I've always felt there has been a lack of First World War console games, so when I saw Valiant Hearts appear I thought I'd give it a shot. I had seen a short presentation of the game at one of the conferences a while ago, but I didn't really know what to expect. I was hoping for some gritty trench warfare, with chaos and pandemonium abounding. And that's what I got...plus a hell of a lot more.
Valiant Hearts delivers the horrors of the trenches, but it does so in a way that's not about the blood and the gore and the death; it's about the human. It's not about pitched battle between the Allies and the Germans; it's about the lives of those fighting the battle. As the factually-based story progresses, you begin to get very emotionally invested in each character's personal plight: the German immigrant who is forced to leave his young family behind in France to fight for Germany, and his father-in-law who is conscripted to fight against him for France. Moreover, the comic book-style visuals in the game, although not my usual cup of tea, allow you to focus more on the story which unfolds and the emotion of the characters. There is also very little dialogue: saved for precise moments, and spoken with superb vocal performances to really deliver a punch to the feels.
The main bulk of the gameplay is puzzle solving, varying in difficulty throughout, I was sometimes left frowning hopelessly at the tv while exclaiming 'How the..?!', or 'What the..?!', but I was always left feeling pretty accomplished after. There is a hint system in the game, unless you're playing on veteran mode, which will give you a nudge in the right direction; I confess, I used this a couple of times! These puzzles lead the story on, and for a fair portion of the game you get a little pooch to accompany you through the mire, as well as add another layer of emotive depth to the story.
As much as the story of the individual characters carries itself wonderfully, the action in the game also feels very human. In the scenes where you're placed in the trenches, you'll be charging forward to your objective and in the foreground and background you will see your comrades being mown down by machine gun fire, or falling victim to countless shells raining down. You won't see arms and legs flying, nor grizzly disembowelments, but you don't need to. This game makes you appreciate just the grand scale of death, and how the poor guys who died all had their own stories and personal battles. As I say, very human.
In Valiant Hearts: The Great War, you're not trying to kill the enemy; in fact, there isn't even an enemy (bar one side plot). This game is about individualising the almost 37.5 million casualties from all sides in the Great War. It's not about nations, or alliances, but about people and real life. It's a very unique style of game, non naturalistic and emotive and it all pulls together magically even though I found the story being a little far-fetched at times, but when I finished I could only think, wow, that was real. Valiant Hearts gives a different perspective than any game I've ever played, and focuses on the human and real relationships that were tormented, and it also gives you historical tid-bits as you go. I found it very moving and very poignant. I definitely recommend this game to anyone who is interested in history, or just wants a different kind of war game experience - check it out, but prepare your feels.