Review

Developed by:11 bit studios Published by:11 bit studios Genre(s):
  • Survival
  • Platform:
  • Handhelds
  • Microsoft
  • PC
  • Sony
  • Cost:$19.99 ESRB Rating:RATING PENDING Players:1 Release date:November 14, 2014 Reviewed on:PC
    8.8

    This War of Mine

    11 bit studios is quickly becoming one of my favorite developers. That’s saying a lot seeing as how they don’t have that many games under their belts. The games they have produced though are fun, unique, and as was the case with their latest title, thought-provoking.

    This War of Mine is a video game that takes a hard look at the inhabitants of a besieged city. A rebel force has declared war on a governing body for some reason or another which has led to all sorts of mayhem; fighting in the streets and homes being shelled are two examples. Life has been turned upside down for the innocent people who weren’t lucky enough to leave the city when it was only an exchange of harsh words and threats between the two factions. It isn’t safe to go outside in the daytime as a sniper could mistake you for the enemy. Or, they could just be bored and picking people off for fun. This means that foraging for the bare necessities has to be done at night. Of course, they still aren’t safe when the sun sets. With so many people struggling to survive, a misunderstanding could be life-threatening…

    Because the idea is to portray what it’s like to live in a war-torn environment, most of game is procedurally generated. This is first shown in the cast of characters; you’re provided a different group at the beginning of each game, each with their own brief backstories, skills, personality, and vices. They’ll be holed up in a large house (the only reoccurring element) that’s been badly shelled. The good news is that the house isn’t void of resources. The first day is mostly about searching through the rubble, cabinets and whatnot to find something of use. Medicine for those who are sick, wood to make beds and patch up holes in the walls, canned food to be rationed out, a book to take their minds off the war – if you found any of these things you were off to a good start.

    The real decision making starts that night. You’ll be presented with a map of the neighborhood and give brief descriptions on each place of interest. At this point you’ll have to choose who stands guard, who gets some rest, and who goes out to get supplies. Once that’s all decided the gameplay will shift from a survival focus to a more of a stealth-based one. You see, you don’t know what’s become of the places you have to explore or the people living there. If people are living there, will they be nice and willing to trade or will they be extremely territorial? The tension ramps up thanks to a modified “fog of war” mechanic that conceals most of the home/building you’re trying to sneak into. If you’re lucky, no one will be around to pose a threat.

    A lot of your in-game time will be spent trying to find some form of balance. How many beds do you build knowing that wood you’d use to build them could be used to keep everyone warm when the season changes? Even though Bob – let’s call him Bob – is your fastest runner (allowing him to quickly flee from danger), do you make him risk his life every night?  With limited resources and a dozen or so “needed” things to manufacture, it can be tough choosing what to build and when. For that matter, it’s tough to choose who gets to eat and who doesn’t. It makes sense to keep the people going on runs fed, but your goal is to keep everyone alive. Then there are the other people. Other survivors like you. There are only a few cans of food left and someone’s at your door asking to be let in. They’ll be another mouth to feed. What do you do?

    All of these decisions and dilemmas are characteristics of the survival genre. What I want to talk most about though, are the moments between the survival game mechanics (you can check out my preview for a more in depth look at the game’s inner workings). The parts that really mattered to me were the relationships between survivors and the tough choices you’re faced with concerning them. One moment that really stands out happened while I was savaging for food in an abandoned mall. Peeking through one of the windows, I was able to see a soldier in military fatigues (he wasn’t a rebel). He was talking to a female scavenger who was picking through some scraps. At first I thought he was going to reprimand her for taking their stuff; it seemed like the soldiers had set up a staging area in the lower parts of the mall. I figured I’d let them deal with each other while I took some things from the upper floors. That’s when I noticed the tone of the conversation had changed.

    The guard told the women that if she did him a “favor” he’d give her all the supplies she wanted. She refused his help and started zipping up her book bag. He then told her that without his help she wouldn’t make it. As he said this, he started to slowly walk toward her. I didn’t like where this was going so I readied my gun and continued watching. After another brief exchange, the guard grew impatience and told the woman that she had no choice. When she tried to run, he hit her over the head with the butt of his rifle. At this point I kicked open the door and started firing. I’m not sure if I reacted because I was appalled at what was happening or if I had grew drunk on the idea of being the hero. It was probably a little of both. Reality has a way of sobering you up though. My scavenger was quickly shot down for his efforts. I’m certain the woman’s fate was worse; when the night ended, the game sent me back to the house where I saw the other character’s grieving over their lost ally. Going back there was out of the question – we only had one gun and were vastly outnumbered.

    A few nights later, while looking through the ruins of a shelled school, I ran into an armed man. I immediately pulled my knife expecting a fight. I figured I’d wait till he turned his back and go for the throat. It’s safe to say that my past experiences put me on edge. To my surprise I found him to be nonviolent. Noticing me hiding behind some boxes, he said, “Don’t worry. There’s plenty here to go around” before walking right by me. I could have needlessly taken someone’s life, something I was trying my best to avoid doing.

    There were other water cooler moments during my playthrough. After stealing some food from an elderly couple (the game wouldn’t let me barter, more on that later), I found them lying dead in their bed on a return trip. This sent my controlled character into a downward spiral of depression. He even got drunk, consuming an entire bottle of moonshine that I was planning on trading with; characters will act on their own from time to time. Life was hard and the game did it’s best to remind the survivors that their days were numbered. It wasn’t completely unheard of to find a brothel full of mothers looking to trade services for food to feed their children or to see sniper fire rained down on those foolish enough to walk down certain streets. Winter brought cold nights and sickness. As food became scarcer, the rat population plummeted; people were catching and eating them at an alarming rate, which made the selling/trading of raw meat suspect. If there were no animals, what meat was being harvested?

    Even though there wasn’t much in terms of a story – the narrative is always unique to that particular session – it was easy to get emotionally invested. That said, I can’t say that I was having fun. On one hand this makes sense when you consider all of the life and death decisions. I nearly stopped playing after one person begged me for some food. It felt horrible to tell him no but still loot the place he was sleeping in (though I did return later to give him some food). On the other hand, there were some features that I feel make the experience a little unfair. For instance, I couldn’t tell my characters to ask people for things. If the NPC’s don’t offer a trade, there is no way for me to interact with them. This often led to an altercation; someone wanted to know why I was snooping around their place and I couldn’t respond with words. I would have gladly asked that elderly couple for some food instead of taking it if I had actually been given the opportunity to do so.

    This War of Mine can be downright depressing and a little unfair. That said, it’s one of the best gaming experiences out right now. Not because it offers up fun time, but because it’s such an impactful way of conveying what people go through to survive. I feel that the developers did a great job with the subject matter, shedding some light on an often ignored part of war. The awesome visuals and dark score together helped to nail down the game’s theme. 11 bit studios has created a game that won’t be liked by all, but should be played by everyone!

    Gameplay:

    9

    The survival mechanics and random nature of the game do a great job of portraying the hardships one would face in this type of environment. Not being able to communicate freely does make things feel a little unfair though.

    Graphics:

    10

    The hand drawn, penciled in look is perfect!

    Sound:

    9

    The score, though gloomy, is excellent.

    Replay Value:

    7

    You can replay this game multiple times and get a slightly different experience each time. That said, the depressing theme may keep most from coming back!

    Final Score:

    8.8

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