Game Pass Gems is a series I’ve started to find overlooked games for people to check out. The diamonds in the rough can be some of the best experiences of any art form. Xbox Game Pass has a litany of titles to check out, from monstrous titles like Halo Infinite and Final Fantasy XV to small and powerful experiences like Undertale. My first three Game Pass Gems editions were Boyfriend Dungeon, Tell Me Why, and Artful Escape. All three are still on Game Pass! I would never have found those games without that phenomenal platform. This brings me to my next edition of Game Pass Gems: Firewatch.
Firewatch, created by developers Campo Santo, is more of a visual experience than a video game. This game hooked me immediately with a fantastic hook and relaxing, beautiful soundtrack. It’s the perfect representation of what I’m trying to accomplish with Game Pass Gems. Go check out Firewatch. It’s a fantastic experience.
Setting and Story
In the middle of the wilderness, where anything can happen, a man named Henry has taken the job of “Firewatch” for Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming. Henry’s wife has early onset Dementia, doesn’t remember who he is, and caused Henry to run away from his life and find comfort in a solitary job and understanding supervisor, Delilah. The beginning ten minutes of the story, where the setting is slowly unveiled, is sad and understandable. You feel for Henry and his horrible situation. Yes, he’s running away from his problems, but that’s a difficult situation for anyone to face.
The story of Firewatch revolves around Henry and Delilah. It’s a great story written by the lead writer of one of my favorite games ever, Telltale’s The Walking Dead. Henry and Delilah uncover a mystery involving two teenage girls going missing. Henry previously yelled at them for shooting off fireworks, which makes Henry suspect number one. It isn’t helped by Delilah covering up their involvement. This leads to Delilah revealing that previous Firewatchman, Ned Goodman, and his son Brian were also lost in the wilderness never to be found. They worked together to figure out an interweaving mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat. I was surprised at the ending too. It was very different than how most video games end. I liked that!
What makes this journey an awesome one were the two main characters. Henry and Delilah were flawed, fleshed out, and had amazing chemistry. I wish there was another chapter with these two.
Gameplay
Given that Firewatch is mostly a visual experience, there isn’t a whole lot of gameplay. The entire game is spent walking around Shoshone National Forest, which can be tedious at times, because it feels like you go from point A, to point B, and back to A. You do a lot of hiking, some climbing, and find some rope to help you rappel down small cliffs. Shortcuts through the map are imperative to find to break up the monotony.
The music helps to create a relaxing experience, along with the dialogue of our two main characters; the basis of our gameplay. The lone choices you can make as Henry are dialogue choices over a walkie-talkie between you and Delilah. How forthcoming of information with Delilah will you be? How close does your relationship with your supervisor get? Those are the kinds of decisions to be made in Firewatch. The gameplay and the entire game, in this case, revolve around our loveable main characters.
Overall
Game Pass Gems is going to change going forward. The point of this series is to highlight hidden gems on the fastly growing platform of Xbox Game Pass. It’s important to realize that these games aren’t perfect or have monstrous budgets. Most of them are Independent Developers with small budgets that create amazing experiences that break the mold of what a video game can be. That’s the perfect representation of Firewatch. Is it a Video Game in the basic sense? Of course, but it’s more than that. It’s a short story experience explicitly for a Video Game medium without the quintessential Video Game standards.
I won’t be reviewing Firewatch because that’s not the point of Game Pass Gems. I’m here to highlight these unconventional and underrated experiences. Go experience Firewatch. It’s worth it.