Valiant Hearts: The Great War (PC)
Welcome Ladies
and Gentlemen to the No Holds Barred review of not only Ubisoft Montreal’s
latest delve into history but also their latest title in the UbiArt line-up.
I’m the Guardian, and this is Valiant
Hearts: The Great War.
It’s
a brave thing to do; making a game about World War 1, especially in the year
commemorating the centenary of the Great War but at the same time I honestly
believe that this is something that should be done when its considered just
many people these days (both Young and Adult) know next to nothing of this dark
spot in the worlds history.
At
the same time however, much as the case was when Blackadder Goes Forth was
conceived, the Great War is a very touchy subject that must be handled with
care and respect, something that many big name publishers struggle to do at the
best of times, yet alone with a subject matter of this magnitude. As such I
can’t help but wonder just how worthy Ubisoft is of making a game such as
this…especially when we take into account how much they’ve been screwing up
recently – which in turn has lead me to ask myself; are Ubisoft really up for
the challenge? Can they do what Blackadder did all those years ago and make
something not only great but also something true to the hell that cost so many
innocent men their lives, something showing respect to the sacrifice that they
all made?
These
questions will be answered before the end of this review; I can assure you that,
but before those answers come one final question, the eternal question, must be
asked of this game. Is Valiant Hearts:
The Great War any good?
Starting
with the games story we follow the touching, and almost episodic, tale of four
people brought together by war in a quest to help Karl, a young German solider,
get home to wife and child, which in turn leads us into a story survival in the
form of Karl’s Farther-in-Law, Emile, who is incarcerated by the Germans as a
prisoner of war; a tale of revenge in the form of French/American solider ‘Lucky’
Freddie and a tale of rescue in the form of Belgium battlefield nurse Anna, who
is on a quest to save her farther from the clutches of German commander Barron
Von Dorf – incidentally the same man who Freddie wishes to kill and commander
of Karl’s squad. So all in all quite an intricate mix up of stories that
overlap throughout the narrative of the game, masterfully crafted into a fun
and touching story that has more heart in it than I have seen in a game for a
long time. Not to mention a story that, most importantly of all, never loses
sight of the real truth of the war: the heart ache, the death, the misery, the
pain, and the outright insanity of not only the officers in charge but the
entire war itself.
As
for the characters? Well I’m pleased to say that Ubisoft have defiantly put
their fair share of effort into the main cast, something I wish they would do
with some of their other games (…I’m looking at you Assassin’s Creed), and have
gone to great lengths to give them personality and backstory – all of which is
done throughout the game via cutscenes, narration, and even the way each
character acts as you progress them through the story, unlocking even more
information about them via the diary entries that you gain access to as the
story progresses. All of which, quite happily, leads to a feeling that you have
really bonded with each of them, seeing the hell they have walked through and
the losses that they have faced, wanting to see them not only succeed in their
quests but also live to see the end of that god forsaken war. All of which leading to you really feel for
the characters by end of the story, going to show just how much effort Ubisoft
have put into the writing of this game and a nice change of pace really,
considering that most game developers these days seem to spent more time developing
shiny graphics than honest to goodness story and character development.
Also
while I’m on the subject I suppose I should also talk about the “villain” of
the piece…or at least the closest thing we get to a villain: the Barron Von
Dorf. That said however, Von Dorf to me is like that bully in Toy Story who
destroyed all his toys; not really a villain in the conventional sense of the
word but still a bad guy who needs to be stopped. He isn’t actively out to kill
for sport and pleasure however, rather he’s a solider looking for his glory on
the battlefield…willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the German’s win the
war like many of the higher up’s on all sides in the conflict; all of whom, I
should add, did some seriously dodgy stuff to both man and animal to ensure
their side won. In a way, acting as a true example of the power hungry nature
that was seen far too often in the war…though that being said, I have to admit
that the way they portrayed the Baron reminded me awful lot of General Melchett
from Blackadder goes Forth, only much more sinister and far less of a
nutcase…defiantly got the lacking regard for human life and the unserious
nature towards the war spot on however.
It should also
be mentioned that the story plays out in an extremely linear fashion, playing
out much like a classic SNES game, and though I personally think this style of
storytelling fits this game perfectly…I can also see a fair number of gamers
being annoyed by this fact. I also can’t help but feel that the game is a bit
too short as well. Not that I’m saying it’s a bad length for its price (clocking
in at about 6 -7 hours) but at the same time it would have also been nice to have
seen some more of the war, rather than the limited snapshots that we got.
That aside
however; I still maintain that Ubisoft have managed to craft one hell of a
story. Wonderfully written and with lovable characters that I’m sure will stand
the test of time and a story that I’m sure will win over a lot of the naysayers
who believe that the Great War should be left out of everything that isn’t a
historical documentary or a dark and depressing tale about the loss of life and
how war is bad…or at least I hope it does at any rate.
Story
aside however, the graphics of Valiant
Hearts are also something to be praised. Much like “Child of Light” before
it, Valiant Hearts is a dynamic 2D
game making full use of the UbiArt framework and as such a beautiful looking
game. This time electing for the style of an illustrated story book rather than
the intricate water painting feel that was use in “Child of Light” and leads to
each character and every dynamically shifting backdrop being wonderfully drawn
in the games beautiful art style.
Though it
should be mentioned that some cut-scenes can be a bit pixelated in some of the
close up shots and a few people have come across the very occasional bug. But other than these 2 things the game is
graphically fine and still one of the best looking games that I have played all
year.
