Firewatch

 PC
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1504 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 922 out of 1504
  2. Mixed: 361 out of 1504
  3. Negative: 221 out of 1504

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  1. Morguewolf
    Feb 13, 2016
    3
    I was ready to be in love with this game. It looked beautiful and had a great set up for an amazing story. Sadly...

    It falls short in literally every department. The game is painfully short for the price tag of $20. 3 hours long with zero depth in the gameplay and a massively disappointing story. Do yourself a favor and ignore this game.
  2. AlkaVirus
    Feb 9, 2016
    3
    Hardly a game, more like a mediocre story-based game trying to show off animation and graphics. Lots of backtracking, uninspiring characters, and cheesy conversation lines. The only redeemable factor is that it shows a glimpse of suspense, but that which quickly dies away.
  3. draconianwrath
    Feb 12, 2016
    3
    This game contain two well-fleshed characters talking to each other, a pretty wilderness to walk around in and NOTHING ELSE. A literal walking simulator.

    The gameplay is basically nil. You walk from A to B over and over, meanwhile selecting dialogue choices which only change the next line of dialogue received and nothing else, giving the illusion of choice. That's it. THAT'S THE GAME.    This game contain two well-fleshed characters talking to each other, a pretty wilderness to walk around in and NOTHING ELSE. A literal walking simulator.

    The gameplay is basically nil. You walk from A to B over and over, meanwhile selecting dialogue choices which only change the next line of dialogue received and nothing else, giving the illusion of choice. That's it. THAT'S THE GAME.

    The above might have been forgivable if the game had a strong story to keep you interested throughout. Unfortunately, while the story starts off strong, it proceeds to jump of a cliff near the end, which is almost as bad as having it be bad all throughout as it leaves a very sour taste in many people's mouths.

    The only positive aspects of Firewatch are the dialogue and the environment design, however, this just adds fuel to the idea that Firewatch would have functioned much better as a story then as a game, as well as having a story that didn't stop giving a **** near the end.

    Finally, it's extremely short for it's asking price of $19.99 US. This "game" is nothing more then an interactive book, calling Firewatch a game is an insult to other games and it's proclamation of being of good quality by mainstream game sites is more proof that mainstream games media have ****ing lost the plot and/or become filled with agenda-pushing morons.    … Expand
  4. evilnils
    Feb 20, 2016
    3
    If you cut out the hiking back and forth, this game would have less than one hour gameplay.

    It looks good, voice acting is superb, story is great, ending is underwhelming (and it is supposed to be).
    But, there is no game play and it is way way too short.
    This could have been a good movie, instead it became a pretty average game.
  5. Ewakid
    Mar 22, 2016
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Not much content for a game I spent 19.99 on, I've player DLCs that are longer and more enjoyable than this game. The conversations between Henry and Delilah are ok, but its hard to pay attention to them when trees pop in and out of existence, or when the ground disappears. The 15 FPS is great too, I have a pretty nice Pc and I'm above the system requirements but I still have to endure a god awful framerate. [[SPOILERS]] The endings piss poor, the second they introduced the weird hiker guy with his son I knew that he would have a big role to play. Sure enough, he was the one that was doing all the weird **** After that, you just get rejected no matter what, and nothing you did affects the outcome of the story. Now you can say the ending doesn't matter and that its all about the journey, but you can't say that when the **** journey was "walk to this place, walk to another place, talk a bit". Another game that had a **** ending was Fallout New Vegas, you get a **** slideshow and you realize nothing matters. BUT the difference is in fallout new vegas I can **** do stuff, I don't just walk and walk and walk. So in the end, don't buy this game, you won't really have fun, it's just walking. Watch a full walkthrough with no commentary. You will get more out of just watching everything happen than actually playing the game.… Expand
  6. Shahenita
    Apr 29, 2016
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. the game is just 2 hours long! its too short..
    its an adventure to reveal the story.. that start very good and ends very Sad!
    raising to expectation until the middle.. and then is just disappointment after another!

