PlayStation 4 Critic Reviews

In a way Valiant Hearts is a challenge to everyone in the industry; it's a challenge to the publishers churning out the same old "war games," and it's a challenge to all the players that continue to buy into these games without really thinking about what they are playing. War isn't fun, and it has a real impact on the people that are involved in it. It's games like this one that, critically, remind us that there is a human side to war.

This game made me shed more tears than any game I have ever played before, and I find that I am not alone in that sentiment. I even think this game communicated parts of WWI so well that it could be used as an educational tool, though the characters’ story is fiction.

Ubisoft did it again. After Child of Light there is again a unique downloadable game. Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a compelling puzzle game, a must have. It has a funny look but it's actually a game with many layers.

Valiant Hearts tackles the harsh realities of what this war did to regular families. It tore people apart and, conversely, brought strangers closer together. It’s a beautiful tale of love and woe, with a consideration for the chilling realism of war.

Valiant Hearts is a masterpiece, a game that combines gameplay and narration so well that it should be an example for every game designer. And it can teach you a thing or two about the Great War and the human nature. You should really play this game.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a poignant and powerful reminder of the significant human toll borne of the wars that we so often act out in our favourite video games.

Valiant Hearts is quite a peculiar title: behind a simple (and even questionable) videogame lies a stunning experience than will warm your heart while teaching you actual history. If everyone played it, the world would surely become a better place.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War delivers a moving story that will surely leave an impression on you. The UbiART engine delivers another great artistic showpiece telling a story through animation, a powerful and harrowing musical score and documentary-like narration. Valiant Hearts doesn't depict what war may have been like, it makes you feel it.

Overall, I couldn’t have been more pleased with Valiant Hearts: The Great War. Beautiful art, moving music and a compelling story that has a heart wrenching and unexpected ending with plenty of subtext for you to chew on, it was an absolute treat to play.

Compelling and respectful in a way few games can match. [Aug 2014, p.90]