Valiant Hearts: The Great War Reviews

Valiant Hearts: The Great War is ranked in the 79th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
90%
Jun 23, 2014

Brilliant. Ubisoft Montpellier has created one of this year's most memorable games. A story of adventure and tragedy played out against the backdrop of World War I, Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a game everyone should play.

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9 / 10
Jul 15, 2014

A few games have had the ability to offer a bittersweet tone and to provide a theme that shows the stark reality of war offset by moments of humanity. The visual display of the game is creatively done and the soundtrack is splendidly made, transporting you into the environment on the first note. The game is a gem, probably one of the best games of the year.

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9 / 10.0
Jun 30, 2014

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.

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90 / 100
Jul 2, 2014

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. While the gameplay itself isn't complex, the puzzles were surprisingly fun even if not overly hard. It also wins extra points from me for slipping in historical facts and subtly teaching you a history lesson.

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9 / 10
Jun 25, 2014

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. It doesn't exaggerate or embellish its subject matter, but rather tells a story rooted in historical accuracy and human emotion. And while the puzzler's gameplay isn't revolutionary by any means, its awe-inspiring visual design, clever soundtrack, and thoughtful plot will break your heart in the best possible way.

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9 / 10.0
Jun 24, 2014

Ubisoft Montpellier's tribute to the war that was meant to end all wars is a deeply stirring -- and surprisingly educational -- experience

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9 / 10.0
Jun 24, 2014

All entertainment media has a tendency to glorify war and games are no different. On most occasions, we select our loadout and happily headshot anything with a pulse. 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. History may be in the past, but it should never be forgotten, for the people affected truly were Valiant Hearts.

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9 / 10.0
Jun 24, 2014

I don't want to give too much away, but Valiant Hearts: The Great War is significant in many ways. It not only gives us a rewarding and engaging way to see the horrors of war as it pertains to this particular likable cast of characters, but it also educates us on one of the most significant events in history. Ubisoft Montpellier could have just delivered a good game and called it a day, but they went above and beyond the call of duty to add context to the proceedings, and that is quite the commendable effort.

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9.2 / 10.0
Jul 20, 2014

If you're most interested in a good story, engaging characters and an altogether completely different take on the average War game, you're in luck because Valiant Hearts: The Great War is tailored by folks just like you.

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9.3 / 10.0
Jun 27, 2014

Valiant Hearts: The Great War is short, but anything longer would most definitely be padding. The entire package fits well together, and it goes down in my book as one of the best and most complete puzzle games since Portal 2. Before you dip into the doldrums of summer, I can't recommend enough picking up this game first. All I need now is for the soundtrack to be officially released, and my life will be perfect.

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9.5 / 10.0
Jun 29, 2014

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. I want my friends and family who don't seek out history for fun or play video games to play Valiant Hearts. I want to show this game to my favorite history teacher in high school– who was also a soldier and a lover of fine art, to see what he thinks, though I feel that I already know the answer. I want to tell everyone how wonderful and important the complete experience of Valiant Hearts: The Great War is so that many more people can enjoy it. Oh wait, I think I just covered that last thing.

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Digitally Downloaded
Matt S.
Top Critic
Jun 24, 2014

But 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.

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Unscored
Jul 7, 2014

Valiant Hearts is a rarity: a game from a massive AAA publisher that plays out a personal and intimate story in a largely untapped historical setting. More of that, Ubisoft.

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Unscored
Nov 19, 2018

If you are like me and missed out the first time around, Valiant Hearts: The Great War is an absolute must-play for puzzle-adventure games and history enthusiasts.

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Unscored
Jul 8, 2014

You may find the title music serene if not melancholic when you first load up Valiant Hearts. When you return weeks later to replay favorite sequences and find collectibles you missed, you may find the same music moving for the way it tugs at the heart strings. You will know, as you're returning to the game, the music is a reminder of the tragedy and the beauty that lies underneath the cartoonish art and puzzles of Valiant Hearts.

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Unscored
Jul 3, 2014

Valiant Hearts gets most of it right. In the end, it's just an incredible relief—if a decidedly un-American sentiment—to play a memorable war game that isn't some Rambo-inspired revenge fantasy. Well, that's not exactly right. It's a memorable game that just happens to be set during a war. And that makes all the difference.

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Luke Plunkett
Top Critic
Yes
Jun 26, 2014

There's no other war, or game, quite like this.

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