valiant-hearts-the-great-war
Latest
Joystiq Top 10 of 2014: Valiant Hearts: The Great War
ATTENTION: The year 2014 has concluded its temporal self-destruct sequence. If you are among the escapees, please join us in salvaging and preserving the best games from the irradiated chrono-debris. War is a common theme throughout video games, usually granting you a trigger to pull and later reminding you of the true cost of battle. Ubisoft Montpellier's approach to one of history's deadliest conflicts in Valiant Hearts: The Great War eludes those narrative methods, instead spinning an endearing tale about a period of sustained malice and sorrow. Set during the events of World War 1, Valiant Hearts' four playable humans (and one canine) get swept in the waves of global catastrophe practically by circumstance. The side-scrolling adventure game begins with the German-born Karl stripped from his family in France, then injected into the side of conflict opposite that of his father-in-law, Emile. As the world around them collapses, they meet the Belgian medic, Anna, who is drawn in for the good of others, and the voluntarily enlisted American, Freddie, who has a personal mission at heart.
Valiant Hearts: The Great War on Android tomorrow
Valiant Hearts: The Great War will be available on Android via Google Play and the Amazon Appstore starting tomorrow, November 26. Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a World War 1-era puzzle-adventure game with an endearing, cartoonish art style that ends up creating a powerful narrative. In our five-star review, we said, "By the time you perform one of the game's final acts, a moment so brilliantly orchestrated as to be instinctual, you might wonder what it is you've learned in this sometimes sanitized, sometimes upsetting war." On Android, Valiant Hearts: The Great War comes in four chapters – $5 for the first chapter and $4 each for the final three, or get those last three in a bundle for $9. The game is also available on Google TV. As with the iOS versions, anyone who owns Valiant Hearts: The Great War on Android gets the interactive comic, Valiant Hearts: Dogs of War, for free. [Image: Ubisoft]
Valiant Hearts comic barks up the iOS tree for free today
Valiant Hearts: Dogs of War is a four-chapter, interactive comic book that tells the backstories of Walt, the dog star of the game Valiant Hearts: The Great War, and his canine sister, Cassie. The comic is free to all who own Valiant Hearts: The Great War on iOS, and the game is $5 for the first chapter and $4 each for the remaining three chapters. Or, get the final three installments in a three-chapter bundle for $9. "The loveable pair grew up together until one day events of The Great War sent them down vastly different paths," Ubisoft says in a press release. "In this tale of heroism, both dogs are thrown into the maze of trenches across the Western Front, and will have to navigate their own way towards survival amidst the horror of the war. Walt and Cassie won't share a common fate: While one will become a messenger, the other will become a medic who rescues fallen soldiers." Valiant Hearts: The Great War launched on iOS in September, following its release on consoles and PC in June. In our five-star review, we mentioned the emotional power working behind the comic book art style: "Valiant Hearts doesn't simply use comic portraits as a stylistic crutch. There are smart details in the art that connect to the story, sometimes in a simple foreground photo that tells you something about Anna's only family, and other times in a cutaway panel filled with peril – Freddie screaming for Emile to save him and quickly. Valiant Hearts won't always let you pass through its puzzles at a tranquil pace, and death can happen in an instant." [Image: Ubisoft]
Valiant Hearts 'interactive comic' gratis with iOS version
Walt gets plenty of screen time in Valiant Hearts: The Great War, but no one's going to blame you for wanting to see more of the adorable, four-legged sidekick. Fortunately, Valiant Hearts' iOS breed of players have earned a related treat: according to the Ubiblog, an "interactive comic book" starring Walt and his sister will be offered for free on November 6 to anyone that purchases or already has Ubisoft's emotional war story on iOS devices. The comic book follows a canine contribution during the initial years of World War 1, with players helping the pair save lives and deliver messages via touch navigation. The blog post doesn't mention the comic's appearance beside the PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360 or PC versions of Valiant Hearts, so newcomers and veterans without tours in iOS territory are facing the same $4.99 price tag for now. Our review of Valiant Hearts praised the adventure as "a war game that recalls, in memories both cheerful and sad, that there is a person first, then a soldier, and then - if you're lucky – a hero." [Image: Ubisoft]
Halo: Reach free, Valiant Hearts discounted for Xbox Gold members
Welcome to the back half of September, which means Xbox Live Gold members can now grab Halo: Reach gratis from the service. Regularly priced at $25, the Halo prequel covers the events of the planet Reach's evacuation before it was overwhelmed by The Covenant. It's not an uplifting tale. Following that heavy theme, the emotional Valiant Hearts is also discounted for the week on Xbox One and Xbox 360 for gold members.