    games should be fun! whats fun about a boy dead on a cave!!!    … Expand
  7. visiblelight7
    Aug 29, 2023
    3
    Very boring. The story isn't even there to drag you threw the gameplay loop which is mainly you walking toward your destintion while holding your map and compass and getting annoyed because the road is not ''obvious''. This gameplay loop begins IMMEDIATELY. The story consists of you talking on the walkey talkey with a very annoying feminist. I was bored out of my mind. There's noVery boring. The story isn't even there to drag you threw the gameplay loop which is mainly you walking toward your destintion while holding your map and compass and getting annoyed because the road is not ''obvious''. This gameplay loop begins IMMEDIATELY. The story consists of you talking on the walkey talkey with a very annoying feminist. I was bored out of my mind. There's no characters , no worthy story either. don't download this if you are bored. Good thing i had gamepass. The game is VERY overrated. It's at most a 4/10… Expand
  8. ARTMIS
    Sep 30, 2018
    3
    At first, I would give this game 8 - 9, but, after I finished the game. I dropped it to 3. I believe everyone already wrote the good things about this game, so I want to write the bad.
    The ending. Totally bad, my worst video game ending I believe, anti climax, in the end, we never know much about Delilah, and the truth about her, so much plot-lost. So much mystery never solved.
  9. Polarthief
    Feb 24, 2016
    2
    Here's just a list of reasons why this game is very, very, subpar.

    - It's a very linear, story-driven, game, with practically no gameplay. It's pretty much the definition of a "hiking simulator". - It's about 3-4 hours long and launched with a $20 price tag. - It started with plenty of potential and ended with a disastrous "that's it?" feeling at the end. - It gives you the illusion    Here's just a list of reasons why this game is very, very, subpar.

    - It's a very linear, story-driven, game, with practically no gameplay. It's pretty much the definition of a "hiking simulator".
    - It's about 3-4 hours long and launched with a $20 price tag.
    - It started with plenty of potential and ended with a disastrous "that's it?" feeling at the end.
    - It gives you the illusion of choice that changes how your character and the "companion" character that you never meet communicate to one another. There is no actual choice though.
    - There is virtually no difference between watching and playing this game. Go watch any of the LPs for it and save your $20.
    - It's not even appealing to look at. At the very least it could have given us that.

    I honestly don't know what drugs the positive reviewers were on when they posted their reviews. Maybe they're only reviewing the demo (which was solid), but the full game is just trash.    … Expand
  10. Kraks
    Mar 25, 2017
    2
    I couldn't disagree with positive reviews for this game more. It is a very short adventure novella with 0 skill requirements, no puzzles, and no problem solving required. You just walk around the world for a bit and click on things and listen to a conversation between yourself and another firewatcher. The entire game may take 4 hours to complete if you go slow, but is easily completed inI couldn't disagree with positive reviews for this game more. It is a very short adventure novella with 0 skill requirements, no puzzles, and no problem solving required. You just walk around the world for a bit and click on things and listen to a conversation between yourself and another firewatcher. The entire game may take 4 hours to complete if you go slow, but is easily completed in 2.

