At the end of this month is the 100th anniversary of the First World War broke out. Ubisoft Montpellier - behind the espousal platform games "Rayman Origins" and "Rayman Legends" as well as the role playing "Child of Light" - have now developed a puzzle adventure inspired by letters from the First World War.
The "Valiant Hearts" follows four friends, who for various reasons serving in the war: Emile, a French farmer and his German son-Charles, American Freddy and the Belgian doctor Anna. Moreover, the additional a friend, a faithful dog. Their stories are interwoven when they meet at the front, and the game's chapters alternate between their different perspectives.
The developers of "Valiant Hearts" has not tried to hide how bloody this war was, rather they appear on an intrusive manner by the ordinary soldiers. It is an emotional story set in the midst of the horrors of war. Historic battlefields are often funded, while the foreground consists of muddy moats, bombed villages and excavated fields. Calling the game for gloomy is an understatement.
It is possible to lighten up the game's major theme as it is animated in 2D. The gray color palette and the backgrounds are peculiar, while the animation is a cartoon comic book character. Comic aesthetics is further enhanced by the balloons, interjected comic panels, exaggerated gestures and caricature Kingdom characters - a demonic Baron example.
But the combination of thematic grave seriousness and visual comic book style cut themselves. Although the jokes are there to lighten up a very melancholy story, it feels extremely uncomfortable, unnecessary and wrong when hundreds of soldiers dying all around.
Neither game mechanics hits just right. The problem solving is usually composed of rudimentary puzzle: turn a knob to lift a crane or find an object to change it for another. It's very simple puzzles but not always well designed or logical.
At one point, the obvious solution is to call on a watch to distract a guard. However, I can not interact with the watch although it is standing right in front of me, but must throw an apple on it. "Valiant Hearts" revving puzzles with stealth sequences and action steps, and even though they are simple in their design is the much-needed changes in tempo. Stalking, which mostly is to hide behind the bushes and try to distract the soldiers, is not tricky and can only be solved in a certain way.
Action parts are the more intense. It runs through the bombed camp, dig moats, steering tanks and artillery maneuvers, while still trying to avoid being shot.
It is also during these moments that the game really moves. Soldiers fall, but you have to fight on despite the fact that the scenes are horrific. It's gripping, creepy and it gets the lump in his throat. "Valiant Hearts" succeeds well portray the war futility and tragedy.
The level of ambition is worth applauding, although the design and gameplay mechanics do not quite reach any great heights. "Valiant Hearts" is an original game that has heart in the right place, and I only wish that the performance been as visionary as its idea.
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