Firewatch looks super interesting. It’s not just the sparky walkie-talkie dialogue between lead character Henry (the game’s controllable park ranger/fire lookout) and his supervisor Delilah, but also the setting – after all, how many titles take you to the Wyoming wilderness in the late ‘80s? Ahead of this fascinating adventure’s release on February 9th, developer Campo Santo has been chatting about how long it’ll take you to finish Firewatch, and whether you should expect VR support.
With its witty banter and atmospheric setting, Firewatch is resolutely a game for grown-ups. While you’re here, check out the best adult games on PC.
Designer Nels Anderson – who worked as design lead on the rather excellent Mark of the Ninja – compares the game’s length to that of “a trilogy of movies or a TV mini-series”. It should take most players around five-six hours to polish off this creepy, evocative quest, though Anderson says there are “quite a lot of ‘off the beaten path’ areas in the game” that will pad the duration out should you choose to fully explore them.
Firewatch’s first-person perspective would seem to make it a cozy fit for the likes of Oculus Rift, though Anderson isn’t making any promises when it comes to supporting VR headsets. “Getting a game that wasn’t built specifically for VR to really feel good is actually quite challenging,” he says. “So if we wanted to do something there, we’ll definitely need to roll our sleeves and dig in.”
Whether Firewatch gets in on the wacky virtual reality act or not, I’m still oh so pumped for Campo Santo’s debut effort. With studio founders Jake Rodkin and Sean Vanaman at the helm – who both worked as creative leads on Telltale’s stellar The Walking Dead – Firewatch looks set to spin one hell of a yarn this February.
Cheers, WCCF Tech.