Historic Gaming
Indeed, players have to do very little in Valiant Hearts other than get through its short campaign, and even if you opt to do only that, it seems impossible not to get caught up in its passion and emotion. Valiant Hearts really resonates not only as a game, but as a wonderful teaching tool, one that makes history interesting and fun, just like it was when we played The Oregon Trail as young kids.
Hopefully, Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a sign of more good things to come not only for those of us who love video games, but for those of us that understand the amazing power of history, too. History doesn’t have to be boring or dry. In fact, it never is, if it’s presented right. Valiant Hearts: The Great War is all the proof you need.
Interesting read after yesterday’s Assassin’s Creed Unity piece by Chris Plante.
My high school summers were spent taking history classes. This was in an attempt to get ahead in my curriculum and to condense my history lessons into shorter timeframes. Needless to say, I hated history until playing in the fictional world of Assassin’s Creed… even Uncharted for that matter.
If there is one educational avenue games and simulations have succeeded in, something I too learned from Oregon Trail, it is their ability to immerse us in and teach us about the past. Even the most stripped down gameplay or overly embellished fictions can be successful in delivering historically accurate lessons and stories that stick. Like Plante, history is the reason I am drawn to the Assassin’s Creed games. Not neck stabbing.