Firewatch is set to be one of the most unique indie titles of 2015. While the name doesn't give away much, the gameplay shows your character exploring the wilderness in search of trouble. It has been described as "a mystery set in the Wyoming wilderness, where your only emotional lifeline is the person on the other end of a handheld radio" by the official page.
This is developer Campo Santo's first game and will see players assuming the role of Henry, a man who retired to spend his time on top of a mountain looking for smoke that would signal a wildfire. The game has been set during what the website explains as an "especially hot and dry summer."
Apart from that, Henry's supervisor, Delilah, is his far-away cohort, and the game is said to introduce "something strange" in Henry's path as you get into it. Also, the choices that Henry will be making during his wilderness venture via his handheld radio will determine if he will be able to cultivate that relationship or imperil it.
Everything seems to go on well in the start of the game with Henry almost always in touch with Delilah with the handheld radio, until "something strange draws you out of your lookout tower and into the world."
From here on, Henry will go on to explore a wild and unknown environment, facing questions and making interpersonal choices that can build or destroy the only meaningful relationship that he is clinging on to in the middle of nowhere.
The developers are keeping the details for the new game at a bare minimum for the time being, and intelligently as well. It says that while the company will go deeper into the story throughout development, "but as Firewatch is early in its development AND a mystery story, we don't want to give too much away."
The game, for the time being, has only been announced for Windows, Mac, and Linux, but the developers are looking to bring the game on a console "and are actively exploring the prospect." The company wants the game to be playable for as many people as possible and "will aim to be on any platform that fits the design of the game!"
There's just a solitary gameplay video that has been pushed out for the game, and yet things looks quite refreshing from others in terms of looks and gameplay. The human interaction, from what we have seen so far, seems like will only get deeper, while also building the element of mystery that the game is all about, in the first place.
And expectations are high since the developing team also seems full of potential developers who have worked on other major titles in the past, including Mark of the Ninja, Brutal Legend, The Cave, Bioshock II and The Walking Dead: Season 1. Campo Santo was formed when all these developers ended up opening an independent studio.
Firewatch is being developed in Unity with all the help it can muster from the add-on community. Along with other tools for various purposes, the game world is making use of SECTR Complete—a piece of Unity streaming middleware developed by Nathan Martz at Make Code Now! The company says it's also using the proprietary dialog and event tools for the game.
What Firewatch holds for us going ahead is unknown. While it looks like a game that has got the potential to become one of the best indie titles this year, there have been times in the past when players have been left disappointed with the final product after intense gameplay teasers – like the one you can check out below.
However, keeping an eye out on the gameplay video for the game, it can only get better from here, especially how the story pans out. Being out there, in charge of an entire wilderness on foot, while your only sort of 'human contact' is via your radio handheld, on the other side of which is your supervisor, seems like has all the elements of a mystery.
And clearly from the gameplay trailer you can make out, from both of their conversations, that Delilah knows something about this place and is hiding it from Henry for some reason, What could she be hiding and and who is the mysterious figure far away on the hills looking at Henry? Only time will tell.
