Joystiq - 5/5 - By the time you perform one of the game's final acts, a moment so brilliantly orchestrated as to be instinctual, you might wonder what it is you've learned in this sometimes sanitized, sometimes upsetting war. There's not really a preaching, obvious message. There is no obsession with the grim minutiae of killing. Valiant Hearts is a war game that recalls, in memories both cheerful and sad, that there is a person first, then a soldier, and then - if you're lucky – a hero.

Destructoid - 9/10 - I don't want to give too much away, but Valiant Hearts: The Great War is significant in many ways. It not only gives us a rewarding and engaging way to see the horrors of war as it pertains to this particular likable cast of characters, but it also educates us on one of the most significant events in history. Ubisoft Montpellier could have just delivered a good game and called it a day, but they went above and beyond the call of duty to add context to the proceedings, and that is quite the commendable effort.

Gamespot - 8/10 - The game's storytelling isn't always as cohesive as it should be. There's a jarring disconnect between the French-accented voice we hear Emile use during gameplay and the British-accented voice that speaks for him during between-level cutscenes. Freddie's storyline fits too neatly into the familiar narrative trope of a man out for revenge against the person responsible for the death of the woman he loved, making his arc feel more like something out of a generic action movie than a proper tale of war. And on multiple occasions, the game leads you to think a dire fate has befallen one or more characters, only to reveal, like the bad resolution of a TV cliff-hanger, that this wasn't the case. But these are minor blemishes on a visually beautiful game that deftly moves between moments of joy and moments of tragedy, and ultimately doesn't shy away from the fact that "great" is just about the last thing any war should be called.

The Escapist - 4/5 - Though a highly conventional game from a mechanical standpoint, Valiant Hearts is one of those games that demonstrate how great presentation can turn the common into something remarkable. As a straight videogame,The Great War did not wow me, and yet I cannot deny the fact that it inspired an emotional outpouring from me that I quite frankly needed at the time. There are so few examples across all entertainment media that I can say that of, and it brings cheer to my cynical heart that videogames, for as coldly calculated and focus tested as they've become, are capable of inspiring a genuine and importing feeling in me.

IGN - 7.7/10 - Valiant Hearts is an adventure more interested in exploring the effects of war, than having you re-enact the violence.

Interesting the difference between the IGN review for the US/UK sites and the german one.

DE.IGN 8.5/10 - It is a pity that the rest of the industry ignored the First World War. After all, it does not Valiant Hearts and for that we should be a little bit grateful.

Above is googles translation original text is "Es ist schade, dass der Rest der Branche den Ersten Weltkrieg ignoriert. Immerhin tut es Valiant Hearts nicht und dafür sollten wir ein kleines bisschen dankbar sein." A cleaner translation of the second sentence could be useful.

I find the sentiment in the UK/US quote a bit odd as this game was never going to be about violence but the effect it can have, was the reviewer expected a CoD or Battlefield like take on WWI?

I need this game in my life.

Those review scores are tipping me over to get this game, that E3 trailer was fantastic. Never heard of the game until a few weeks ago.

@makie: A cleaner translation would be:

"It is a shame that the rest of the industry ignores the First World War. At least "Valiant Hearts" doesn't do it and therefor we should be a little bit grateful."

@makie: Whoever wrote that byline should've read the review better.

Video games are obsessed with warfare: ancient, covert, modern, futuristic. But Valiant Hearts is one of only a few to look at the first World War. It’s a studied depiction, but one in which you rarely shoot a gun. It’s a puzzle adventure that’s much more interested in how people are affected by such terrible events than recreating the violence.

Credit: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2014/06/24/valiant-hearts-the-great-war-review

I really want to play this, if for nothing else than studying World War 1 intensely during university.

My 'want' has evolved to 'need' with collective reviews like this...can't wait

I missed this game entirely until I saw it on the PlayStation Store today. The trailer looks great, reviews are encouraging. It's too bad it isn't PS3/PS4 cross-buy but I don't know if I can wait until I have a PS4 to see this.

Anyone know how it looks or performs on the PS3/360?

Is the narrator in the trailers the dog? If it's not I'll be so disappointed. It's almost explicit right?

@jasonefmonk: It's running on Ubisoft's 2d engine thing. I don't see it performing poorly on the PS3 or 360.

Yeah, I'm glad reviews started hitting, else I wouldn't have known it was out already!

I went through the same dilemma, as I'm thinking about getting a PS4 soon-ish, but I ended up buying the PS3 version today since I really want to play this. It's running on the Ubiart engine - like Rayman Legends and Child of Light - and both of those games run super smoothly on the PS3 for me, so it seemed like a safe bet.

@makie: As a German I'll give you a better translation, but my formatting sucks because of the damn mobile site.

So:

"It's a pity that the rest of the industry ignores the First World War, but thankfully Valiant Hearts doesn't. And we should be grateful for that. "

Looks more promising to me than Child of Light, might have to pick this up.

Sounds great, I guess I'll pick it up on Steam and hope for a Vita release down the line.

Played about an hour or so of it so far and I think it's great. The art and music are very well done, but I'm not so big on the narrator. As a bonus, you'll learn a ton about WWI

Ahhhhhh I want to play this. Doesn't release on steam until tomorrow. I want it now lol.

@iron1c: Thanks!

@harlechquinn@iron1c: Thanks I figured it was something like that but have had google translate flip meanings around a few too many times to blindly trust it.

Another great Ubiart engine game.

I don't know much about this game except for a trailer or two, what is it? I saw a short gameplay clip where it was basically point and click adventure, are there any actual action moments?

@beard_of_zeus: Thanks for the reply. I had zero problems with how Rayman Origins preformed so I guess I'm taking the plunge on Valiant Hearts.

on the PC, even at 4k, the game only used 1/3 of one grafix card - so it should run well on anything.

Had no idea this was coming out already. Very interested.

I'm not sure I'm ready for this sort of game, but fuck it let's go.

I'm digging it. It's a straight up puzzle game. I'm a huge history nerd, and I've studied WW1 extensively. I like that they have a lot of the history for you to read when you get to an area based off reality.

The story definitely has heart. I think I'm about halfway through, but I can already recommend it to most people unless they absolutely hate puzzle games.

It's pretty too, as Ubi Art games tend to be.

Jesus fucking christ at the ending. I was holding back tears. Really like the game despite some game-y moments that sort of took me out of the experience. The level of detail to many of the battles was excellent.

Does anyone else find IGN's review....embarrassing? I have enjoyed the hell out of this game thus far. In no way do I think it's a negative that there is a lack of shooting or that they historical background is "intrusive" or that the narration is "heavy-handed". The background is entirely optional via a button prompt and the narration really only happens at the beginning or end of a chapter/scenario. Maybe its because I'm a bit older than the average gamer and love history, but give me a fucking break.

I'm getting this game. The Darkness had WW1 in it also. I do not know about historical accuracy but it worked pretty well, and the weapons and setting seemed true.

I just finished it. The gameplay is totally competent for an adventure game. The story though is great. It's paced so well, it's so engaging, and the ending is perfect. There's an action you take right near the end that is referenced in those reviews that I didn't even realize was a gameplay moment. I acted without tmreally considering what would happen and then there was a huge consequence for the character. In a weird way, I acted impulsively as the character did and we both didn't think through what might result from the actin. That's really cool. It's one of my favorite games of the year.