I actually favored Valiant Hearts—greater than our reviewer, who discovered it “visually beautiful however mechanically lacklustre.” That is a good evaluation, however for me its humanization of the world’s first industrial struggle, from the joy and patriotic fervor of the early days of mobilization to the grinding, soul-crushing horrors of muddy trench warfare, delivered a real narrative gut-punch that I want extra video games would dare to try for. With out desirous to oversell it, I see Valiant Hearts as proof that Ubisoft is able to nice issues when it stops chasing tendencies and franchises, and offers its groups the chance to fly free.
I used to be understandably upset, then, when Ubisoft launched the sequel, Valiant Hearts: Coming Dwelling, as a cellular sport accessible solely through Netflix. I haven’t got any beef with cellular video games, or Netflix, however sitting hunched over my cellphone, poking away at a tiny display screen, actually is not how I wish to partake of that form of expertise.
As of right this moment, I haven’t got to. Greater than a 12 months after its launch on Netflix, Valiant Hearts: Coming House is now accessible on PC, and consoles if that is the way you roll. The brand new (to us) sport incorporates a construction much like the unique, telling the interconnected tales of 4 characters within the dying days of the struggle: James, a member of the Harlem Hellfighters; Ernst, a German diver; George, a British flyer; and the nurse Anna, getting back from the primary sport. The German Military medical canine Walt can be again, to help (paw, I suppose) with puzzles and exploration.
Ubisoft stated it developed PC and console variations of Valiant Hearts: Coming Dwelling “for the devoted group of gamers who had lengthy been requesting the extra platforms [and] to convey the tales to much more gamers.” For individuals who have not performed the unique, it additionally put collectively Valiant Hearts: The Assortment, a bundle that allows gamers to play by means of each video games at a really slight low cost.
I would not anticipate the gameplay in Valiant Hearts: Coming Dwelling to be considerably deeper or extra advanced than the unique, and it is a very compact sport: Gamespot’s assessment of the cellular model places it at round 2.5 hours in size, which is significantly shorter than the primary sport. However watching the trailer, I really feel like that is perhaps sufficient. Valiant Hearts is a memorable expertise however with a spotlight that so intently prioritizes story over gameplay (and a heart-wrenching story at that), typically much less is extra.
Valiant Hearts: Coming Dwelling, and Valiant Hearts: The Assortment, can be found for PC now on the Ubisoft Retailer.