Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One, iOS, Android
Released: June – November 2014
Reviewed On: PlayStation 4
Genre: Puzzle / Action Adventure
Mode(s): Single-Player
Distribution: Digital Download
Rating: ESRB: T / PEGI: 12
Content Warning: Violence, Blood, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco

War Bonds

Anything worth fighting for comes at a price.

I often wonder what the course of human history would look like if the brave men and women who had fought and died for our freedoms had instead cowered in the dark while evil men conquered. We often talk about our rights and freedoms; to speak, to worship, to live the way we want to. But in the end, these freedoms are simply gits. Gifts handed down to us and paid for in blood. War is a terrible experience. But sometimes necessary to ensure that the peace that eventually comes is for everyone, not just the few. Not many who take up that cause sees that end.

Because anything worth fighting for comes at a price.

Set during the events of the first World War, Valiant Hearts isn’t so much a tale about the war itself, but the impact it has on the various characters that you interact with as you progress throughout its story. It’s an interesting mix of flash graphic / comic book aesthetics sprinkled with dark and brutal truths about how the escalation of war has on the human condition. The use of armored tanks, chlorine gas, the rise of air-based warfare and so on.

But alongside the brutal nature of conflict, there are moments of somber joy, heroic adventure, and deeply moving sadness as this tale moves ever on. And that’s the interesting part of Valiant Hearts. This isn’t a simple black and white tale of good vs. evil. It’s a tale of how simple, ordinary men and women are swept up by forces greater than them, doing simply what is necessary in order to survive. People like Karl, a German-born man living a once-quiet life in France, forced from his home and drafted into the German army against his own family; while his own father-in-law, Emile, is conscripted into the French forces early on, putting them both at odds in a war they never asked, or enlisted for.

Over the course of the game, they’re joined by an American fighter named Freddie, enlisted in the French forces, Belgian nurse named Anna, and even a rescue dog named Walt. Each character brings with them certain traits and weaknesses. Freddie, for example, can barrel his way through obstacles on the battlefield and cut down barbed-wire fences. Walt can scramble through smaller spaces to retrieve or activate certain environmental elements in order to solve certain puzzles and so on. Anna, meanwhile, isn’t so much a fighter, but rather spends her time healing both ally and enemy alike. Through her we get to see the aftermath of war. Those broken, bleeding spirits torn down by both bullet and fear alike.

Every level is a puzzle waiting to be solved. Some are rather clever in their design, while some are fairly straight-forward. Simple moments like tossing objects to distract enemies, or finding the right combination to open certain doors and so on. Some can be quite challenging however, but if you’re ever stuck on how to solve one, the game offers you hints from time to time that you can look at to get a leg up on what you need to do next. It’s a bit of a “cheat”, but it’s optional if you want to utilize them. I will say that they’re just challenging enough to be satisfying, without being so overwrought difficult as to break the story’s momentum.

Occasionally you can also stumble across various collectibles, each one with a story all their own that offer up little-known facts of the historical realities of the time; things like how working and living conditions affected the average family, both on the French side, and German side of the conflict. You’ll also open up the occasional “real world” history facts, which can get a little annoying since they tend to pop up quite a lot during the various chapters. They’re optional to read at the time, of course. But I did find it annoying that as I’m trying to solve a certain puzzle or figure out what to do next, they pop up on the screen almost shouting out loud to “READ ME! READ ME!”

The one real jarring encounter I had with the story is in some of the voice-acting. Hearing the narration of Emile, a French man, suddenly talking with a very British accent in some of the in-between chapter cut-scenes is…. disconnecting. But on the whole, that’s a small gripe. I enjoyed the overall visual and audio aesthetics of the game. My only real disappointment was that Valiant Hearts plays out a little too short. On average, you can complete the game at the three-to-four hour mark.

Final Thoughts: Despite its length, Valiant Hearts is a visual treat, admirably pulling you into a variety of interesting little situations, or throwing in that small little detail you may not have caught on your first play-through. Through it all, the various characters you experience the story with are genuinely endearing, making the player easily and genuinely care about each and every one of them; what they experience, what they add to the story, what they must ultimately do in order to survive. This may be a minor spoiler of course, but not every one makes it to the end.

But anything worth fighting for has its price.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5