The Walking Simulator, a somewhat derogatory term used to label a new kind of game that has emerged over the past couple years, has given the genre known as "quick time event" a bit of a reprieve. Together, these two genres have polarized fans of the medium, and has made myself question just what these experiences exactly are. And that is precisely what they are: an experience. Same as Contra, Doom, Final Fantasy VII...games that fall under this nebulous category of "minimal gameplay" have earned their right to be interpreted on its own merits as a subjective gaming experience.
But these kinds of games also come with a bit of a caveat - since they are so inextricably tied to their own narrative, the more you know about it, the less enjoyment you're going to get out of it. The mystery and simplicity (more on the latter in a bit) are what makes a great walking simulator. Games like Oxenfree and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture lure us in with a pretty neat concept, but ultimately end up making a five hour game seem double that. There are no stakes, because there are too many characters, and no one to really identify with. The opening shots of Oxenfree establish such confusion that it ends up being a perfect encapsulation of the entire experience.
Enter Firewatch, the debut game from Campo Santo studios. Yes, the studio of hotshot upstarts from Telltale who won freaking Spike TV's Game of the Year award. Their first game would be that natural evolution from the Quick Time Event game that had everyone talking in 2012, and with it, an enticing setup for folks like me who just can't pass up a good story. Like the reigning King of Walking Simulators, Gone Home, Firewatch looks back in time to a decade of decadence and excess, and hardly ever glosses over any of it. Its a simple story about a sad and confused forty something who has run out of places to hide, so he goes to middle of Nowhere, Wyoming in 1988. His one line of contact is an equally confused and vulnerable woman, and with that, we play. Or rather, we walk. And experience.
The best moments on display in Firewatch are the ones most steeped in human nature; the guilt of leaving a loved one behind, the vulnerability in telling someone you've never seen and hardly know that you wish they were by your side. Similarly to mentor Gone Home, the story of Firewatch utilizes a surprising amount of restraint. Discussing the story any further would provide a great disservice if you haven't yet played the game, so I'll simply leave it at that.
The gamey parts of Firewatch do a serviceable job dangling the next story beat carefully in front of Henry, our vessel into this unique world. The majority of your time will be spent navigating the vast canyons and forests of Wyoming with only your map and compass, so it's not an entirely linear mission. Instead, Henry is given orders by Park supervisor Delilah via walkie talkie, and Henry can venture off the critical path to find peripheral items that have been tucked away in survival caches. Various sections of the map can get blocked off, of which Henry will make a written note of, a feature that had me fiercely reminded of the Silent Hill series. These led to the most frustrating sections of gameplay, as there were multiple instances in which Henry needed to double back in order to find the right path. Nevertheless, Shoeshone National Forest offers a welcome amount of open ended exploration for what usually constitutes such a linear experience.
Firewatch is a beautiful game while Henry is stationary, but the most glaring issue with the game is the frame-rate, primarily on the Playstation 4. I can count on my hand nearly ten times over how many times the game sputtered or even froze still as I was using the run option to guide Henry to the next objective. Apparently, Henry can't handle the serene imagery when he's mobile. When everything is firing on all cylinders however, this little twenty dollar game is one of the best looking I've played on a the new generation of consoles. Its aesthetic truly peaks during once you've hit certain narrative beats. An innocent morning walk can instantly become a foreboding trudge through high noon hijinx complete with creepy noises of the forest around you. Make sure you experience this game with headphones.
I'm ecstatic games like this are being developed regardless of their polarizing nature. The argument could be made for Firewatch being better suited for a short story or motion picture release, but Firewatch is the sum of parts that can only be found in this medium.