Firewatch Review Roundup

One of the most anticipated narrative experiences of 2016 just has to be Campo Santo’s Firewatch.

Was it worth getting excited about? Let’s find out.

Firewatch
Platform	Metacritic Critic Scores	Metacritic User Scores
PC	82	*Still to be scored
PS4	75	*Still to be scored

Those aren’t half bad scores for what isn’t your typical gaming experience, and the critical opinions are even better.

IGN – 9.3 (PS4)

“Firewatch sounds as good as it looks, thanks to a world-class script acted to perfection by its two leads.”

“Firewatch is amazing for many reasons, but above all because it’s an adult game that deals with serious issues, with realistic adult dialogue to match. And it deals with those issues just like actual adults would.”

Gamesradar – 4.5/4 (PS4)

“Firewatch is linear, short, gives the illusion of choice without ever really branching away from the core story and offers little in the way of replayability. But that’s absolutely fine. This is the kind of game you simply have to play once. Like Journey.”

Hardcore Gamer – 4/5 (PC)

“A touching human story sprinkled with player agency, Firewatch succeeds in causing players to consider what it truly means to be alone. Its open-ended exploration and gorgeous visuals force players to get lost and really contemplate how along they really are, despite the voice on the other side of that radio.”

Destructoid – 8/10 (PC)

“Most impressive is the thematic cohesion. Firewatch is broadly about guilt, which metastasizes here as isolation-induced paranoia when things turn frightening.”

“Not perfect, but it’s easy to ignore the rough spots when faced with so many engaging design decisions and entertaining moments. A memorable game that’s hard not to like and recommend to others.”

God is a Geek – 9.5/10

“It’s another example that games can just be more. We’re rapidly approaching a place where stilted, fake-sounding dialogue isn’t acceptable. People want to explore something fantastic but tethered to reality. We, as players, want to feel connected to our games. We want them to make us cry or to make us think; to make us feel. Firewatch does all of this, and leaves you reflecting on it afterwards.”