Battlefield 1 hits store shelves in October, which means there’s a lot of gaming time to fill between now and then.
Battlefield 1 is set in World War I, but it’s not the only game that takes place in that time frame. For Today’s video, I’m talking about three of the best World War I games on the market.
If you can’t watch the video:
#3 – Verdun
Many players and historical enthusiasts cite the multiplayer game Verdun as one of the more realistic shooters available. The game doesn’t shy away from the nature of warfare in World War I. You will die – a lot. Weapons are particularly deadly, most are one-hit kills, and you will be fighting with rifles against entrenched machine guns.
Because of this, the gameplay in Verdun can be significantly slower than other first person shooters. Flagrantly exposing yourself to enemy fire is a one-way ticket to the grave. Tactical movement and accuracy are key in this game, which sports a wide variety of authentic World War I weapons, with an emphasis on bolt-action guns. Maps are based on actual battlefields, and Verdun’s gore system doesn’t try to hide the horrors of war.
Developed by independent studios M2H and Blackmill Games, the shooter has done very well for an indie title. It’s currently available on Steam, and will soon be released on Xbox One and Playstation 4, August 30th. Expansions for the game are free, and Verdun supports a bot mode, which are another couple reasons to pick it up – if you’re looking for a realistic WWI game. It retails for $24.99.
#2 – Toy Soldiers
Toy Soldiers is a fantastically odd game. At its core, it’s a tower-defense game. Your goal is to prevent waves of “toy soldiers” from entering your toy box. You do this by building emplacements with money earned from destroying enemy toys. There are a wide range of emplacements, ranging from machine guns to mortars to artillery to anti-aircraft guns. Each of these emplacements automatically engage enemies and can be upgraded. You can also manually use emplacements for maximum carnage and multipliers – and can even control the shells on bigger guns.
On top of this, there are also vehicles like tanks and airplanes that you can pilot around the battlefield to engage enemies from a third person perspective. You’ll need it too, since the enemy will throw everything at you – including massive “boss” vehicles like airships and the infamous Tsar tank.
Toy Soldiers also has an interesting achievement system that unlocks items in a footlocker if you complete challenges. These items are from World War I, and when unlocked, you learn more about what life was like for soldiers on the front lines.
The campaign is played from the side of the Entente powers, and is particularly long. Once completed, you unlock an entirely new campaign from the German perspective. There are several difficulty levels and challenges for each scenario. Toy Soldiers also features a PvP multiplayer mode.
Developed by Signal Studios and published by Microsoft, Toy Soldiers is available on PC, Xbox 360, and is now supported as a backwards-compatible title on Xbox One. It retails for $9.99.
#1 – Valiant Hearts: The Great War
Valiant Hearts is another unique World War I game. It’s a side-scroller, which sets it apart from the other games on this list. Instead of killing everything in your path, Valiant Hearts follows the stories of five characters: the Frenchman Emile, his German son-in-law Karl, American soldier Freddie, Belgian nurse Anna, and the lovable dog Walt.
It’s primarily a puzzle-solving game, but it’s the brilliant art direction, melancholic soundtrack, and superb narrative that push Valiant Hearts to the top of my list. It’s actually a pretty remarkable accomplishment, since the characters don’t really say anything coherent, but they don’t have to. The game is all about emotions – and the human experience in warfare. The ending absolutely tears a hole in your heart, and so perfectly captures the unforgiving and destructive nature of war.
Valiant Hearts immerses you in World War I even deeper through its use of collectibles, which function similar to the achievements in Toy Soldiers. Each collectible tells a story, and each level features its own historical literature, which can be found in the menu. Players can also read the diaries of each character as they progress through the game, and the Great War rages on.
Valiant Hearts is available on Android, iOS, Windows, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. It retails for $14.99.
Combined, all of these games do a great job encompassing World War I as an experience. Verdun showcases a soldier’s gritty existence in the trenches. Toy Soldiers provides the detached look at the battlefield many generals enjoyed. And Valiant Hearts shows us the what war does to the human soul.
Although I ordered them as a list in this video, they are all superb games. I recommend them to anyone interested in World War I, or is looking for a better understanding of the setting in which Battlefield 1 takes place.
What do you think of my selections? Do you agree? Have you played any of these games? What are your thoughts?
Tell us in the comments.
Image thumbnail by Berdu: https://twitter.com/Berduu