    I wouldn't suggest this game for any more than $2. The $20 price tag suggests depth that just doesn't exist.    … Expand
  11. SaniCorpus
    Feb 27, 2016
    2
    Its not worth the money. Its so short...I thought it would only be the 1st episode...but after 3 hours the game was over. I looks nice and the idea was good.. the relationship between the two characters is interesting. But thats all... the rest ist....BORING! Walk around, click because the ui shows you to click. Compared to "The Walking Dead", where your decisions have an impact on theIts not worth the money. Its so short...I thought it would only be the 1st episode...but after 3 hours the game was over. I looks nice and the idea was good.. the relationship between the two characters is interesting. But thats all... the rest ist....BORING! Walk around, click because the ui shows you to click. Compared to "The Walking Dead", where your decisions have an impact on the story and the story goes much longer, this game is a bad joke. And after the ending you don´t want to play it again... Don´t waste your money for this betrayal!… Expand
  12. JMountain26
    May 13, 2016
    2
    Thsi game is **** awful. It was so damn fun and **** interesting as hell. But the goddamn ending made me want to neck myself and drink bleach at the same time. DONT BUY! 20.00 is not worth a 4 hour long train ride to a neverending circle of **** that ends with 0 questions answered.
  13. Rabullione
    Sep 11, 2017
    2
    I have a single, simple requirement of videogames-- they have to be fun. This game fails to meet that requirement, and so it receives a poor rating. Enjoyable visuals, script & voice acting are the only redeeming qualities in what is, otherwise, more akin to a chore than a game.
  14. TitaniumDragon
    Dec 27, 2017
    1
    Firewatch is a walking simulator which uses some video-gamey elements to try and make it seem more interactive. Unfortunately, like all walking simulators, it is critically important that the story that the simulator is telling is actually interesting.

    And Firewatch fails at this. This isn’t obvious at first, though. The game actually has what seems like fairly decent moment to    Firewatch is a walking simulator which uses some video-gamey elements to try and make it seem more interactive. Unfortunately, like all walking simulators, it is critically important that the story that the simulator is telling is actually interesting.

    And Firewatch fails at this.

    This isn’t obvious at first, though. The game actually has what seems like fairly decent moment to moment writing; while it starts out with a sort of text adventure thing that unfolds as you’re hiking, it quickly starts going into actual dialogue as the protagonist (Henry) talks with Delilah, his supervisor.

    Henry has taken a job watching out for fires in a national forest as a means of getting away from his problems; his wife has early onset dementia and Henry himself is something of a mess as a result, and it is implied that he might be an alcoholic.

    The problem is that we get this at the very start of the story; this is the setup. But the game ends up spending a lot of its length having Henry reveal all this to Delilah, meaning that a lot of Henry’s “character development” is stuff we already know. While his conversations with Delilah are solid enough, they lose their oomph because we, the reader/listener, already know this from the intro.

    And this is the real flaw of Firewatch – it constantly undercuts itself. There is a mystery early on, which then links into another (greater) mystery… which is a solid way to present a plot. But the solution to the mystery is an anticlimax, and as a result all of the tension it tried to build up was utterly pointless.

    The plot is, thusly, a mess, and so from a macro structural standpoint, so is Firewatch. Without a really meaningful plot, the game is nothing more than wandering around in the forest while talking over the radio and doing slice-of-lifey stuff. And if the game had just been a slice of life drama, it might have worked. But its attempt at mystery, and its attempt at a story arc, utterly fall flat, and in the end, nothing we spent all that time doing really meant much of anything. It is a story we experience rather than interact with, and the story itself is not very good, so there’s not really anything there.

    The game itself is pretty enough – or at least, the environment is, with a nice aesthetic to it. I took quite a few screenshots, and there’s some nice little details in there, such as the protagonist writing notes to himself about what has been going on. The voice actors are both solid and deliver their lines well on the whole, though there’s some slight inconsistency in a couple scenes as a character who is supposedly getting drunk immediately sobers up a few lines later.

