World War I is not really a popular subject for a game, but Ubisoft seems to have pulled it off (meaning, make a WWI game interesting) with “Valiant Hearts: The Great War”. The game has launched initially on console, PC and iOS – but now Android and Android TV users are finally getting a bite at this different kind of war game.
Why different? Well, with a war game you would expect to be shooting up some bad guys and mowing through the battle lines of enemies with a tank. Not so with this game – Ubisoft is describing this game as a “playable” graphic novel. That’s exactly how it plays out – the player moves the story along by going through some gaming elements that are very casual in nature – puzzles, driving, dodging bullets.
Not very difficult, you see, because the game seems to be more interested in telling you a very human story rather than challenge you with gaming elements. And the story is told via hand-drawn cartoon-y art, which intelligently tones down the dark tone of the subject matter.
On Android mobile, the game is available for USD$5.00 – which avails you the first chapter of the story. Each chapter afterward is a USD$4.48 in-app purchase, or you can get episode 2-4 as a bundle a little under USD$10.00. For Android TV, the price of the game is USD$15.00, but Ubisoft may need to fix the compatibility settings of that particular download, as it shows it’s not compatible with either ADT-1 or the Nexus Player – and those are the only two official Android TV devices around for now.
DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store
First I pay for game and then I must also pay for playing? Seriously? Are you fcking greedy, Ubisoft? It is like buying a bottle of water which you can’t drink from, until you won’t pay for every single sip.