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This War of Mine |OT| War, War Never Changes
- Thread starter Labrys
- Start date
Bought it yesterday holy shit it's so great 
Played for a few hours and am definitely hooked for a long time.
I wish we could build/open new rooms in the shelter though.
I love all the "NOPE" or "OMG RUN" moments if you screw up or do some mistake. LEgit good stealth too.
I kinda want to buy it to some people eventually, no one in my friend list seems aware of this game's existence.
Played for a few hours and am definitely hooked for a long time.
I wish we could build/open new rooms in the shelter though.
I love all the "NOPE" or "OMG RUN" moments if you screw up or do some mistake. LEgit good stealth too.
I kinda want to buy it to some people eventually, no one in my friend list seems aware of this game's existence.
Oldschoolgamer
The physical form of blasphemy
I've only played it for a few hours, but this really is one of those rare gems that surfaces every so often. It's really good.
BrassDragon
Member
LTTP but I just edited my game of the year votes to include this: what a memorable and unique experience!
It's secretly one of the best stealth games around. Not because of gimmicky mechanics or flashy graphics but because every stealth section has genuine stakes, emergent moments of 'fuck yes!' and/or 'oh fuck!' and believable reactions by the NPCs.
When your half-starved former journalist sneaks her way into a warehouse guarded by thugs with AKs to swipe a few cans of food, you feel more badass than Sam Fisher and Solid Snake... you genuinely earn and celebrate moments like that. It's tense.
On top of that, the game poses interesting and difficult questions about morality versus expediency... and suddenly you're reminded why this medium is so amazing.
It's secretly one of the best stealth games around. Not because of gimmicky mechanics or flashy graphics but because every stealth section has genuine stakes, emergent moments of 'fuck yes!' and/or 'oh fuck!' and believable reactions by the NPCs.
When your half-starved former journalist sneaks her way into a warehouse guarded by thugs with AKs to swipe a few cans of food, you feel more badass than Sam Fisher and Solid Snake... you genuinely earn and celebrate moments like that. It's tense.
On top of that, the game poses interesting and difficult questions about morality versus expediency... and suddenly you're reminded why this medium is so amazing.
D
Deleted member 20920
Unconfirmed Member
Camp Freddie
Member
Great article. I like the point he makes about failures being incorporated into the story instead of being a reason to restart from checkpoint.
For example, Pavle died rescuing a woman. It's an important part of my survivors story rather than a failure state.
For example, Pavle died rescuing a woman. It's an important part of my survivors story rather than a failure state.
D
Deleted member 20920
Unconfirmed Member
Yes. Even if you fail this time, you always learn more about locations and new ways to do things better. You learn what to prioritise in the next playthrough and even then the random stuff that happens can disrupt your plans.
eyeball_kid
Member
So I bought This War of Mine in the last Steam sale, due in part to the sizable GAF hype train. I can't tell whether the survivors or I suffered more. I can't tell if I've ever been quite so simultaneously bored and tormented by a game. I can't decide if I feel more horrified by its treatment of the civilian effects of war as a crafting/god game, or by the fact that I seemed to be stuck in some kind of existentialist nightmare where everyone but Katia keeps dying, but living she stays, lumbering around half-dead, depressed, and surviving, until finally after 42 days the war was over and I could finally delete the damn thing from my drive.
Maybe I was so unhappy with the game because the premise had such promise. I bought it because I wanted to reward a developer for taking on a challenging, serious topic. But I think the developers failed when they decided to turn this emotional topic into what is essentially an ant farm god game. Frankly, ordering these characters around (with a rather clunky UI) gave me no sense of intimacy with them, and yet the civilian, human cost of war is an intensely personal, intimate story. Their game mechanics did not tell this story adequately.
The problem is that the player isn't role-playing as one of the characters. The player's "character" is some kind of narrator that decides actions for the group. But being the "unseen hand" does not invest me emotionally or does it give a proper sense of immersion. I'll give you an example.
The group had been badly wounded by a raid the night before. They were low on food and most were starving. Well, I get a knock on the door and have Katia answer. It's a woman asking to help protect their house. I have Katia tell her no, because frankly the group is having enough trouble protecting their house already and I can't spare anyone. Well, I see in Katia's diary update that she's none too pleased with this. So suddenly I have narrative dissonance. I just told Katia to do something that she wouldn't actually do if given the choice. So who am I, the player, in this game then? Apparently I'm some unseen god-being who can make people do things they don't want to.
