Ubisoft is taking a completely different direction with Valiant Hearts: The Great War, the upcoming World War I themed adventure-drama that sees players taking on the role of four non-soldiers in the heat of the great battle that waged on the German front.

Visually the art speaks volumes – bridging together a somewhat comical fanfare of the events with an emotionally striking tone through the use of washed out and war-weary colors. It's a fascinating contrast of style versus content, with gamers being put at the forefront of the war without a means of winning said war.

This is not another Call of Duty game, where the average player will be facing down against an infinite horde of faceless enemies in a “good” versus “evil” showdown between caricatured villains and national-food bleeding patriots where the “costs” are too great for good men to stand by idly.

Instead, Valiant Hearts takes a step back and focuses on the personal drama between four different characters dealing with the heartache and struggles of surviving in a war none of them can control, stop or win.

Ubisoft puts a strong emphasis on the stories that affect both the French and the Germans in this emotionally moving tale that puts a heavy emphasis on puzzle solving and adventure gameplay, despite all the gunfire, tanks and explosions that seem to be a strong focus of the set pieces that strengthen the atmosphere of the game.

Of course, it's kind of difficult to get a feel for what the game is about without proper context. The original “Comeback” trailer did a decent enough job of setting up the game's premise, where-as the trailer above gives you a bit more insight into the motivations behind the game's design.




It's nice to see that amidst all the standard AAA fanfare, a company like Ubisoft can step away from the Watch Dogs and the Assassin's Creeds and the Far Crys to publish something unique like Valiant Hearts or Child of Light or Blood Dragon.

Easily, I can say that Valiant Hearts and Child of Light are looking like potential surprise GOTY entries this year and they definitely sparked more interest in me than whatever new Assassin's Creed is on the way.

You can look for Valiant Hearts: The Great War to launch this June for the Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PC starting June 25th. For more info you can pay a kind visit to the game's official website.