspiracy theories, detective stories, drama, and even comedy.

But, as in the case of Life is Strange, an unsuccessful ending cannot spoil the impression of the game. Firewach is first and foremost an interactive book (or movie, if you prefer) that raises the quality bar to a new level.

From the point of view of gameplay, we have a typical quest with small (almost minimal) inclusions of pixel hunting: here you can read notes, go rock climbing and explore the location for all sorts of interesting things, while talking with Delilah on the walkie-talkie, but all this in no way interrupts narration. The two elements go hand in hand and do not interfere with each other - for the first time in the thirty-year history of the genre.

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There are boxes scattered throughout the National Forest, in which you can always find something interesting, be it a note that sheds light on the history of this place, or, at worst, a candy bar that Henry will happily eat.

If you want to get a rough idea of ​​what the game looks like in real life, imagine a cross between Life is Strange and The Witness - a cartoon style combined with incredible landscapes, in such a way that by the end of the playthrough the folder with screenshots will swell to incredible sizes.

And at the same time, to provide such a picture you will not need a super-powerful PC: for comfortable game at 60 FPS, all you need is an Intel Core i3 2.00 GHz processor, 6 GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce 450-level video card. Yes, you don’t need another flagship to render natural beauty.

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Conclusion

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Firewatch clearly shows that for almost perfect game The quest genre needs little: excellent visual accompaniment, wonderfully written dialogues, open game world with tons of details and innovative mechanics for interacting with the environment.

The only piece missing from this puzzle is a happy ending, but compared to the rest of the overall picture it looks so small and insignificant that its absence can easily be forgiven by the developers.

Firewatch is a first-person adventure and the very first release Campo Santo, a studio based in San Francisco. The studio has brought together the writers of the first season Walking Dead from Telltale, the designer of Mark of Ninja, the acclaimed artist Ollie Moss, and such a talented team of developers came up with an intriguing work, with memorable characters and interesting relationships, and a beautiful environment.

Watch Firewatch walkthrough

After watching Firewatch walkthrough or at least part of it, you can decide whether it’s worth buying the game or just look at the walkthrough. And don’t be too lazy to read the review below; most likely, you will still want to plunge into this area in person.

Firewatch plot

Henry, the main character of the game, is sad at heart. Why else would he have taken refuge in the forests of Wyoming and become a lookout on a national wildlife refuge? It all starts in Colorado, when Henry, drunk, tries to hit on a woman in a bar. She feels so sorry for him that she agrees to a date, which, surprisingly, turns into a real relationship. These parts of the plot are told only through text and music, although they are still interspersed with full 3D segments, one of which, say, Henry steps out of an elevator into a parking garage and climbs into his red pickup truck.

While it's not exactly like Kentucky Route Zero, the high point of the adventure game genre, it's Firewatch There are also different possibilities for partially delineating Henry's character. When your girlfriend Julia wants a dog, will you welcome the beagle she'll love with open arms, or will you insist on a German shepherd to protect her? When she asks about children, will you ask her to wait? These decisions are also not superficial; they are truly important. While they don't have any impact on the outcome of the relationship (you already know that Henry will run away from his problems to the sanctuary in the 80s), they will affect how you hone elements of Henry's character.

Combining these text-adventure-style elements with 3D segments where Henry goes into the woods makes the game's opening an even more powerful and poignant experience because you'll already know how it all ends. Naturally, at the end of the opening part of the game, nothing pleasant awaits the main character, but still there is a rather surprising twist. Julia, by then Henry's wife, comes down with early signs of Alzheimer's disease. I did not expect that these two lines of text would affect me so much, and the decision about Should I leave Julia? under the care of a medical facility or caring for her myself was definitely not easy - and it should be noted that I didn't even know what she looked like. While Julia and her relationship are portrayed rather superficially, the decision doesn't feel as abstract and disconnected from reality as choosing whether to save one character and let another die in a Telltale game, for example. These solutions are familiar real-world problems.

Delilah

While Henry is settling into his new home in the observation tower after a long journey, a voice greets him Delilah, his immediate superior, who will communicate with him using a walkie-talkie. This, in fact, makes up the main part of the gameplay: traveling around, talking with Delilah on the radio.

