Valiant Hearts: The Great War is an upcoming and highly anticipated adventure game with puzzle elements that is currently in development by Ubisoft Montpellier, the developers behind Zombie U and Rayman Origins. The game is set to be published by Ubisoft Montpellier’s parent company, Ubisoft; creators of the Assassins Creed and Far Cry series of games.
Set against the backdrop of World War I, Valiant Hearts: The Great War runs on the internally Ubisoft developed UbiArt Frame Work that powered Rayman Origins and Legends as well as their more recent title, Child of Light. Slated to launch worldwide on June 25th of 2014, Valiant Hearts: The Great War will be arriving on multiple consoles across both last and current generations, the game will be available on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One via digital download. There are no known plans for a retail release of the game.
Valiant Hearts: The Great War is running on the in house developed video game engine titled UbiArt Frame Work, a powerful engine geared towards bringing beautiful games to life. According to the UbiArt team, “UbiArt is a collective of artists and developers that originate from video games, film or cartoons. Most of the members of UbiArt discovered programming, paint brushes or castanets before they even got their first tooth.”, lending more credence to the artistic titles they produce and their faith in the audience that supports them.
Valiant Hearts: The Great War puts the player in an emotional journey through the difficult years of World War I. The characters will convey emotion which will be better than most AAA games.
The story of Valiant Hearts: The Great War is one of broken hearts and entwining destinies that are fated to cross paths on the broken and twisted battlefield ends of World War One. Settled amongst the trenches of the Great War, our five heroes will do all they can to endure the horrors of the conflict and survive another day alongside their brave and beloved canine friend. As the time passes by our valiant quintet will eventually be drawn close together as they are tested in new ways, testing their humanity.
The gameplay in Valiant Hearts: The Great War takes place on a 2D plane wherein the player will traverse the landscape of a world at war in an effort to aid those around them and contribute to the war effort in whatever way they can. This often takes the form of puzzle solving, be it helping soldiers get fresh water or safely navigating a field of fire.
The game unfolds at a fast enough pace, jumping the player between on of the five playable characters as the story progresses, allowing for rich and varied character and world development. Characters will interact with one another through the use of expressive speech bubbles rather than actual dialogue, helping quickly and concisely explain the characters needs without bogging the player down in endless text.
Emile – Emile is an unfortunate Frenchman who was once a farmer but is now a Prisoner of War, captured whilst looking for his son in law.
Freddie – Freddie is an American Soldier who is fighting in the war to honour and avenge his fallen wife.
Ana – Ana is a nurse hailing from Belgium who has been tasked with aiding soldiers and tending to the wounded who lie strewn across the battlefield.
George – George is a British serviceman who is soon to become a pilot, despite not actually knowing how to fly a plane, let alone take one into battle.
Karl – Karl is a soldier in the ranks of the German army who is also entangled in the war. He is also deeply in love with Emile’s daughter.
Walt – Walt is a loveable and affectionate dog who’s on is own journey through the great war. His path will cross every other character mentioned above and he may even be seen aiding them with solving puzzles.
Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.
