I really enjoyed Campo Santo's Firewatch, but I also agree, in broad strokes, with Phil's argument earlier this year that it suffers from a “genre problem.” Possibly to a lesser degree: Sure, the pre-twist hype was silly, but it's easy to let your mind run away with ridiculous ideas when you're alone and isolated in the midst of a deep, dark woods, and I can't honestly say that I wouldn't have bought into it in real life with any less gusto than I did in the game. Call me credulous if you will, but the forest plays tricks.
All of which leads, eventually, to the point: Firewatch is getting a major update tomorrow, which will include a new, behind-the-scenes Firewatch Audio Tour mode. “A few months ago we sat down and thought it'd be great to ship a commentary mode with Firewatch, so, we did the logical next thing and started making one,” Sean Vanaman of Campo Santo wrote on Steam. “And then we made some more. And then we thought it'd be neat to build some exhibits out in the forest that would show you how we made certain things in the game. Then we added a scavenger hunt. Then, after a time, we realized we didn't have a commentary mode on our hands, we had a full-on audio tour and tomorrow you'll get to play it!”
The audio tour will include more than three hours of commentary from the developers and voice actors, almost 100 collectible audio tapes, displays of concept art, lighting demos, animation how-to's, and more. What it won't include, however, is a full-on free-roaming mode: Campo Santo said earlier this month that one is in the works, complete with a full day/night cycle and “a few hidden secrets,” but will be released later, first on the Xbox One and then to the rest of us, “in the coming weeks.”
The Firewatch update will also include some bug fixes and other “non-featured updates.” A full and proper set of patch notes will be posted tomorrow.
