Valiant Hearts: The Great War

"Hungry for more, the war was not yet over. Its appetite was infinite."

I don't remember learning much about The Great War aka WWI. I remember trench warfare, mustard gas, and not much else. I pretty much went into this game blind, with little background knowledge. It was overall, a great pleasure.

This is the story of Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Players control four characters in chapters of this game, piecing together a rich story of how these individuals, each with different backgrounds and motives, come together as if through destiny to help each other in the conflict known as "WWI" or "The Great War". Here are their portraits.

The Characters:

Emile, a French farmer, is father to a daughter whose husband, a German, is deported back to Germany at the onset of the war. Emile is then drafted into the French army and sent to the front lines.

Karl, a young German farmer married to Emile's daughter, is recruited into the German ranks after being deported from Emile's farm in France. He runs into Emile on the battlefield but is captured and sent to a POW camp. He only wishes to go home.

Freddie, an American emigrant, joins the British forces before the US jumps into the war. He has a personal vendetta against a particular German Baron and fights for vengeance and patriotism.

Anna, a Belgian veterinarian, gets caught up in patriotism and decides to head to the front-lines to treat the wounded. Once there, she experiences the horrors of war, but is motivated to push on to rescue her captive father.

Walt, a war-dog, is befriended by the main characters and aids in their endeavors loyally. Some argue that the story is told from his perspective.

Game Mechanics

Told by means of animated comic strips, Valiant Hearts brings the heavy nature of WWI down to a level one can comprehend and enjoy, yet still feel the impact of the war itself. There is very little dialogue, forcing the player to focus on the main character's actions and nature of the missions.

There are many parts where Valiant Hearts feels like a game (as it should because, well, it is a game) like the driving scenes that are part rhythm game and part Frogger. However, this is what makes the game engaging. Not everyone will enjoy the game for its historical content as I was, but simple things like this break up the pace, like a typical "energizer" strategy in teaching pedagogy to keep students from falling asleep during lecture.

The "Taxi CanCan" 

One more important bit of gameplay is finding "collectibles." Each level has a number of these items scattered about, and collecting them rewards the player with an entry in the dossier. Typically, these collectibles are unique features of the level. For instance, in the level where you fight in the trenches, you might collect a sock or a gas mask, and the dossier entry would include an educational bit about its importance to the time. This is another piece of pedagogy that allows players to take a step back from the comical play and learn about the reality of the war. It is a grim reminder of what actually happened and an educational bit about WWI.

This fact found in the game teaches about how WWI changed with the addition of armored vehicles.

Teaching Points

Valiant Hearts is a "valiant" attempt to retell the heroism and tragedies of The Great War. It can be taught and used to initiate many lessons in history. It is riddled with facts that an educator can guide students to finding and reading, then connecting their importance to the game, the level, and the history of the war itself. Students are working to find this information (and this way beats looking it up in a dictionary or textbook any day.)

From a Language Arts perspective, an educator would focus on the concept of "fragmented stories" and "point of view" in telling stories. Guide students in putting the story that they are witnessing into their own words, or describing the main characters. Ask them what actions correlate with what descriptions (ex. Freddy = fearless because always charging into battle). Like any good book, have the students fall in love with the characters, relate to them, and use words to tell their story.

StupidSensei's Grade

At times, the relentless back and forth of puzzle solving got the best of me, but I managed to get immersed in the "combat" and intensity of many of the scenes and levels. I enjoyed and appreciated the learning opportunities provided by the dossier. This game took me about 6 hours to complete, and I can see pairs or groups completing this together to relative success, provided the educator can keep them on task (perhaps with a tasklist to guide them through completing the game or finding collectibles.) This game gets a solid A.

I hope you enjoy this read! That ending though....

~StupidSensei