This War of Mine: The Little Ones (PlayStation 4) Review

By Brandon (Michael) Howard 26.01.2016

Review for This War of Mine: The Little Ones on PlayStation 4

11 Bit Studios returns to This War of Mine with an updated re-release on PS4 and Xbox One, featuring new characters and missions to undertake. The war-torn city of Pogoren holds new challenges, and undertaking a child to care for adds an extra layer of meaning to the choices players must make over the time the refugees struggle to survive. The citizenry of Graznavia will be tested even further in this grim take on surviving in the very midst of all-out war.

This War of Mine: The Little Ones takes place in the fictional Eastern European city of Pogoren. In the midst of an outbreak of civil war, a small group bands together to try to live through the ravages of war, and each individual playthrough is slightly randomised, meaning different combinations of refugees with their own unique skill sets that can help them survive the conflict. Combined with the different events that can unfold, and the actions of other characters throughout, there's room for many different paths to branch out over the course of this grim war.

The primary goal is always the continued survival of the team. Finding food, treating wounds and illness, and making sure everyone gets enough sleep, are always top concerns when planning out any course of action. During the daytime, characters can improve their shelter, adding traps to catch food, beds to sleep easier in, or rain collectors to gather much needed water. There's a real sense of urgency when characters begin to control much slower around the shelter because they haven't eaten or slept in three days.

Screenshot for This War of Mine: The Little Ones on PlayStation 4

Day and night sections control through the same interface, moving a character along a two dimensional space, and while it works fine in most situations, actions such as navigating stairs can be troublesome, and the controller will sometimes end up sending the characters back down the stairs they just climbed up if the joystick isn't moved into exactly the correct spot. Navigating through options in the field can also be a little imprecise, sometimes resulting in the character, rather than the menu, moving in the selected direction. It's annoying that there couldn't be more clarity in some of the controls, but they are definitely functional.

Night time is the only time of day when the hostile actions around the city slow down, allowing for scavenging throughout the city's various locales. Each area has its own unique features; while a residential district still holds hostile people trying to live their lives, older, abandoned buildings hold their fair share of treasures, as well. Some guidance as to what each location holds is provided, but the means of getting it, be they foraging, stealing, or trading, can vary greatly. While foraging among wreckage is usually the safest option, the other two can be much more lucrative, if not riskier.

Screenshot for This War of Mine: The Little Ones on PlayStation 4

Each area's residents range from 'potentially' to 'openly' hostile, and finding out which each are can be a deadly game of trial and error. While some people are happy to share in the spoils, others protect their territory with deadly force. Fighting them is an option, yet characters may not be able to fend off the threats of high-powered ammunition early on, so stealth is advisable until stronger weaponry is available.

Stealing is another option, but not one without its own moral implications. It's easy to steal from an old couple on the edge of town, but when an old man's wife is dying and needs medication, there's a gut-wrenching choice between leaving it and stealing it for a comrade in dire straits. The choices made, whether to steal from the well off, taking from those in equal peril, or even who will eat or sleep each night, really gives a sense of nearly crushing realism to the struggles faced in times of war. The most noticeable addition is the introduction of child refugees. Children don't have the same abilities as adults - they can't fight or guard, they can't even scavenge at night for food or materials. They can be taught to do some simple chores around the house, though, but the risks involved in taking in another mouth to feed can weigh in at a hefty cost. It's equally harrowing to turn them down, forcing them to try and make their own way in the middle of a sprawling conflict.

Screenshot for This War of Mine: The Little Ones on PlayStation 4

Much of the narrative is told this way; more the results of choices, and small details from the thoughts of those struggling through the war than through a scripted, continuous narrative - little bits and pieces, from bios of the former lives of people, to letters and grim notes thrown under piles of rubble. Everything about the lives people lead now, from what they were then, to what they have become now. The war drives people together and breaks them apart, leaving no distinction between families, friends, and neighbours caught up in the war.

Choices made throughout can have disastrous and far-reaching consequences. Should someone travel too far into enemy territory, or go too long without their illness being treated, death becomes a very real, and extremely permanent, possibility. Death means many things; while it means one less mouth to feed and one less bed to fill, it also means one less person to guard the shelter, one less person to scavenge at night, and perhaps, most importantly, one less friend to help make it through a conflict with no end in sight.

Screenshot for This War of Mine: The Little Ones on PlayStation 4

Cubed3 Rating

8/10
Rated 8 out of 10

Great - Silver Award

Rated 8 out of 10

This War of Mine: The Little Ones is not a happy game, or even a particularly enjoyable one. It's a painful, gruelling experience that really illustrates the horrors, choices, and atrocities present in war. It's not "fun" by any standard that is usually associated with playing a game. What 11 Bit Studios has done here, is create a masterful experience that lets players share, in a very small way, what it is like to live in a country torn apart by war. While it might be hard to think of This War of Mine in the same sense people think of other titles based on the subject of war, it might just paint the most vivid, terrible picture about what conflict does to those embroiled within it. It's a painful experience, but it's one that is ultimately worth having.

Developer

11 Bit

Publisher

Deep Silver

Genre

Action

Players

1

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  8/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date None   North America release date None   Japan release date None   Australian release date None   

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