To read our original review of This War Of Mine on PC, click here.
War never changes. Well, maybe it should; we’re over saturated with military shooters and need something more refreshing. 11bit studios has done something new with the subject of war by looking at the other side. The side of war that doesn’t involve just shooting people in the face, but instead a more important factor for those caught in the crossfire: Survival. This War of Mine: The Little Ones does just that.
This War of Mine takes players into the roles of those trying to survive a time of war and bloodshed in an Eastern European city. These are people who are not fighters, put in a situation they didn’t choose to be in. Playing as a group of survivors held up in a bombed out house, you must survive the daily trials of war and basic survival, from eating to first aid. Each day presents new challenges for the group as members will react differently to the situation, and various outcomes are produced by the player’s actions. In The Little Ones, you’ll have to protect young children, distracting them from the horrors of war with toys and games. When each day ends, the player must choose who will scavenge throughout the night in a number of locations, and who will stay behind to protect their home.
This bold and captivating wartime drama focuses on the survival and struggles of normal people rather than soldiers, taking on a subject in gaming which is often overlooked. This could be considered a harsh reflection on events we’re witnessing today with any number of war torn countries. What makes things rather challenging are the choices you will have to make. These choices range from feeding a homeless man to ensure his survival, to possibly stealing supplies from an elderly and sick couple to help get your group through another day. Losing a character also has a devastating effect, and at one moment of the game I quit because I lost a long running character. The game is highly immersive and the explanations above are a huge factor in what makes it so captivating.
Duties for day to day life include comforting fellow members or the group, resource management, feeding, and first aid. In order to progress and live through another day, you’ll have to utilize the time offered in order to ensure everyone is kept happy and safe. One way to do this is by constructing improvements around the home such as beds, cookers, and water filters. I personally felt that the days weren’t long enough to allow players a chance to fulfil requests or to get to grips more comfortably with the world. But for what you could do, it was very engrossing. You’ll become determined to fortify your home and build necessary items within it to progress.
What I did find to be the major problem linked to the previous point was the manner in which text game is displayed. It’s unbelievably small and difficult to read even on larger televisions; you’ll most likely need a HD TV the size of a door to even read most of the information displayed. It may sound petty but for immersion and reading vital notes and tips, it ruins your focus on important facts in the game.
The game also lacks a lot of guidance on the basics of gameplay and small details. For the first few attempts you’ll be learning everything from scratch by yourself. This War of Mine is fairly straightforward, so for keen players and those who put time into the game, this problem won’t be a long lasting one. However, small issues do still crop up and never seem to get better with progression. The worst offenders are the bartering screen and how exchanging items works.
Trading items is a little confusing since no values are displayed. This means that if you pick an item you want to buy, you then have to trade items from your inventory of the same value to complete the transaction. But to do so, you’ll have to guess what the items are worth, which can and does often mean picking random items, or pushing forward low value items until the trader can’t take anything more. You’ll get a hint saying, “This item is worth a lot or not,” but time is an important factor and all this does is waste it.
The aspect I found the most compelling was the night time scavenging when players will travel to multiple locations in order to find resources for their survival. As the night comes, you’ll decide who from the party will stay and guard the shelter, and who will scavenge throughout the night. There are a number of locations to explore across the war torn city. They offer food, materials to build, first aid, and weapons. You’ll only be allowed to send one character scavenging per night, so choosing someone with a larger inventory and picking only the most vital items is important here. Many factors come into place when scavenging, aside from personal constraints and how much you can have someone scavenge. Each location offers different degrees of danger and some difficult choices to make. As mentioned, you’ll come across different situations, and it’s up to you to decide if you’ll help people or just rob them.
The night time activities really did appease my appetite for survival, and coming across the different kinds of obstacles during the night only furthered my interested. I’m kind of scavenger in other games such as Fallout or Tomb Raider, and seeing the different actions and locations kept me invested longer and coming back for longer sessions.
Additional modes allow players to customise their games with weather conditions, number of survivors, and a new feature which includes children characters. However, I felt that there was room for a little more customization, or the ability to alter certain areas in more detail. An example of which is your shelter; you’ll start off with the same shelter for every game no matter the size of the group. It would have been interesting and a little less repetitive if the shelter differed in size and location, making your replay experiences different each time. Otherwise, the level of customization is good, creating an (use this word lightly) enjoyable and easy experience, or something that would break any gamer.
Nonetheless, even with some hiccups along the way, This War of Mine is fantastic game that is extremely gripping and highly innovative, allowing us to look on the other side of war. This makes a refreshing change to the military FPS games we’re loaded with every year. For those interested in anything RPG or survival related, I’d highly recommend This War of Mine: The Little Ones.
An Xbox One code for This War Of Mine: The Little Ones was provided by 11 bit studios for the purpose of this review