Review: Valiant Hearts The Great War

Why aren’t we using video games to teach history? I’m serious, why aren’t we? This was the question that was going across my mind as I was playing Valiant Hearts: The Great War, the latest creation from Ubisoft Montpellier. Not only will it educate you on just why this was called the “Great War”, but the story will tug at even the most taught of heartstrings.

Based on actual letters from soldiers, Valiant Hearts begins during the early days of WWI and follows four intertwining story lines throughout the rest of the war: Karl, a German farmer exiled from France at the start of the war; Emile, Karl’s father-in-law conscripted to fight; Freddie, one of the few American soldiers to have enlisted at the start of the war; and Anna, a nursing student on a mission to help her father.

Oh and there’s a dog. THERE’S A DOG!

You will play as each of the characters throughout the game. Each have their own special abilities that will help you solve the myriad of puzzles laid out such as healing wounded soldiers and being able to dig through mines.

The gameplay focuses on simple puzzle solving that is reminiscent of games like Limbo, in which you more often than not tasked with getting from Point A to Point B using stealth, digging, punching and using any nearby object that may aid you like dynamite or a random piece of fruit. They are pretty enjoyable and while there is the potential to die in the game, the checkpoints are pretty generous and it never felt repetitive or arduous.

Avoiding bombs while holding a flag is surprisingly challenging.

There are also various “boss battles” or other sequences throughout the game that require you to either confront or avoid an enemy that breaks up the regular puzzle solving action. The most memorable of these for me were the car chase sequences, in which Anna would need to avoid obstacles while driving and escorting other characters. These often relieved the tension of previous chapters, feeling more like a comedic escape caper than a WWI drama.

Where Valiant Hearts really shines though is its depiction of WWI. Is it a perfect depiction? Of course not. Obviously liberties were taken. You probably can’t actually dig your way through a mine with a wooden spoon. Nor could you distract every German guard around with a dog.

And wounded soldiers can’t be cured so easily with Quicktime Events

And yet…and fair warning, this is where my opinion takes over entirely…I have read many a history textbook on this war. I have heard it called “the Great War”. I have seen many docudramas on the subject. But it wasn’t until I played this game that I began to finally grasp just why this was known as the war to end all wars.

The game’s look evolves beautifully over the course of its approximately 6 hours of game play from the bright, cheery fields of France to the barren, grey and red tinted nightmare of the trenches to prisoner of war camps to the devastated cities of Europe. The characters grow as weary and wounded as the landscape, and by the time it gets to the point where an army official is shouting yet more orders for you to traverse over a chaotic, body ridden war zone, you begin to understand what might have driven these men to desert.

There is numerous WWI trivia throughout the chapters.

The characters and animation are simplistic but effective, conveying the most complex of emotions through the simplest of gestures. It plays almost like an interactive comic and is more effective for doing so.

Aiding these emotions is the soundtrack. The minimalist style music, more often than not piano, enhances the experience of traversing a trench ridden war field or finding hope in a dim moment. Added to that are the myriad of voices for soldiers, often spoken in a gibberish version of the countries they represent. They don’t come across as offensive, however. As a matter of fact, they simply add to the world of the game.

Also, there’s a dog…I did mention that, right?

There are also various optional objects throughout the game that you can pick up to give you additional trivia about the war (for instance, did you know soldiers dipped their socks in tallow?!). On the one hand this is usually interesting and I personally found it fascinating to explore. On the other, it could interrupt the flow of gameplay for others especially in the more intense sequences of the game.

The one major downside is the presence of the Baron, the antagonist of the game. While I understand that video games often need SOMETHING to fight against, the presence of an over the top evil German dude drinking wine and throwing bombs in an otherwise accurate depiction of the war was jarring to the rest of the experience.

MWA HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Otherwise though…honestly, I can’t praise this game enough for its boldness. As I said, I’ve read text books on WWI and the impact it had on the world. But video games have the power to grant us a somewhat further and more immersive glimpse into the horror that occurred in those intense four years. By the end of the game, I was tearing up as I watched the characters enter their final chapter.

The most amazing thing about this feat? Apart from a couple of exceptions, not once are you required to fire a gun. Imagine that: a war game displaying the atrocities of war without you having to actually kill anyone. But it’s still a very powerful image and one that you should not miss out on whether you’re looking for an emotional and resonant story or looking for a more intense look at the history of a war which is fast being forgotten.