The conversations between these two characters seem natural, which is thanks to the strong script, which is matched by the performances of the dubbing actors. On the way to the clueless teenagers who decide to set off fireworks in the protected forest, players will hear constant swearing and gasp-inducing jokes from Delilah and memorable answers from Henry. Their relationship is so natural that, although they take turns stumbling upon some of their interlocutor’s secrets, they gradually reveal themselves to each other, although it will still be quite difficult to mention the abandoned wife the first couple of times when such an opportunity arises. Luckily, silence is also a possible dialogue option.

Henry's personality, however, is deepened not only through dialogue. Many game elements allow you to learn even more about him. He's not a camera on wheels. You'll be able to spot his shorts-clad legs as you look down, or his big, meaty arms as he puffs and labors trying to climb onto a small ledge about one meter in the air. He is an ordinary, everyday person, and the animation work reinforces this feeling. Firewatch is simply full of such details and wants you to pay attention to them.

Art director Olly Moss's color palette isn't just beautiful to look at. The rather exaggerated colors make the game's visual style quite distinctive and unique - from bright orange flowers to lively dark evenings - at the same time it is quite clear and does not at all look like confusing photorealism. I very rarely get lost in unfamiliar woods (although there is still a map that Henry can look at and on which he writes various notes every now and then). The entire location is worked out in detail - during the plot twists and turns you can get acquainted with the presented territory - while the relative isolation still makes the environment quite frightening, especially when the story moves away from the initial events with elements of drama and comedy and turns into a real thriller.

What's most impressive is the game's thematic cohesion. Broadly speaking, Firewatch is about guilt, which here develops into isolation-induced paranoia where things get pretty scary. After his first day on the job, Henry returns back to his tower to find the place completely ransacked by some marauder. Maybe teenagers? Or that traveler whose silhouette you noticed on the way home? While Henry has Delilah in touch, it is isolation that has brought him here to the woods, and because game events he fails to get rid of these gnawing emotions - they intensify even more.

The same nagging doubts, hesitations about the right decisions and fear arise again in the second act, when external forces seem to be watching Henry and eavesdropping on conversations between him and Delilah. And at this moment, completely by accident, their carefree and innocent flirting begins to seem somehow wrong. Something that the still married Henry might be ashamed of.

The ambient sound design shines most brightly in these moments, as almost everything - from the strangely strong rattling of an iron fence to the rapid movements seen in the distance - evokes fear; especially after Henry is unexpectedly attacked when he goes out to do some fishing.

Slight fear among the colorful forests of Firewatch

This is where I felt Firewatch reached some Hitchcockian levels of scare. No monsters, just one meeting with some ill-wisher. Yet because of the hero-watching, the mystery, the vulnerability and the isolation, I wandered around, always looking around and looking around instead of frolicking in amazing beautiful forests. Music, art and dialogue quickly made this forest familiar to me, and also made me nostalgic about my school travels. Then this in-game comfort very quickly and suddenly disappeared.

Various gameplay aspects (taking out a walkie-talkie or map, entering the same code to open each locked supply box in the park) along with unique animations and believable voice acting help Firewatch really touches your heart, and the game manages to combine both restraint and maturity in its plot, without becoming a typical representative of the genre of walking simulators. Pleasant conversations and budding relationships between two fairly likable characters give way to harsher realities and long, genuinely tense segments where you can truly feel like you're being stalked and vulnerable. The result of all this is a strong and tense people story that will be worth your time throughout.

There is such a game studio - Telltale Games. Perhaps its name will not tell you anything, but also, most likely, you have at least heard about The games Walking Dead, Game of Thrones and The Wolf Among Us. It was these projects that made Telltale Games a famous studio and brought it popularity and money. The games themselves, all three projects, are made in approximately the same genre and style - these are the so-called graphic novels, which combine several game mechanics, and all together they create a game in the adventure genre, where plot and history dominate. In fact, Telltale Games created and then popularized the genre of series games, where the player spends most of the time following the development of the plot, leisurely clicking and performing some actions, occasionally joining the game in the most important points narratives.