    But without a good story to go with it, the whole thing is an empty experience, and you will spend 4-5 hours wandering around in the forest without ultimately being led to feel like your wandering mattered.    … Expand
  15. coustoe
    Sep 14, 2017
    1
    A very linear game with very little actual gameplay or game content. Total game time is about 3 hours. It plays more like if you were just watching a movie and should be worth the same price, a few dollars. The developer seem to be jumping on the bandwagon of trying to scam gamers into paying game prices for delivering a "visual novel". This combined with hearing the Developer's recentA very linear game with very little actual gameplay or game content. Total game time is about 3 hours. It plays more like if you were just watching a movie and should be worth the same price, a few dollars. The developer seem to be jumping on the bandwagon of trying to scam gamers into paying game prices for delivering a "visual novel". This combined with hearing the Developer's recent rants about the gaming community and the over generous game review you can tell that this is another "Lost at home" Developer.… Expand
  16. Mygaffer
    Sep 14, 2017
    1
    Worst walking simulator ever. Boring "game" with a terrible ending. Is NOT worth the money. I highly recommend people stay far away from this and all of this developer's games.
  17. Aventinus
    Feb 14, 2016
    1
    The environments are beautiful....everything else is steaming donkey dung. From the mundane conversations to the hollow and non-existent plot...this game may be what stops me from playing games forever. I've just finished it and it left such an empty feeling inside of me that I just don't want to touch video games for the foreseeable future. Thanks Firewatch.
  18. invizo
    Sep 20, 2017
    1
    Don't support game companies that try to grab publicity by damaging someone's reputation. Most people didn't know what Firewatch was until they pulled their little stunt.
  19. StidIsram
    Feb 25, 2016
    1
    Эта игра - полный отстой, провал, позор и много чего еще. только черепашка спасает, но несильно +1 бал за черепашку. итого 1 из 10.
    Никакой сюжет, никакой мир, никакие персонажи.
    Совсем непонятна оценка изданий, но на их мнение здравомыслящие люди давно не обращают внимания.    Эта игра - полный отстой, провал, позор и много чего еще. только черепашка спасает, но несильно +1 бал за черепашку. итого 1 из 10.
    Никакой сюжет, никакой мир, никакие персонажи.
    Совсем непонятна оценка изданий, но на их мнение здравомыслящие люди давно не обращают внимания.
  20. FlorinEmil
    Sep 12, 2016
    1
    The only good thing about this game is the art style and the voice actors.
    The best walking simulator of this year 10/10 would walk again and answer that radio.
  21. dakon
    Feb 13, 2016
    1
    Game bugged out at day 79. Could not get it work. Had to watch the rest of the game in youtube.....by lord if you are a sp story driven game, bug check before release.
  22. lilpen
    Feb 26, 2016
    1
    The only pretty thing about this game is the atmosphere. I literally had to go and make an account to just rate how terribly mundane this game was. It had so much potential but honestly, the end was just really annoying. People call it "realistic." I honestly thought it would be good because of the hype but trust me you do NOT want to board the hype train on this one.
  23. palehorse
    Sep 20, 2017
    1
    Very linear game play. Scripted in a way that is not fun. You can basically watch a stream and get as much enjoyment for free. Check it out on twitch if you're curious.
  24. WarPhoenix
    Oct 4, 2017
    1
    co dev threatened to dmca pewdiepie for no reason other than not liking pewdiepie and i think its honestly BS i would of rated this game a 4 out of 10 as its as others say seems like a half assed game in everything but its certain visual appeal however with the devs behavior of doing this after any coverage about fire watch during its launch but is doing it now is stupid and inmature.
  25. goodterling
    Oct 3, 2016
    0
    What a WASTE OF TIME. This game is the equivalent of those modern art paintings of one simple square. It exists only to make pretentious people feel deep for "getting" it. It's a lot of unnecessarily slow and awkward trudging around a forest, tracking down very MUNDANE mysteries that end up being EVEN MORE mundane when revealed. Your OWN LIFE is almost certainly more interesting thanWhat a WASTE OF TIME. This game is the equivalent of those modern art paintings of one simple square. It exists only to make pretentious people feel deep for "getting" it. It's a lot of unnecessarily slow and awkward trudging around a forest, tracking down very MUNDANE mysteries that end up being EVEN MORE mundane when revealed. Your OWN LIFE is almost certainly more interesting than anything in this game. If not, you're doing it wrong.… Expand
  26. smith
    Jun 8, 2016
    0
    Игра шлак, полный шлак. Всё на что хватило разработчиков, это на размытые текстуры и ни одного прорисованного персонажа в игре.
    Вкратце:
    - Графика... графика полное говно. Закат смотрится неплохо, в остальном всё невзрачно. Почему не взять и не сделать игру на UE4, используя всю его красоту? Ну почему нельзя?! (Как в исчезновение Итона Картера, шикарнейшая графика, которая создавала    Игра шлак, полный шлак. Всё на что хватило разработчиков, это на размытые текстуры и ни одного прорисованного персонажа в игре.
    Вкратце:
    - Графика... графика полное говно. Закат смотрится неплохо, в остальном всё невзрачно. Почему не взять и не сделать игру на UE4, используя всю его красоту? Ну почему нельзя?! (Как в исчезновение Итона Картера, шикарнейшая графика, которая создавала тонну атмосферы.)
    - Игра длится 5 часов, из них 2,5 часа ты карабкаешься по веревкам вверх вниз - такой бред, боже, как я ненавижу такие игры с дрочерством (((
    - Очень слабый и глупый сюжет для игры такого жанра.
    - Музыка не запоминается и т.д.
    Можно все детально расписывать, но время жаль тратить на эту игры, и так 5 часов потерял.    … Expand
  27. Nogard123
    Feb 11, 2016
    0
    This game begins very interesting,but the further you go in the more obvious it is that they rushed this out.
    A very short game and very bad story, my advice would be to avoid this game.
    No replay value at all,l i also see that Anita Sarkeesian is in the end credits,that could explain why this game is a huge failure.
  28. Muuvinki
    Feb 11, 2016
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. My last review was removed here, so I guess damage control has begun.
    This game is only 3 - 4 hours long, on rails walking simulator.
    Devs mislead players into thinking that this a open world game, which it isn't.
    Don't support lying devs and price tag of 20$ for a game that offers nothing new.

