Me: "Hey, have you played this game - This War of Mine?"
Friend: "Bah... No! Why would I play something that dark? I don't play to get depressed."
Me: "..."
Unlike most mainstream games which revel in frontline combat and warfare, this indie game spotlights a different perspective on the war story. The usual special ops soldiers or guerilla rebels aren't the heroes, in fact, they might as well be the villains here. This War of Mine isn't about war and which side wins; it's about the people caught in the middle who unfortunately seem to always lose.
9 INTERESTING POINTS I LIKE ABOUT "THIS WAR OF MINE"
1. The Heroes Survivors
You play as normal people. This War of Mine has no Solid Snakes, Lara Crofts or any Call of Duty stereotype, it is just average Joes, and Janes. Some on the playable roster include a lawyer, a reporter, a chef, a toymaker, a mathematician and with the latest game DLC expansion, even little children. There's one character who fits the action-hero mold being an ex-militia, but that's the exception rather than the norm.
You start the game with a small group of people that may or may not grow in number depending on game randomization and scenario setting. Each person has a name, each has their own story. If they survive long enough you'd learn more about them through text snippets meant to add color and doesn't affect gameplay. But these small glimpses of their lives and struggles are powerful tools that connect us to each character's humanity and ground the players to the fact that these people aren't trying to be heroes, they're just trying to survive.
On this playthrough, I got Zlata, a musician; Emilia, a lawyer; and Kalina, a war orphan. This is one of the more difficult game scenarios as none of the three have a special skill set for survival. Knowing what the game has in store for these characters, I fear I may not be able to bring them the good ending they deserve.
2. The Sims: Apocalypse Mode
As a survival game, every resource is limited: food, materials and time. You need to make sure the characters stay alive until the predetermined ceasefire day comes. Each "game day" would pass at a constant pace with gradually increasing difficulty. And as if daily survival isn't a hard enough struggle, the game would throw at you more challenges: raids which may cause loss of resources and grave wounds to your characters if home is left unsecured, winter which would require you to use more resources for heating lest the characters would get sick, and several other mini-events that would chip away your character's morale bit by bit if left unaccomplished.
It's a chaotic management simulation. To reach the end, players must provide them sufficient nourishment, secure and comfortable shelter, and several reasons to be happy/content. Failing to meet any of these would lead to character death by illness, wounds or even depression.
The characters live in a war-torn home, aptly called
Our Shelter. The first day is always a mad dash to find whatever useful item we could find in our home. All hands are on deck: scavenging, digging, lockpicking. Before the night comes, I should have built a workbench, a crowbar (for tonight's loot hunting) and a bed.3. Locations to Loot
You spend the day at your shelter with your daily survival activities, and when night falls, you'll have the option to stay in or go to various locations to find more useful supplies. You can only loot at night since it's more dangerous to go out during the day "when snipers are hunting for survivors", to quote the game. And for this same reason, you must return home before daybreak or else your character may not be able to return at all.
Each locale has a uniquely crafted story that serves as a backdrop for the assigned type of resource and degree of danger. For example, a mechanic shop, that houses an ailing father with his son, has abundant electronic and mechanical materials for crafting. This family unit is also likely to offer a generous trade for medicine. On the opposite end, there's a military outpost that has plenty of food, weapons, and booze but is heavily guarded. Trespassing and looting this place would likely get your character killed.
On the first night, there are always three locations available for exploration with more opened up in later days. The three places would usually fall into these categories: an abandoned safe place that's a perfect starter location, a resource-filled spot with potential danger, and a 3rd option that's a home just like yours - composed of innocent civilians trying to get by.
4. Lives and Morals Matter
With just one save file, a wrong move can cause your character's life. There are no multiple save points to select and return to. The only chance us players would have for a do-over is to quickly hit alt+F4 and hope that the unwanted event hasn't fully registered in the system yet. One time, I have missed a dialog popup by an NPC by a few seconds and I had already unknowingly trespassed. With no intention and means to fight back an increasingly aggressive NPC, I chose to run away. Three bullets shot behind my character then she was down. Alt + F4.
The weight of lives doesn't only apply to your own characters but to the larger game world too. Senselessly killing anyone, may it be military, rebels or civilians causes a huge mental strain on your character. Stealing from an NPC applies the same penalty but to a much smaller degree. You can only freely take stuff that was implied as abandoned or from the wreckage.
This soldier is about to do something really nasty based on the exchange. I wasn't really able to verify where it leads to since I attacked him soon after. Apparently, offing this soldier did not impact my character negatively but gave a positive morale boost instead for saving the girl. These are one of the very few exceptions where attacking anyone is "acceptable" in this game world.
