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Video game review: Characters connect in 'Firewatch'

"Mad Men" actor Rich Sommer provides the voice of lonely firewatcher Henry.

February 12, 2016 at 12:06AM
"Firewatch"
"Firewatch" (Marci Schmitt/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

When Henry heads to Wyoming, he's looking to escape a marriage. Opportunity comes in the form of a seasonal job as a firewatcher.

He (and the player) forms an intimate bond with his supervisor, Delilah, whom Henry (voiced by "Mad Men" alum and Twin Cities native Rich Sommer) interacts with only via walkie-talkie. That relationship is forged and tested over several eerie events, although "Firewatch" (Campo Santo, PS4) is at its best during the story's quieter moments.

I was drawn in partly because of the novelty of taking part in something so mundane. This game is devoid of action in any traditional sense, like such games as "Gone Home." These kinds of games often end up making the character a weirdo monologuist or voyeur, which is something "Firewatch" skillfully avoids with interactive dialogue.

Both characters are lonely in their own ways — and learning about them is the highlight.

about the writer

about the writer

Jeff Cork, Game Informer

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Eviction filings up in Minnesota amid ICE surge

FILE -- A rent deposit slot at an apartment complex in Tucker, Ga., on July 21, 2020. As an eviction crisis has seemed increasingly likely this summer, everyone in the housing market has made the same plea to Washington: Send money — lots of it — that would keep renters in their homes and landlords afloat. (Melissa Golden/The New York Times) ORG XMIT: XNYT58
Melissa Golden/The New York Times

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How do Minnesota pros prepare for a game? Collier, Faber, Gobert and others showed us.

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Chip Scoggins

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