Valiant Hearts, Angry Birds Stella on mobile today
Ubisoft's Valiant Hearts: The Great War and Rovio's fierce (the Tyra definition, not literal) Angry Birds Stella are available now on mobile gizmos. Angry Birds Stella can be flung for free onto iOS and Android devices and is the pinker version of the 2 billion unit downloaded franchise. Stella will also be part of a 13-episode TV series, along with "books, animations and their own line with HASBRO." No word yet if Sephora will have an Angry Birds make-up line. Don't reject that joke outright!
Valiant Hearts storms iOS in September
Ubisoft's Valiant Hearts: The Great War, a critically-adored tale of love, loss and the horrors of warfare, will reach the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch on September 4. Though the game drops players into the trench warfare of World War I with all the explosions and destruction that setting would suggest, Valiant Hearts is actually a relatively staid adventure game only punctuated by brief moments of action. Instead of gunning down German troops by the dozen, the game's characters tend to overcome their problems by using stealth, solving puzzles or sending a helpful canine companion to retrieve items from unsuspecting soldiers. Death is omnipresent on the battlefield, but unlike most games focusing on war, Valiant Hearts effectively highlights the more human side of the conflict. As our glowing, five-star review puts it, "Valiant Hearts is a war game that recalls, in memories both cheerful and sad, that there is a person first, then a soldier, and then - if you're lucky – a hero." According to Ubisoft, Valiant Hearts' control scheme has been completely redesigned for its appearance on iOS, "making Valiant Hearts more accessible than ever before." Ubisoft has yet to attach a price point to the iOS Valiant Hearts, though with both Steam and console versions of the adventure game asking $15, it seems unlikely that the mobile game would be any more expensive. [Image: Ubisoft]
Valiant Hearts: The Great War review: Friends in low places
Valiant Hearts: The Great War treads surely and lightly through the grimmest of places. It sends you digging into the trenches of World War 1, but knows that leaving you to wallow in the mud and blood forever does not grant it emotional maturity. For every dour moment in Valiant Hearts, for every uphill struggle, there is a moment of warmth, of return, and reunion between old friends.
Valiant Hearts: The Great War invades consoles, PC in June
Ubisoft has announced plans to publish Valiant Hearts: The Great War on June 25, a scheme that will see the World War I-era puzzle-adventure game arrive on PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. As we mentioned in our preview last year, Valiant Hearts: The Great War stars people attempting to survive the titular Great War alongside their trusty canine companion. According to developer Ubisoft Montpellier, the game will contrast the emotional toll of World War I with an exaggerated, hand-drawn art style, that lends a cartoonish yet melancholy tone to the game's visuals. On debut, Valiant Hearts: The Great War will be available from the PlayStation Network Store, Xbox Live and via digital download on PC. Ubisoft doesn't specifically mention which PC digital distribution services it will use, but the publisher's own uPlay store seems a likely candidate. [Image: Ubisoft]
Valiant Hearts: The Great War tells the story of five WWI survivors and a dog
Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a new game from Ubisoft Montpellier created with the UbiArt Framework engine, which powers Rayman Origins, Rayman Legends and the upcoming Child of Light. The hand-drawn story is set during World War I and follows five individuals attempting to survive the war, each of their fates tied together by one medical service dog. Valiant Hearts relies on a mixture of platforming and environmental puzzle solving, and uses a picture-in-picture comic book presentation style to propel the plot. There are also light stealth elements, as evidenced by a scene in which one of the characters tosses a rock to distract a guard. Presentation is exaggerated in Valiant Hearts: Burly German soldiers drink beer and bite on big pretzels, lending slight levity to what is typically a somber setting. Valiant Hearts: The Great War is in development for the PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC, and will be released on digital stores sometime in 2014.