One of the main developers of the first game in this series, The Walking Dead, Jack Rodkin and Sean Vanaman, left Telltale Games in 2013-2014 and created their own studio, Campo Santo, and in March 2014 they announced the first game, Firewatch. Then it seemed that the “observation tower” would be a project in the survival genre with a good single player company and a well-thought-out plot. At least, such hopes arose at the sight of the first trailers. Initially, the game was supposed to appear in 2015, but then its release was postponed to the beginning of 2016, and in February Firewatch became available for PC (Windows/OS X/Linux) and PlayStation 4.

The game turned out to be completely different from what I personally imagined it to be (and many others, I think), but what I can say absolutely for sure is that Firewatch is worth playing for everyone who is partial to computer games any genre, even though the game turned out to be very controversial. It will be very difficult for me to talk about Firewatch without spoilers, so I will very briefly describe the points that are important to understand, and then I suggest you simply decide whether to play or not.

The mention of Telltale Games and the projects of this studio at the beginning of the article was made for a reason. The fact is that Firewatch in its essence is very reminiscent of The Walking Dead and all subsequent games in this format. The basis here is a certain history and narrative, and your task is to carefully monitor the progress of its development. At the same time, you don’t need to perform many actions as such, that is, in the usual sense, this is not so much a game as an interactive story, damn beautiful from the graphic side. But it is presented differently than in The Walking Dead and other similar games.

In Firwatch you play as a very specific person, Henry, a short history The game will kindly tell you his life at the very beginning. It so happens that the main character gets a job as an observer in the Shoshone National Forest, Wyoming, USA. The plot develops mainly thanks to communication via walkie-talkie with the girl boss Delilah. The characters get to know each other, get to know each other, and then spend the entire game together, keeping in touch via walkie-talkie. The game is on in the first person, at some points you can choose one of several answers when communicating with Delilah, and in further game will take them into account. The plot develops slowly at first, but then faster and faster. There should be descriptions of plot points here, but if I add them, I will ruin your experience of the game, so let's move on.

The developers have done their best to ensure that the player can completely immerse himself in the story they have invented and listen, read and watch it with wide with open eyes. To achieve this, Firewatch has absolutely stunning graphics and great music. Both components are made at the highest level.

The game is made on the fifth version of the Unity engine, so in theory it can be ported to mobile devices OS. However, the picture quality in Firewatch is not due to coolness game engine, texture resolution or object detail, not at all. Campo Santo designers were able to draw and implement incredibly beautiful landscapes, day and night changes, lighting and many small details into the game. When you're in the woods of Wyoming, you can take a screenshot every second, and literally any nature screenshot is good enough to immediately print out and put in a frame or on your desktop as "wallpaper." At some points in the game you forget what’s next and what you need to do, you just want to stop and look at all this beauty around. In this regard, Firewatch is an excellent example of how important game design is, not photorealistic graphics, but the right combination of all the components that make up the picture in the game.

The sound is also excellent. The rustle of leaves, wind, sounds of fireworks, crumpling grass underfoot were done perfectly. Musical accompaniment simply amazing. The music for the game was written by composer Chris Remo, who has been creating soundtracks for games since 2009.

As you noticed, I wrote practically nothing about game mechanics, gameplay and other things that are usually talked about when describing games. There are two reasons. The first is that there is really little of all this in Firewatch, this game is a story, where you are assigned for the most part the role of a spectator and observer. Secondly, it won’t be possible to briefly tell the plot, leaving out the most interesting moments, because the game is short. And this, by the way, is another argument in favor of buying the game.

To complete Firewatch, you will need 3-5 hours, no more. But believe me, this game will definitely not leave you indifferent. On Steam, the toy costs 420 rubles, and, in my opinion, it completely recoups the money.

P.S. If, while playing Firewatch, you thought, “I wish a survival game had this style,” then I have good news for you. There is a project called “The Long Dark", and this game is reminiscent of Firewatch in style, while being a harsh survival simulator. I'll try to tell you about it next weekend.

Trailers Firewatch lured with fantastically beautiful landscapes and hinted at some eerie secret hidden in the forests of Wyoming. In the videos, the forester wandered among the trees and rocks, and everything was happening around him. strange. It seemed like something like Alan Wake and Stephen King's novels - calm, suddenly giving way to enveloping horror and an irrepressible feeling of anxiety. But we were cleverly deceived.

The game really makes you nervous and worried, but not at all out of fear of being eaten by a terrible monster. Firewatch is a game about relationships, loneliness and escape from oneself. Damn beautiful.

