This War of MineReview by Matt Taylor
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Game developed by 11 bit Studios
Formats; PC |
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With the rest in the gaming world caught up playing Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and FarCry 4 it would be easy to miss 11 bit Studios’ “This War of Mine”. Most video games about war involve shooting down countless waves of beige dressed men wielding Kalashnikovs, but This War of Mine tells the story of the civilians caught up in the struggles seen in big budget war movies and explosive first person shooters. This is the story of those caught in the conflict and the things people do to survive.
Inspired by the real life experiences of civilians in conflict, This War of Mine is all about survival and forces the player to make tough choices and take risks to survive. Besieged in a city with a slightly Eastern European feel, the game opens by introducing the player to their base camp, in the form of a multistoried, dilapidated building, where you are greeted by the characters who are relying on you to keep them fed, warm and safe. |
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While each character has a backstory and their own character traits, they all share the hunger to survive. They will talk about needing sleep when they're tired, food when they're hungry and comfort when they are scared. The players job is to manage the resources necessary for these characters survival, and it’s your job to ask them to do courageous, dangerous or terrible things to ensure that you achieve this.
Food, materials and weapons are scarce but equally important to the survival of your group. The game works in a day night cycle, with the day spent exploring your shelter, making improvements to fortifications, collecting water, creating amenities and creature comforts, sleeping and feeding your group. You might hear a knock at the door while building a bed and find a roving trader or a neighbour who’s in need of help, but most of the day is spent resting, managing food and water and recuperating before night fall.
Food, materials and weapons are scarce but equally important to the survival of your group. The game works in a day night cycle, with the day spent exploring your shelter, making improvements to fortifications, collecting water, creating amenities and creature comforts, sleeping and feeding your group. You might hear a knock at the door while building a bed and find a roving trader or a neighbour who’s in need of help, but most of the day is spent resting, managing food and water and recuperating before night fall.
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The game really opens up when the sun goes down on the shell pocked city. The player gets to choose which of the group will brave the fighting, shelling and sniper fire and go out on a scavenger mission, while others stay at home resting or guarding the group. Choosing the fastest runner or the person who can carry the most resources, this is where I found myself taken into the world. The player is given the choice of scavenging location; often a bombed out house or school that can equally belong to a family or group, or in the most heartbreaking cases, an elderly couple trying to survive. Using the games stealth mechanics the player can choose to quietly collect resources, food and weapons or storm through the doors and fight your way through mercenaries or armed survivors. While some of these people are armed to the teeth and using the war as an opportunity for personal gain, most of the refugees I found were just trying to protect their personal property and their lives.
I think this is where the game really hit me in the gut. I found myself sneaking through other peoples hallways and stealing from their fridges and cupboards to survive, effectively robbing them of the very resources necessary for their own survival. I was becoming the monsters that my own group had to face whenever night fell. I had become the bandit, and even unintentionally killed in my pursuits.
One of the slightly randomly generated scavenging locations (though I think the game uses a roll-of-the-dice type of method) was a small house, which didn’t seem to have been affected by the war going on around it. Each location gets a little description before you go in, with this house stating that it is (or was) home to an elderly couple, but had plenty of resources. Needing food and with one of my survivors on their deathbed due to a knife wound, I was desperate for such a resource rich source. As my survivor crept through the front yard I found very little, and was soon opening the back door to the property. I had just opened the door when the inhabitants heard me and one of them approached me. “What are you looking for?”. It wasn’t long before the old man and his wife were fleeing into their upstairs bedroom as I ransacked their house. It was full of food, material and medication that I desperately needed. As I entered the second story of their house, which was the floor they had fled to, the couple began calling for help. They begged for me to stop. As I fled the scene, their cries for assistance continued to ring out into the night.
One of the slightly randomly generated scavenging locations (though I think the game uses a roll-of-the-dice type of method) was a small house, which didn’t seem to have been affected by the war going on around it. Each location gets a little description before you go in, with this house stating that it is (or was) home to an elderly couple, but had plenty of resources. Needing food and with one of my survivors on their deathbed due to a knife wound, I was desperate for such a resource rich source. As my survivor crept through the front yard I found very little, and was soon opening the back door to the property. I had just opened the door when the inhabitants heard me and one of them approached me. “What are you looking for?”. It wasn’t long before the old man and his wife were fleeing into their upstairs bedroom as I ransacked their house. It was full of food, material and medication that I desperately needed. As I entered the second story of their house, which was the floor they had fled to, the couple began calling for help. They begged for me to stop. As I fled the scene, their cries for assistance continued to ring out into the night.
As I reentered my safe house after the night scavenging, the character I had sent out was clearly shaken up, asking himself what type of horror he had just committed and whether his actions had just condemned those poor people to their death. As this sunk in, the return update popped up on screen and stated that I had been raided over night and a member of my team attacked. Someone else had just committed the same monstrous action that I myself had just orchestrated. I couldn’t hate them and I would never know them, but I understood that they were just trying to survive. I would have done the same thing if I were in their shoes.
This War of Mine reminded me that we were all victims in this game, and all survivors shared the same enemy. We had no choice in the matter, and had all been dragged into someone else's fight.
This War of Mine reminded me that we were all victims in this game, and all survivors shared the same enemy. We had no choice in the matter, and had all been dragged into someone else's fight.
Score 4/5
Game supplied by Publisher
Images supplied by Publisher
Images supplied by Publisher