This threw any semblance of immersion I had out the drafty window. I'm not one of the group, I'm just a puppeteer pulling strings. How is this supposed to make me feel like I'm surviving along with Katia and Pavle? The game views events more like a war reporter, but one who can direct civilian actions. You can observe and perhaps empathize with the characters, but your role is to observe, not to be a survivor, not to form bonds (or break them) with other survivors. Sure, I felt depressed seeing survivors half-dead, bleeding to death, hopeless. But it was not my own feelings after taking on the role of a survivor; it was merely emotional voyeurism. You can get these kind of feelings already just by reading reports from war correspondents and watching videos from civilians in conflict zones. What a game can provide is the ability to take on a role directly; to see through the eyes of someone else. A missed opportunity here.
The crafting element in the game and constant need to interact with UI menus (for both crafting and scavenging) was also a big detriment to immersion and emotional investment for me. Turning the pathos of civilians caught in a war into a crafting game, and a game of clicking through menus, felt really wrong. It made the survival story mechanical, too gamified.
So how could this game have actually delivered on the premise?
The biggest improvement would probably come from the player taking on the role of one of the survivors. Your survival now becomes personal. And the group dynamics now become personal to that survival. Katia doesn't like that you told an old lady to piss off? Maybe she'd leave. Maybe the group would kick you out of the house and you'd have to find somewhere else to hole up. In parallel with this role-taking, I'd honestly say the ant-farm 2d view should be scrapped and make it 3d first-person. The player needs to really feel like they inhabit the survivor's role. While the art they use does a good job of conveying the physical environment and the animation does a good job of conveying their physical state, the 2d perspective enforces the feeling that you're an observer of these characters, not one of them.
The other big improvement would be to get rid of the crafting element. It's a distraction from the heart of the story. Focus the game on the social/ethical struggles and improve interactions between survivors. The scavenging and trading elements can be kept.
I would also say that the devs played it a bit safe. The story they are telling is definitely about survival, but in war far worse happens than starving or being shot by looters. Rape and torture are common elements of the civilian cost of war, and if a game is going to tackle this subject it can't shy away from atrocities like this.
Maybe I was so unhappy with the game because the premise had such promise. I bought it because I wanted to reward a developer for taking on a challenging, serious topic. But I think the developers failed when they decided to turn this emotional topic into what is essentially an ant farm god game. Frankly, ordering these characters around (with a rather clunky UI) gave me no sense of intimacy with them, and yet the civilian, human cost of war is an intensely personal, intimate story. Their game mechanics did not tell this story adequately.
The problem is that the player isn't role-playing as one of the characters. The player's "character" is some kind of narrator that decides actions for the group. But being the "unseen hand" does not invest me emotionally or does it give a proper sense of immersion. I'll give you an example.
The group had been badly wounded by a raid the night before. They were low on food and most were starving. Well, I get a knock on the door and have Katia answer. It's a woman asking to help protect their house. I have Katia tell her no, because frankly the group is having enough trouble protecting their house already and I can't spare anyone. Well, I see in Katia's diary update that she's none too pleased with this. So suddenly I have narrative dissonance. I just told Katia to do something that she wouldn't actually do if given the choice. So who am I, the player, in this game then? Apparently I'm some unseen god-being who can make people do things they don't want to.
This threw any semblance of immersion I had out the drafty window. I'm not one of the group, I'm just a puppeteer pulling strings. How is this supposed to make me feel like I'm surviving along with Katia and Pavle? The game views events more like a war reporter, but one who can direct civilian actions. You can observe and perhaps empathize with the characters, but your role is to observe, not to be a survivor, not to form bonds (or break them) with other survivors. Sure, I felt depressed seeing survivors half-dead, bleeding to death, hopeless. But it was not my own feelings after taking on the role of a survivor; it was merely emotional voyeurism. You can get these kind of feelings already just by reading reports from war correspondents and watching videos from civilians in conflict zones. What a game can provide is the ability to take on a role directly; to see through the eyes of someone else. A missed opportunity here.
The crafting element in the game and constant need to interact with UI menus (for both crafting and scavenging) was also a big detriment to immersion and emotional investment for me. Turning the pathos of civilians caught in a war into a crafting game, and a game of clicking through menus, felt really wrong. It made the survival story mechanical, too gamified.
