By: Robert Murphy
There have always been a vast amount of video games that tell the stories of past wars and it has been awhile since I have seen one about World War I but that isn't even the most significant aspect to Valiant Hearts: The Great War. The story is represented in a charming cartoon like manor although it definitely has it's darker tone to it. War has brought for individuals and a dog together in a story of love, loss and conflict the likes of which the world had never before seen up until this point in 1914. The game however doesn't revolve any sort of gun play and instead features a puzzle solving adventure that you will embark on as your four main characters or five really, try to survive this harsh time in world history.
At the beginning of the war, German citizens living in France were asked to leave their nation and return home as the conflict began to break out. This is where Karl, a German born man comes into our story as he is forced to leave his wife and newborn son to return to his home country. From here we meet Emile, who is the grandfather to Karl's young son and is called into service for the French army quickly moving through boot camp and sent out to fight when we meet another man character Freddie. Freddie is an american solider who befriends Emile early in the game and is a man who has volunteered to fight for the French as the Germans have taken away what he holds most dear to him and seeks revenge against them. Even though this is all taken into a 2D and relatively simpler narrative to what happened during this time, it is no less powerful in it's story telling. It was a heart jerking moment to almost immediately see Karl taken away from his wife and son and then being sent along with Emile to fight in the war where artillery fire, gas attacks and mounted machine gun fire would kill thousands of men on the field. The imagery is exceedingly well done and brought to life here with all that occurs and will make you forget any notion of the game being childish for it's initial representation.
The games 2D platforming style works very well as it uses both a foreground and background affect that comes into play with enemies as well as the other character you may have along with in certain parts of the story. Where it often comes into play is when you must hide from enemy AI in the game as you won't spend a lot of time fighting as I said earlier. Bushes, bookshelves and other items can be hidden behind while you wait for a patrolling French policemen to move out of the way or distract him with something you're holding. Perhaps my favorite fleeing moment came later in the game while playing as Karl escaping from a prison camp, moving a scarecrow across the field while waiting for patrolling soldiers in the foreground to move along their path. While most of the time the game is fairly simple with it's puzzles, I still very much enjoyed them. There are a variety of puzzles to face in Valiant Hearts many of which involve doing a series of events to get to your underline goal of the level where you help one person get something to get what you want in the end. Also though in the unlikely event you do get stuck on a puzzle or array the game provides hints, a carrier pigeon in the corner will appear after you spend to long in an area and it will have an envelope with a clue for you which I thought was a fun addition to the game.
Each character also has their own unique sort of skill and little attributes that will contribute as you play as either one of them. Freddie carries with him a handy set of wire cutters to cut through fencing on the battlefield while Emile carries with him a shovel to move dirt and maneuver to areas you can't get with others. Ana, who will come a bit later to the first chapter of the game is looking for her father who she hasn't heard from and is believed to be forcibly helping the Germans. Ana is a young girl who knows quite a bit about medicine will patch up soldiers in the game with a medical mini game and also plays feature to a few taxi mini games as she drives her handy vehicle all across the front lines and must dodge enemy bombs, gun fire and just about everything else. Our last character is a furry little hero named Walt who helps all of the characters at one point or another in the game whether it's flicking a switch or distracting an enemy so you can sneak by, he is one handy pup to have around.
In conclusion, I really loved Valiant Hearts, it was a game that I had heard nothing about but is something that I am glad to have played through once I had bought it. Despite it's appearance, it gives a very hardening tale of not only World War I but also the characters who were all around favorites for me, each with their own story to tell and each very enjoyable to play through. The puzzles may not be too much of a challenge for most but each was unique and entertaining for me as they all worked together in some way, one thing led you to get another and reach your goal. They were not tedious tasks for me to complete, they were fun and quirky and fit the story.
At the beginning of the war, German citizens living in France were asked to leave their nation and return home as the conflict began to break out. This is where Karl, a German born man comes into our story as he is forced to leave his wife and newborn son to return to his home country. From here we meet Emile, who is the grandfather to Karl's young son and is called into service for the French army quickly moving through boot camp and sent out to fight when we meet another man character Freddie. Freddie is an american solider who befriends Emile early in the game and is a man who has volunteered to fight for the French as the Germans have taken away what he holds most dear to him and seeks revenge against them. Even though this is all taken into a 2D and relatively simpler narrative to what happened during this time, it is no less powerful in it's story telling. It was a heart jerking moment to almost immediately see Karl taken away from his wife and son and then being sent along with Emile to fight in the war where artillery fire, gas attacks and mounted machine gun fire would kill thousands of men on the field. The imagery is exceedingly well done and brought to life here with all that occurs and will make you forget any notion of the game being childish for it's initial representation.
The games 2D platforming style works very well as it uses both a foreground and background affect that comes into play with enemies as well as the other character you may have along with in certain parts of the story. Where it often comes into play is when you must hide from enemy AI in the game as you won't spend a lot of time fighting as I said earlier. Bushes, bookshelves and other items can be hidden behind while you wait for a patrolling French policemen to move out of the way or distract him with something you're holding. Perhaps my favorite fleeing moment came later in the game while playing as Karl escaping from a prison camp, moving a scarecrow across the field while waiting for patrolling soldiers in the foreground to move along their path. While most of the time the game is fairly simple with it's puzzles, I still very much enjoyed them. There are a variety of puzzles to face in Valiant Hearts many of which involve doing a series of events to get to your underline goal of the level where you help one person get something to get what you want in the end. Also though in the unlikely event you do get stuck on a puzzle or array the game provides hints, a carrier pigeon in the corner will appear after you spend to long in an area and it will have an envelope with a clue for you which I thought was a fun addition to the game.
Each character also has their own unique sort of skill and little attributes that will contribute as you play as either one of them. Freddie carries with him a handy set of wire cutters to cut through fencing on the battlefield while Emile carries with him a shovel to move dirt and maneuver to areas you can't get with others. Ana, who will come a bit later to the first chapter of the game is looking for her father who she hasn't heard from and is believed to be forcibly helping the Germans. Ana is a young girl who knows quite a bit about medicine will patch up soldiers in the game with a medical mini game and also plays feature to a few taxi mini games as she drives her handy vehicle all across the front lines and must dodge enemy bombs, gun fire and just about everything else. Our last character is a furry little hero named Walt who helps all of the characters at one point or another in the game whether it's flicking a switch or distracting an enemy so you can sneak by, he is one handy pup to have around.
In conclusion, I really loved Valiant Hearts, it was a game that I had heard nothing about but is something that I am glad to have played through once I had bought it. Despite it's appearance, it gives a very hardening tale of not only World War I but also the characters who were all around favorites for me, each with their own story to tell and each very enjoyable to play through. The puzzles may not be too much of a challenge for most but each was unique and entertaining for me as they all worked together in some way, one thing led you to get another and reach your goal. They were not tedious tasks for me to complete, they were fun and quirky and fit the story.
Good:
- Very powerful story telling
- Incredible design and artwork
- Enjoyable characters all around to play as
- Solid puzzle solving and adventure side scroller
Bad:
- The somewhat demeaning moments for the German soldiers which occurred time to time especially with the games central enemy
Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10
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