Escape Escape Escape: Firewatch Free Roam Is Live

As if Henry wasn't already lousy enough at his job, now he gets to wander around idly, doing whatever the hell he pleases. You want to make America great again? Then make shmoes like Henry apply a little elbow grease for once. Instead of, say, rambling through beautiful canyons and forests, taking photographs and watching a new day/night cycle in Firewatch [official site]'s new free roam mode.

We've known about the free bolt-on to Campo Santo's hitherto narrative-led game for a little while, but today's the day. And not before time: escaping to a broadly unoccupied wilderness to have an existential crisis in peace is doubtless something that appeals to a great many folk right now.

Free Roam removes all story elements from the game, leaving you free to simply traipse around. While the main campaign pre-ordains what time of day it is at any given time, Free Roam has an actual 24-hour day/night cycle (haven't played it myself yet, so can't speak as to whether this is real 24 hours or compressed), so you'll see the light change around you or find that familiar territory looks strikingly different at other times of day. A screenshotter's dream, in other words.

The patch is now live on Steam. You'll find the Free Roam mode found under 'Special Features' in the main menu, though you'll need to have completed the main game first to play.