A wonderful game that treats its subject matter with respect and sensitivity.
Once in a while a title comes along that challenges gaming, Valiant Hearts The Great War is one such game.
Set during the terrible conflict that blighted Europe between 1914 and 1918 it follows ordinary people caught up in the most wasteful of wars.
Valiant Heats The Great War is a puzzle adventure at heart with some platforming and action sequences thrown in. Essentially you explore the landscape for items to complete tasks to progress through the story. This may not seen particularly exciting and to be fair occasionally it does drag, however the story is what make this game worth playing.
You control 5 characters throughout the game all who have entered the war for different reasons.
Freddie is an American who joined the French army to seek revenge.
Anna is a idealistic vet who sees the tragedy of war and helps by becoming a nurse.
Carl is a German national who is deported from France at the start of the war and ends up fighting on the opposite side to his father-in-law Emile.
So instead of a crew cut special forces marine blasting away with massive guns, like so many war games, you have ordinary people trying their best to survive in a war with no reason, among the horrifying death toll it created.
It is presented in a stylised cartoon environment with characters that rarely speak but this does not undermine the emotional impact this game delivers on a regular basis.
Valiant Hearts The Great War also hopes to educate as it has partnered up with Mission Centenaire 14-18 and Apocalypse 10 Lives. These partnerships allow the game t provide factual information and incredible colourised photos of the events depicted in the game.
2014 is the centenary of the start of this terrible war and over the next 4 years many different events are happening to commemorate the sacrifices made by so many. Valiant Hearts The Great War looks to add to this by producing a game that is fun to play but also one that helps us to understand more about what made this war so awful and why this can never be allowed to happen again.
Here is a link to my playlist for Valiant Hearts The Great War and the first video in my play through is below.
Thanks for your interest and as always… Happy Gaming!!
Valiant Hearts – The Great War