5. States of the Mind and Person
As previously mentioned, certain actions can make the characters depressed or content. A positive state gives a few perks such as faster movement speed and higher vigilance when guarding against raids at night. On the other hand, a negative state counteracts those mentioned advantages above. And in extreme cases, the negativity of one can make other characters in your home depressed too.
There are physical states for you to watch out for as well. A character can get sick or wounded. When you encounter skirmishes during looting at night or defend against raiders (off-screen), your characters can get varying severities of injury. Characters also get sick when it gets cold during winter. These destructive states should ideally be addressed as soon as it shows up. Once it reaches a severe stage, it is an uphill battle against an looming avalanche.
Emilia is sick due to the chilly onset of winter. I set her to rest last night as my runner scrounges some supplies for the heating equipment but it turns out it was a wrong move. I wasn't able to properly guard against a raid causing a severe injury to her and much of our remaining food to be stolen. We have some bandages left but with these wounds and illness, I don't know if she'll still be there tomorrow.
6. My First Idea when I Heard about the Ratatouille Movie
The home can be installed with different features for security, comfort, entertainment, and sustenance. You can build a reinforced door with an alarm system for preventive measure against raids. Once you find a broken guitar item, you can try to fix it up and have any character play music for a small morale boost. And above all, one of my top priorities is to establish some constant food source.
The best food generator you could possibly have is a vegetable garden that churns out food every two in-game days. It takes a lot of materials and upgrades to acquire but it is totally worth it. While you're still starting and the garden goal is still far off, you can first try to build small traps to get meat. The time it takes to generate food is random but it's a much easier investment to make with decent potential rewards. And no, we're not trapping rabbits.
What else could there be? It's sickening ... but this is our chicken buffet.
7. The Little Ones
I have had mixed feelings about this inclusion which came around a few years later after the game's initial release. I'm thinking the game world is often too cruel for the adults inside it, so why let virtual children be subjected to the same torment? But I relented and purchased it eventually when I saw that some of the profit from this DLC's sales will go to a foundation that supports real children who suffered from war.
After a couple of playthroughs with children in the game, I'm still not entirely convinced. Yes, it's gratifying to see these kids still optimistic despite the situation (granted you play well). I notice that the adults gain a huge morale boost when the little ones are satisfied too. However, bad things happen to them too and it's double the emotional pain for the player. But I concede my reservations. The game developers bottled this game with a solid message on how war affects normal people. And in reality, normal people include children too.
8. Good and Bad Karma
This is a game of survival but not only in the physical sense but in the totality as a human being. Doing what are perceived kind deeds such as giving food to a starving fellow at an abandoned house or freeing a group of hostages from thugs, nets you some hidden "goodness" points. This algorithm is ultimately reflected in the game's ending. Those who have been "good" enough were able to live on and recover from the ordeal, while those who haven't are implied to have continued difficulties in spite of surviving.
The Sad Ending: "[He] managed to see the end of the war and tried to put his life back together, mostly with no avail. The memory of his son's and girlfriend's fate haunted him till the end of his days."
The Good Ending: "[He] won over everything that war threw at him and used his grit and strength to help others rebuild their lives. The memory of Ana's sacrifice and Luka's faith supported him till the end of his days."
In the course of the game, there will be several mini-events that would pop out randomly during the daytime. These are usually NPCs asking for assistance in form of goods or service. Completing these side quests enhances your potential to achieve a good ending.
Nenad and his sister knocked on our door asking for
medicine for their ailing mother. I was willing to part with it but I realized I just traded my last one days earlier to get some materials for our garden. It was heartbreaking to let them go empty-handed. For my next playthroughs, I made sure to keep one Medicine bottle in storage, no matter how dire we needed it, in case Nenad and his sister comes by again.9. Hope Shines in the Darkest Moments
The game is dark. I can't really argue with my friend about that. It was based on true accounts of war survivors after all. How can it not be authentically tragic?
This War of Mine successfully exposes the evils of war and humanity in general. But once the game has blindfolded and shackled you in its dark world, it touches you with those brief moments of accomplishment and kindness, and magnifies it into wails of hope. Each in game-day showcases the human's resilience: people overcoming the most terrible of odds. Though the game has somewhat "forced" players to do good deeds, I felt it was still handled naturally. It sincerely made me believe that when chaos comes, people don't act like madmen, they act like people who are ... maybe intrinsically compassionate.
