Valiant Hearts: The Great War

As a teacher I am always looking for way to connect with my students through media they enjoy. When I teach Microbiology or a unit on Epidemiology in some other Biology course, I always bring Pandemic the strategy board game. When I am teaching the metric system or giving scientific measurements of objects, I always use Minecraft blocks as examples. When we do Chemistry, I always try to include some cool demonstration that they may have seen online but explain how and why it works. I enjoy these things after all and it’s fun to share them and apply them in a lesson. I want my classes to be fun and engaging and I want my students to learn a lot from their experiences in said class. But I teach science and one of the frustrations I experience as a teacher is when I find something that would be perfect to use in class, but not a class I am licensed to teach.

Case in point, Valiant Hearts: The Great War, a self-contained history lesson about WWI. With lots of incredible details and mini lessons of history scattered here and there it serves like an interactive documentary of WWI and, through its narrative, a sobering social commentary on the nature and price of war.

The games aesthetic is deceiving really. It draws you in with cartoonish visuals and bright colors, but as the game, and the war progresses the colors mute and the violent nature of war is brought more and more into focus. The last mission is harrowing and haunting and I will never forget its conclusion and the ending of the game. It was heartbreakingly real and tragic. The game is told through the perspective of several characters on both sides of the war. But the struggle is not good vs evil. Both sides of the war have heroes and villains, and nothing is black and white in this conflict.

The game is presented as a 2D game built in the appropriately named Ubi Art engine. The game is stunning with a very distinct art style that enhances the games’ ability to tell its story. The capacity for violent visuals is truly shocking in this esthetic, but the "limitations" allow them to push the medium even further than something that would be more realistic. I am specifically trying to be vague because you really must experience it to appreciate what the game accomplished with its art.

The gameplay is puzzle based and revolves around moving back and forward through levels to find the right items or situations to progress. The game reminds me of a point and click adventure, without the mouse cursor of course. Puzzles are telegraphed with environmental clues and the game accomplishes a lot with limited text and dialogue. Throughout the game as you search you can find little easter eggs containing more information about WWI and these collectables only add to the education value of the game. It encourages exploration and critical thinking which allows the game to extend even beyond the scope of history to teach problem solving skills, again all hidden in a video game.

Each playable character also has their own mechanics to increase the variety and few forced scrolling quick time missions are thrown in to add further diversity. All the characters weave in and out of each other’s story naturally, but they do not necessarily follow each other. This gives you several perspectives of different parts of the conflict and broadens what the game can cover. You will be in war torn cities, trenches, open fields and more.

I cannot recommend this game enough to a history teacher or professor teaching the first world war. If you are nervous about investing in the game, I have included a playlist showing my play-through through the game. I was going for a speed-run trophy when I recorded it so I skip a lot of collectibles and text boxes, but it should give you a decent idea of what to expect from the game. Really though I recommend playing the game yourself ahead of time, and then replaying it with your students. You can pass the controller around or hold it yourself and then prompt the class to solve the puzzles. You can include the easter egg material into your vocabulary studies. Honestly, I am surprised someone does not have a lesson guide using this game to teach WWI but maybe that something one of you reading this could come up with for teachers pay teachers. A few years ago, a history teacher colleague of mine was complaining that he wished he had "cool stuff" to share with his kids like I do, and I wish I had thought to recommend this game to him. Because on this one occasion I am jealous of him.