Slow man

Henry, main character Firewatch, is by no means a big nature lover, as one might think. Sitting by the seat of his pants on a fire tower in the deep woods is his way of escaping the oppressive problems in his personal life.

But don’t rush to conclusions; we are not talking about classic troubles, such as misunderstandings or betrayals. Henry's wife suffers from advanced dementia. She is just over forty, but she no longer recognizes her own husband and needs constant medical care. Henry doesn’t have the slightest idea what to do with this and how to survive it. He can only hide - seeking peace and trying to put his thoughts in order.

Henry's past is an important part of the overall story. It is with his help that Firewatch puts you in the right mood and helps you identify with the hero. First we read short essays describing episodes from Henry's life, and from time to time we make minor decisions.

Short, unspoken phrases paint vivid pictures in your head. Here is Henry awkwardly flirting with his future wife. So we choose a dog together. We dream about children. And here is the first “episode”, hinting at a terrible diagnosis. The essays are becoming more and more alarming, and the feeling of despair is creeping closer.

You can get emotional and shed a tear before you even really start playing.

By the end of the introduction, there is no longer any hero on the other side of the screen. You yourself are Henry. Personally, you climb the creaking steps of a fire tower, feeling with all your soul the desire to escape from insoluble problems, to find a new meaning of existence. And as soon as we lower the switch of the generator, a glimmer appears, a beacon in the darkness of our life: Delilah comes into contact via the radio.

Endless summer

The girl looks after another sector of the forest, and at the same time a hero who is inexperienced in his new profession. She jokes a lot, teases Henry kindly and is very friendly. However, from the first minutes it becomes clear that humor for her is a protective barrier, behind which there is no less emotion hidden than Henry himself. Perhaps this is what brings them together?

Under Delilah's leadership, we begin our duties. We wander through the forest, disperse the teenagers with beer and fireworks and just chat with a colleague about everything. Almost any event, any subject can be discussed over the radio. Behind the fascinating chatter “about nothing,” the conversations become more and more frank. Delilah opens up more and more to us, and we to her. There are no empty remarks here; every word reveals the characters’ characters bit by bit. After a couple of hours, the brain no longer perceives the voice coming from the walkie-talkie as a pre-recorded set of lines. On the other side is a real living person. Otherwise it can not be.

The developers deliberately made Henry’s character “flexible”: by choosing answer options in dialogues, we adapt the character’s image to ourselves.

Something about Henry can be gleaned from the annotations of the books he brought with him.

Most of the books are fictional, but sometimes you can find funny references.

The area of ​​forest entrusted to us is quite large and completely open. At first it’s not very easy to navigate, but after a couple of hours all the paths and edges become like family.

But through the routine duties of a forester, a thriller gradually begins to seep through. Someone is cutting the telephone wires, a strange man hangs around our tower at night, strange sounds are coming from the depths of the forest. Gradually, a real threat looms over us and Delilah. The feeling of paranoia is intensified gradually and very subtly.

Likewise, by flirting with mood, Firewatch intrigues and captivates... but ends abruptly and not very interestingly. And everything becomes clear long before the finale. However, by and large, the game has two endings - one draws a line under the story of mysterious incidents in the forest, and the other dots all the i’s in the relationships between the characters. And if the first one can really upset you, then the second one turned out to be strong in its own way.

Firewatch caresses the ears, the eyes, and even the soul. You want to get lost in these forests, simply fulfilling your duties as a forester. No puzzles, puzzles or difficulties at all - wander and contemplate. This will certainly turn a lot of people off: Firewatch doesn't do much to make use of your skill specifically. play. Looking around, listening, to some extent even playing a role in the dialogues with Delilah - this is from the heart. But no matter what you do, you will reach the end. Soon enough.

But. But again.

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Waking up the next morning after beating the game, I felt that I missed Delilah, like a real living person. I missed the familiar forest paths and the sunsets over Lake Jonesee. I started the game and went through it again in one breath to relive all these emotions and sensations. I'm sure this will happen again soon.

Of course, not everyone will be as impressed by Firewatch. Some people don’t care about the beauty of the summer forest, some don’t like overly talkative people, and some want challenges and more tangible gameplay from games.

But if you are open to new things and love sincere, heartfelt stories, do not miss Firewatch.