Firewatch [official site] is a masterful and beautiful first-person narrative game in which you play a fire lookout who watches for trouble, becomes embroiled in mystery, and has adult conversations with another adult in ways you control. To quote John’s review, it “expands the possibilities for how a narrative game can be presented, without bombast or gimmick.”

Want to learn more about how it was made? Come along to EGX Rezzed on April 8th and you can find out, as we’ll be quizzing visual director Olly Moss and animator James Benson on stage about how they helped recreate the great American landscape of the Wyoming wilderness from their homes in England.

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In games, romance is often an end-goal. A relationship is the reward at the end of a quest chain or a gift-giving minigame of sorts, or it’s the fulfillment of a character’s potential and meaning. There are exceptions, of course, but there are few great romances in gaming, doomed or otherwise. And there’s very little that would fall into the rom-com category.

When I first started playing Firewatch [official site], I was delighted when the melancholy opening gave way to a lightness of touch. There are bright, cheery moments, genuine laughs and a warmth that has nothing to do with any burning threat. This, I thought to myself, could be a tragedy-tinged comedic romance and I hadn’t realised how much I wanted to play such a thing until I was playing it.>

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Contains spoilers and theories which may or may not be spoilers.>

I spent most of my time with Firewatch wishing I was there, alone and without pressures in its peach-hued Wyoming wilderness. It was all I wanted from life: an escape from glaring screens and beeping devices and an inbox which endlessly refills itself with requests I can’t do anything about.

Then I turned on the radio this morning, to hear a feature about how extended isolation has contributed to a disproportionately high suicide rate amongst British farmers. I might dream of a life in the woods, but in truth I would soon become desperately lonely and bored. At least Firewatch gives me the chance to live a small part of it. But it also makes me feel panicky, and guilty. … [visit site to read more]