When I first heard about Valiant Hearts before it got mentioned at E3 I was really stunned by this title for its 2D comic-book style art, during the years video games have all been focused on World War II but never looked at the First World War seriously. Ubisoft attempts to do two things right about Valiant Hearts creating an enjoyable puzzle adventure and tells a heart-breaking story during the events of the First World War. This game tells a war story that inspires by real life letters and has four characters on the battlefield help a young German soldier find his love in this story about survival, sacrifice and friendship.
Putting you in control of various characters during the conflict, whose paths intertwine as they survive the horrors and nightmares of countless battles during 1914-1918 instead of it being a shooter like other games have done in the past, Valiant Hearts is played as a side-scroller throwing in puzzles as you progress through the story instead of killing German soldiers you may end up of finding a way to distract an emery and sneaking around or knocking them out from behind. Another puzzle you'll come across is you may need to wire TNT to blow up a gun emplacement or bridge, or figure out how to re-route deadly chlorine gas back into a pumping station to blow it up and open a way for your allies. What amazes you more about this game is that you get a cute and helpful dog to help you out, he's used extensively in certain puzzles; there are also rhythm game-style challenges used when healing others as a Medic which also plays an important part of the story.
Another highlight that will really catch your attention on gameplay is the car chase scenes that see you racing towards the screen whilst avoiding bombs and bullets from aircraft. These levels are set to music and work brilliantly you'll hear classic musical scores like Night on Bald Mountain and Can-can. But the entire soundtrack itself is yet emotional and memorable at the same time making you want to continue even further and further know what will happen next.
As I've already mentioned from above the 2D art and animation really are the star of the show and how well done their told the story for each of the four characters you play as. From the colourful nightlife of Paris to the ruins of Reims it really does give you a clear idea what it must be felt like to be around that time period of history plus you progress you even get to learn a bit of history at the same time if you check the inventory sections you learn about how people coped and survived World War I, and picking up historical items throughout the game also give you an idea what tools or pieces on what they used.
It might have felt like a short game after clearing through the story after 7 hours or more pending if you want to try and collect everything including trophies. It does make you wonder if there be any other games out there that could well look upon this idea and use those ideas in future video games either based on historical events or something completely different, however Valiant Hearts is both worth the purchase and has one of the most memorable moments you'll ever come across.