So how could this game have actually delivered on the premise?
The biggest improvement would probably come from the player taking on the role of one of the survivors. Your survival now becomes personal. And the group dynamics now become personal to that survival. Katia doesn't like that you told an old lady to piss off? Maybe she'd leave. Maybe the group would kick you out of the house and you'd have to find somewhere else to hole up. In parallel with this role-taking, I'd honestly say the ant-farm 2d view should be scrapped and make it 3d first-person. The player needs to really feel like they inhabit the survivor's role. While the art they use does a good job of conveying the physical environment and the animation does a good job of conveying their physical state, the 2d perspective enforces the feeling that you're an observer of these characters, not one of them.
The other big improvement would be to get rid of the crafting element. It's a distraction from the heart of the story. Focus the game on the social/ethical struggles and improve interactions between survivors. The scavenging and trading elements can be kept.
I would also say that the devs played it a bit safe. The story they are telling is definitely about survival, but in war far worse happens than starving or being shot by looters. Rape and torture are common elements of the civilian cost of war, and if a game is going to tackle this subject it can't shy away from atrocities like this.
The port seems fine, although there are a few bugs. Characters broadcast their thoughts about another character, but the name will be missing: "I can't believe is dead." The trader guy who visits is either very dumb or the best Samaritan ever; he'll take a bullet casing as payment in exchange for meat, vegetables, pills, wood, etc. None of the bugs has interfered dramatically with the gameplay.
I'd recommend the game, but it's sort of slow, and it seems built to relay a sense of despair. I've played a bunch of it, and am hard pressed to say whether I like it or not.
I beat This War of Mine.
Oddly, the playthrough was anticilmactic. I raced through 32 days starting off with the woman, Cveta, and the man, Anton (the school principal and the mathematician, respectively). I was surprised, but neither of them got very sick or grievously injured despite a few incursions and about a 12-day streak of freezing weather. I ended up with four survivors, no casualties, and a sort of grim, but all's well ending.
I'm glad I played it. This War of Mine is more of an experience than a great game, but that's absolutely fine. It captured my attention and, in time, I'll probably return for another go.
Oddly, the playthrough was anticilmactic. I raced through 32 days starting off with the woman, Cveta, and the man, Anton (the school principal and the mathematician, respectively). I was surprised, but neither of them got very sick or grievously injured despite a few incursions and about a 12-day streak of freezing weather. I ended up with four survivors, no casualties, and a sort of grim, but all's well ending.
I'm glad I played it. This War of Mine is more of an experience than a great game, but that's absolutely fine. It captured my attention and, in time, I'll probably return for another go.
PoweredBySoy
Banned
Huh. Only 2 pages for this game?
Anyways... it's been on my Wishlist for awhile now, and last night I finally decided to grab it. Love it so far. I really wasn't sure what to expect - never watched any videos - but I really like the resource management, pseudo-RTS, scavenging to craft, moral dilemma nature of the whole thing. Works very well. My kind of game.
Anyways... it's been on my Wishlist for awhile now, and last night I finally decided to grab it. Love it so far. I really wasn't sure what to expect - never watched any videos - but I really like the resource management, pseudo-RTS, scavenging to craft, moral dilemma nature of the whole thing. Works very well. My kind of game.
More_Badass
Member
Yeah, it's weird how small this thread is considering the praise and acclaim the game got
Shake Appeal
Member
I thought it was a not very fun, pretty shallow Sims game that made me feel terrible, but didn't make me feel invested. I never felt compelled to play, and I didn't feel satisfaction upon beating it. I think there are a lot of good ideas and good intentions in there, but the execution was lacking on most fronts.
When I compare it to, say, Papers, Please, there's just a gulf in how they respectively use videogame interactions to make a point about oppression and death. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I experienced This War of Mine, but there were too many qualifications for me to praise it wholeheartedly.
When I compare it to, say, Papers, Please, there's just a gulf in how they respectively use videogame interactions to make a point about oppression and death. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I experienced This War of Mine, but there were too many qualifications for me to praise it wholeheartedly.
I'm curious. I can get it for my Mac if that is the only way to get it, but is there any chance of this coming to consoles? I'd prefer to play on my console as games on my mac tend not to get played (internet is way too much of a distraction that I never get immersed well in a game on my computer).
