It's a reality check. I've slain over 200,000 enemy players in World of Warcraft, hundreds of civilians in GTA and countless thousands more in other titles. One time in WoW, I tracked down a Hunter who had killed one of my low level characters. I held him still with my Succubus seduce, forcing him to look-on while I killed his pet (relevant in the days when Hunter pets had 'Happiness' ratings) before executing him with a Soulfire. I'm almost ashamed to say that I took great pleasure in every stage of the act.
But killing that woman in This War? Hearing the cries of the girl who found her? Her friend? Or was it her sister? There wasn't an ounce of pleasure in that. Every step I took toward her, I second guessed myself. Is there no other way to get past her? Should I leave this place and forage for supplies elsewhere? Could I just talk to her? But I couldn't risk that. If she killed me, who'd feed and care for the others waiting for me back home? They needed me, so I had no choice... did I?
Did I?
This is just one incident where this game forced me ask serious questions of myself. I'd think for days on the decisions I'd made, on the things I'd had to do to keep my survivors alive for another week. Did I really have to steal from that elderly couple? That soldier was power-drunk; he would've raped that girl if I hadn't intervened. That baby crying in the house... if only I'd brought my crowbar, I could've broke the door down and saved him.
The true triumph of This War of Mine is as above. For all it's simplicity, artistically and in regards to gameplay, there is something hauntingly real about the world that has been crafted and the stories that are woven therein. Visually the game delivers all that is required, a believable, broken city trapped in a warzone from which there is no escape. You get the sense that much time has passed and people have already grown accustomed to living like rats among the rubble. The sound track is just as despondent - perhaps even frightening - in the best most beautiful way possible, of course.
None of this is to say that the game is outright depressing, however. There are moments of relief and triumph that shine like diamonds among coal. There's the first time you build a radio, the first time you gather food and, if you're the daring type, the first time you save someone's life out of pure compassion. In this way, This War reminded me of Dark Souls 2, another unforgiving game set in a dreary, bleak world. In fact, so bleak was the mood and story of DS2 that many who played it decided that depression and hopelessness were themes deliberately laced into the gaming experience. They might be right. But in both titles, there are moments of intense relief should you have the will to earn them.
If you don't earn them, you'll die.
From this, it has to be said that This War does not hold your hand. There is no 'easy mode', and seldom are there short-cuts or welfare handouts. And even when there are handouts in-game, they are never truly without risk. You might choose a character to visit an aid supply drop to see what they can find. They might return with nothing, or with an injury as they fought over food or medicine with other survivors. They might not return at all. In an age of gaming where everyone is a winner - everyone gets epic items, medals just for participating and 'achievements' just for logging in, This War gives you nothing that you don't earn by putting the very lives of your survivors at risk. For that, I respect this title as much as I do the likes of Dark Souls and Darkest Dungeon.
I could go on. I could talk about the sense of connection you feel with your characters as their stories develop, the struggle of trying to survive through winter, the harrowing messages you can discover across the ruined city in letters, graffiti and on hastily carved wooden grave marks.
But the final point I'll mention is just how fresh it felt to be playing a game that didn't pretend that war and conflict was somehow 'sick' or 'awesome' (because, you know, no-scopes and s**t). It has always bothered me that I can switch on the news channel and see refugees being displaced, survivors of bombings in the middle east dragging the corpses of their loved ones from crumbling buildings - and that I feel very little.
I'm not a cold person. I do feel sympathy for people stranded in war-torn places, it's just that these places seem to me to be somehow millions of miles away. I'm never going to meet these people who's lives are being ripped to pieces by a war they want no part in. I just switch off the news and go back to playing games. This War of Mine is a medium for education on this front, and is still to this day the best 3.50 I've ever spent.
Catch it in the Steam summer sale!
Cob
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