    PS
    I will keep posting my review back here everytime someone removes it
    You cant silence the truth.    … Expand
  29. YourNeighbour
    Jan 24, 2018
    0
    FIRST UP: They BAN you for giving feedback on the forums. You PAY for a game and you give them a feedback they don't like it so they ban you? What kind of immoral developer are those? They have no shame left and should not continue to exist as a company. If you are reading this, don't buy it, or if you buy it, play it real quick and refund it.

    It might appear to be some kind of open    FIRST UP: They BAN you for giving feedback on the forums. You PAY for a game and you give them a feedback they don't like it so they ban you? What kind of immoral developer are those? They have no shame left and should not continue to exist as a company. If you are reading this, don't buy it, or if you buy it, play it real quick and refund it.

    It might appear to be some kind of open world exploration but no, it's just a linear storyline and it's helluva short for the money you will be paying.

    On top of that, the fps will jump wildly even on the best gaming PC, not very well optimized, just another cash grabbing quick asset dump.    … Expand
  30. fragman
    Sep 24, 2017
    0
    False DMCA claim simulator 2017
    And yes, this is simply a statement towards the lack of character displayed by the developer, not actually about the game. But by their standards, attacking someone's income based on something that has nothing to do with you is acceptable.
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Awards & Rankings

61
#61 Best PC Game of 2016
13
#13 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
55
#55 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 65 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 51 out of 65
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 65
  3. Negative: 0 out of 65
  1. CD-Action
    May 1, 2016
    80
    Firewatch is hands down the best, the most engaging first person walker I have ever played. Something doesn’t let me rate it higher though, and I guess it’s my common sense. [04/2016, p.50]
  2. GameSpew
    Apr 15, 2016
    80
    The look of this game is nothing short of stunning… Each detail is carefully designed and thought out with a charming feel to it overall.
    Read full review
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Apr 12, 2016
    100
    This unconventional game combines strong story, beautiful natural surroundings and fantastically written and played characters. What it lacks in classic adventure mechanics, it makes up in great dialogue system between the main protagonists. [Issue#262]
See all critic reviews »