More_Badass
Member
I don't know about consoles, but it is coming to iPad
More_Badass
Member
Recent update added a scenario and character editor and new locations
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0vgRC7PD4U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0vgRC7PD4U
LurkerPrime
Member
Oh wow, that's an awesome thing to add and exactly what the game needs. They need more fanfare for their updates.
Update 1.3:
Update 1.3:
Surprised by how few posts there are in here! Anyway, I decided to finally start this game last night and played it for 4 hours so far. Think I'm on Day 18 or 19. The game just starts up without telling you what to do lol. Guess I'm doing alright though considering none of my four people have died and my shelter is steadily coming along. Haven't stolen or killed anyone yet either, though with a lot of places greyed out now I may have to start to. Anyway, I'm really enjoying this game so far.
More_Badass
Member
Looks like a sequel to This War of Mine is in the works
D
Deleted member 20920
Unconfirmed Member
Looks like a sequel to This War of Mine is in the works
Hope there's better combat and working out of some minor kinks.
I kind of hope it's a new game and not just a sequel though.
More_Badass
Member
LurkerPrime
Member
It's also 60% off on Steam.
The modding stuff has a lot of potential. I'm excited to see what people come up with.
The modding stuff has a lot of potential. I'm excited to see what people come up with.
game is $3.6 right now on Nuuvem but apparently region locked to latin america
http://www.nuuvem.com/item/this-war-of-mine
just bought it. game's great so far
only gripe is the font size and aliasing on the text in general
and controller support, I guess
http://www.nuuvem.com/item/this-war-of-mine
just bought it. game's great so far
only gripe is the font size and aliasing on the text in general
and controller support, I guess
Dragon1893
Member
Picked this up a while ago during a sale. Never managed to survive until the end though my current run is looking pretty good. I have no idea how many days it takes.
The game is a bit repetitive but overall it's pretty good.
The game is a bit repetitive but overall it's pretty good.
D
Deleted member 325805
Unconfirmed Member
Just bought the Humble Bundle Digital Deluxe for £3.74 and I'm about to give it a go, I've heard the game has mods, are there any "must haves"?
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/this-war-of-mine-humble-deluxe-edition
Edit: The game is really good but fucking grim, I survived until day 19 after my last member
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/this-war-of-mine-humble-deluxe-edition
Edit: The game is really good but fucking grim, I survived until day 19 after my last member
committed suicide after being too ill, wounded and weak to help a girl being raped, he was broken and the day after he hung himself.
MarkMclovin
Member
Surprised this get get much attention on GAF. What an amazing and thought provoking game.
Been playing it all day today and now I'm depressed as fuck.
Been playing it all day today and now I'm depressed as fuck.
MaKTaiL
Member
So.... I just got his for free on PSN+. The game appears to be awesome but.... It's too damn hard IMO. You either get materials and leave your people starving or you get food and let them get raided and murdered. That if you manage to return home safely. I really want to get good at this game but the longest I've got was 25 days alive. All my characters either died or killed themselves.
Neuromancer
Member
You can create a custom game for just a few weeks. There may be some other options too. Makes it a lot easier and you can learn the ropes.
inpHilltr8r
Member
OMG this game. It was going so well too. Couple of early mistakes, recovered, even looked good for a bit. Enough beds, everyone fed, collecting water, listening to the radio. Then the food ran out. Then the raids. Every night. Journalist killed someone and fell into depression. Runner was severely wounded in a raid. Lost the cook to a sniper. Robbed the couple, only to return to the journalists suicide. Runner was inconsolable. No option but to end the day. Runner commits suicide too.
An amazing experience that I'm probably never going to play again. Perfect PS+ game. Everyone should play this once.
An amazing experience that I'm probably never going to play again. Perfect PS+ game. Everyone should play this once.
IbizaPocholo
NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
The Stories series for This War of Mine continues with Fading Embers, an all-new narrative-driven DLC announced by 11 bit studios. The content will release August 6 and features Anja, living in the warzone and trying to know what is the most importan
The Stories series for This War of Mine continues with Fading Embers, an all-new narrative-driven DLC announced by 11 bit studios. The content will release August 6 and features Anja, living in the warzone and trying to know what is the most important between the survival of human legacy and the...
www.gamersyde.com
