Firewatch

 

There are two games out currently: Firewatch and Overwatch. I kept hearing so much about Overwatch, thinking that it was Firewatch, but I just mixed them up and forgot one of the titles. Today's score comes from the Steam game Firewatch.

   Firewatch is a very interesting take on the first-person point of view. You are stuck in the wilderness of Wyoming trying to solve a mystery and communicating through a walkie talkie as the only way of breaking the silence and loneliness. The graphics are that beautiful and simple/complex type that modern games often have. For being released only about three months ago, it has over 12,000 reviews that give it a very positive score.

   To match the visuals and story, the Chris Remo gives us a very interesting and somewhat minimal soundtrack. The piano in the beginning of Prologue sounds similar to the Fallout theme with all of the chords. This score was given a unique feel that brings it away from that similarity by adding some artificial sounds and eventually an electric guitar in track 2. This simple music is exactly what was needed, because a score too good can distract from the type of graphics in this game, and it does.

   Beartooth Point introduces an acoustic guitar which helps give the feel of the countryside. Some parts of this score remind me of Monument Valley's score, which was very simple to go with its simple yet complex, mind-bending architecture. Without the guitars in this score, it would be too much like Monument Valley.

   This score is a great representation of a composer creating something enjoyable with limited resources. By this I mean that there is no orchestra or expensive instruments. They are very basic, yet the composer was still able to use his imagination with the artificial sounds. The official soundtrack is only 33 minutes long, which makes me guess whether the demand for quantity of music was low or there is a significant amount cut out. I haven't come to actually playing this game yet, though I highly recommend it. The game can be found at the Steam Store. The soundtrack is also available there for $5.99

   Track 15, An Unfortunate Discovery arrives as a surprise, as it introduces something new. There are violins. They sound somewhat artificial though, which could be that they are generated, but it sounds more natural in the next track. Catching Up returns to the prominent piano and its captivating, deep chords. The final conclusion comes with Ol' Shoshone. An acoustic guitar defines a resolving tune while Sean Vanaman sings calmly.

One thing that I will start doing is posting a high quality copy of the artwork for each album, because I know how hard they can be to find. If you haven't already, my recommended resources section offers some very useful links to high resolution artwork that is hard to find.