It
also seems that Ubisoft have put their effort into the games audio as well
given that we have one of the most beautiful of soundtracks that I have heard
since…well…“Child of Light”. Easily helped by each song being composed and
orchestrated masterfully, matching the tone of the game and the situation it
represents perfectly. Easily one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard and
a definite purchase when I’ve finished this review.
Also
while I’m at it, the voice work on the game is wonderfully done and though a
lot of it is comprised of short sound bites and gibberish, each character has
their own unique sound about them – at least out of the main cast at any rate.
Though this is not to say that there’s no solid voice work in the game at all
as both the games narrator and the voice of Emile do a truly amazing job. Though
I have yet to figure out why Emile sounds like he’s from south London when he’s
a farmer from the French countryside…seriously; it makes no sense…well that or
I’m incapable of telling the difference between accents, which is entirely plausible.
As
for the rest of the games audio, the sound assets are just as high a quality as
the rest of the games audio work, setting the scene of a world at war
wonderfully and adding spectacular heaps of atmosphere to the game.
A game however, is only as good as its
gameplay; and once again I have to applaud Ubisoft for the work they’ve done.
For starters, the gameplay, though feeling like an old SNES game, is incredibly
fun with plenty to keep you engaged as you run though the story, be it dodging
shells and machine gun fire or playing one of the fast paced, if not a little
challenging, car chase sections that the game throws at you on occasion which,
for some wonderful reason, incorporates the timing of the music with the
spawning of obstacles.
Don’t
be fooled into thinking that traversing war zones and trying not to get blow
into many tiny pieces are the only aspects to Valiant Hearts though; as you also get a fair share of
environmental puzzles to solve in order to progress. It also seems that Ubisoft
have learnt their lesson since ‘Child of Light’…or at least played some Portal…because
it seems that this time around the environmental puzzles are not only of a much
better quality but also have much more variation to them; ranging from the intelligently
designed to the levels of obscure that you would find in an old point-and-click
adventure game…though thankfully nothing to the extremes of rubbing an soot
covered turnip on a dancing chicken in the attic to unlock a door in the
basement…or at least I never came across any like that. I am also quite fond of
how they utilize Walt (the dog) in many of these puzzles as well, requiring you
to not only work out where he needs to stand but also working out the timing of
his commands in order to find the solution…a very nice addition if you ask me.
Also,
for all you loot hoarders out there, there are over 100 collectables in the
game for you to find and collect; with each unlocking a new piece of information
about the Great War on top of the unlockable entries in the in-game index. A
nice little touch I think, as it helps to give an insight to not only the real war
but the era as well, revelling some of the technological breakthroughs of the
time as well as showing us some of the horrors that the war helped to create,
such as chemical warfare – all of which is done in condensed and easy to
understand paragraphs rather than just hitting the player in the face with a
book of historical information like many other educational games do.
I
would also like to take point and mention that Valiant Hearts controls perfectly, be you using Keyboard or a Controller;
plus, as an added bonus, the Keyboard controls are fully customizable from the
games options menu. Though this is hardly surprising when it’s remembered that
this game is a 2D side-scroller…to be honest I’d be far more surprised if they
had managed to screw it up in some way.
So
aye, all in all Valiant Hearts has
some wonderfully fun gameplay, a solid control scheme and plenty of variation…even
though it may seem very basic at times. Though I should warn you that if you
aren’t a big fan of puzzle games, you may want to give this one a miss as,
though none of them are overly complex, there are a lot of puzzles to solve…if
you haven’t worked that one out already.
And
that’s that with nothing more for me to do than to give my final thoughts,
final verdict…and to answer 2 very important questions.
At
the start of this review I asked “are Ubisoft really up for the challenge?” and
“can they do what Blackadder did all those years ago...?” Well to answer them
both right now, I honestly believe the answer, shockingly enough, is…yes. What
Ubisoft have done here is something brilliant, taking the story of the Great
War and showing a whole new generation the sacrifice of the brave men who
fought in it as well as their stories, maybe even given them a new respect for
what their Great-Grandfathers who fought in the trenches of Europe those 100
years ago and maybe…just maybe, helped to keep the memory of these events and
the people who fought, alive in the hearts and minds of not only gamers but all
people who come into contact with this game, forever.
And as for my
final thoughts on the game? Well that’s simple, Valiant
Hearts: The Great War is one of the best games that I have ever played,
easily ranking as one of my all-time favourites, with a story that’s bursting
at the seams with more heart than I think I’ve ever seen in a game and some of
the most beautiful sound work that I have heard to date; not to mention the
stunning graphics, loveable characters, memorable levels and storylines plus
one of the greatest endings that I have seen in what seems like an eternity, an
ending that reflects the darkness and sad truth of the war and an ending that I
strongly suspect, will remain within my heart and within my mind forever more. And
to be honest…I can’t recommend this game enough and I honestly believe that it
is one that everyone should play at least once - especially schoolchildren when
it comes time for them to study WW1.
And so, with all said
and done, it’s time for me to give my Final
Verdict. I hereby give Valiant Hearts: The Great War a
solid score of…
9/10
(A
Must Own Game)
Valiant Hearts: The Great War is available right now from Steam and the
Uplay store for the price £11.99, or your regional equivalent.
And with that Ladies and Gentlemen, all that’s left
for me to say is a deep thank you to all of you for reading this review. I’m
the Guardian, stay safe out there and may we all meet again.
No comments:
Post a Comment