Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Valiant Hearts: The Great War is a PC puzzle adventure set across the Western Front of World War I, combining side-scrolling exploration, light action, stealth, and environmental problem-solving. The standalone storefront listing still uses the original title, while Ubisoft also offers Valiant Hearts: The Collection, a package containing this game and its sequel, Valiant Hearts: Coming Home. The game's French title is Soldats Inconnus : Mémoires de la Grande Guerre.

A side-scrolling war story built around puzzles

Developed by Ubisoft Montpellier and published by Ubisoft, Valiant Hearts follows four fictional characters whose lives intersect during the conflict: Emile, a French farmer; Karl, a German soldier living in France; Freddie, an American volunteer; and Anna, a Belgian nurse. Their journeys move through trenches, forests, ruined towns, military camps, and other locations associated with the Western Front.

The camera stays primarily in a 2D side-scrolling perspective. Progress comes from examining the environment, collecting useful objects, activating machinery, avoiding hazards, and understanding how nearby characters or devices interact. Combat is limited and contextual rather than central. In many encounters, survival depends more on timing, observation, and finding a safe route than on defeating opponents directly.

The structure is closer to a linear graphic adventure than to an open-world game. Chapters introduce new situations and mechanics, then ask you to apply them in increasingly tense environments. Players who enjoy the emotional, character-led puzzle design of story-focused adventure games like Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons will recognize the emphasis on movement, environmental interaction, and narrative delivered through play.

Four protagonists, one canine companion

Each playable character brings a different context to the story. Emile's sections emphasize his experience as an older French soldier, Karl's route is shaped by separation and survival, Freddie's missions lean into military danger, and Anna's role as a nurse introduces rescue and medical sequences. Switching between these perspectives keeps the campaign from becoming a single-character war narrative.

The most distinctive helper is Walt the dog. Walt can move through spaces that human characters cannot reach, pass under obstacles, interact with targets, and assist with puzzles involving trenches, barbed wire, shell holes, and other battlefield hazards. Dog-directed sequences are not a separate combat system; they are integrated into the broader exploration loop and often provide the solution to a blocked route.

Several chapters also break up the standard puzzle rhythm with driving sequences, rescue tasks, stealth sections, medical actions, and other short scenario-specific challenges. These moments do not turn Valiant Hearts into a conventional action game. Instead, they reinforce the game's central idea that every character is trying to endure the conflict through a different kind of work.

Historical context without turning into a strategy game

Valiant Hearts uses fictional characters, but its world is anchored to real events and places. The campaign references locations such as Reims and Montfaucon, while its scenes draw on battles and conditions associated with the Battle of the Marne and the Battle of the Somme. The game presents war through personal consequences rather than military command, unit management, or battlefield simulation.

Exploration is supported by historical facts and collectible objects. Finding these items unlocks additional information about soldiers, civilians, weapons, medicine, technology, and everyday life during the conflict. The Steam edition includes 20 achievements, including objectives tied to story progress, historical knowledge, optional actions, and collecting the game's historical items.

This educational layer is one of the game's strongest differentiators. It gives curious players reasons to inspect apparently empty corners, but it does not require them to stop the campaign and read every entry. The result is a story adventure that can be played casually while still offering meaningful historical detail for players who want more context.

Content model and available editions

The standalone PC version is a paid single-player game. It is not a free-to-play title and does not use a seasonal content model. The main experience is self-contained, with its story chapters, optional historical collectibles, achievements, and scenario-based gameplay included in the base purchase.

Ubisoft's Valiant Hearts: The Collection combines the original game with Coming Home. This is a bundle rather than a renamed replacement for the standalone title. Players searching for the original PC game may therefore encounter both the individual listing and the collection, but the first game's identity remains unchanged.

There is no competitive mode, character progression tree, equipment grind, or repeatable multiplayer endgame. Replay value comes mainly from revisiting chapters, finding missed historical objects, completing achievements, and seeing how the different character routes fit together.

Who should play Valiant Hearts?

Valiant Hearts is a strong fit for players who want a linear narrative adventure with accessible puzzles, a historical setting, and a stylized presentation. It suits those who prefer atmosphere and character development over complex combat systems, build optimization, or open-ended exploration.

The game is also a good choice for players interested in historical fiction who want a human-scale view of World War I. It does not ask you to command armies or win territory. Instead, it focuses on family, duty, displacement, friendship, medical care, and survival under extreme conditions.

Players seeking deep puzzle complexity, branching choices, high mechanical difficulty, or extensive replay systems may find the experience too guided. The challenge is generally about reading situations and executing solutions rather than experimenting with multiple radically different strategies. For a darker, more systemic interpretation of civilians surviving wartime hardship, war-focused survival games such as This War of Mine offer a very different structure and set of pressures.

PC features, controls, and launcher requirements

On PC, the game supports keyboard and mouse, with an optional compatible controller. The Steam listing also includes Steam Achievements and Family Sharing. It is a single-player experience, with no online co-op, split-screen mode, or competitive multiplayer.

The Steam edition requires a linked Ubisoft account and Ubisoft's PC launcher, historically branded Uplay and now represented by Ubisoft Connect. The Ubisoft Store version likewise requires Ubisoft Connect for activation and play. No anti-cheat system is listed, which is consistent with the game's offline single-player design.

Localization is broader than the full-audio selection. Steam lists interface and subtitles in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, and Russian. Full audio is listed for English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Russian. This makes the game accessible to players who prefer translated text even when their language is not available for voice acting.

Related PC experiences

For another historical 2D adventure with stealth, puzzle-solving, and a child-focused story, wartime platform adventures such as My Memory of Us share Valiant Hearts' interest in survival and human connection, though the settings and mechanics differ.

Valiant Hearts remains more focused and authored than either a survival sandbox or a conventional action game. Its appeal comes from the combination of comic-book visual design, restrained interaction, historical collectibles, and a cast whose personal stories cross national and military boundaries.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War FAQ

Is Valiant Hearts: The Great War still the official name?

Yes. The standalone PC listing continues to use Valiant Hearts: The Great War, with Soldats Inconnus : Mémoires de la Grande Guerre shown as the French title. Valiant Hearts: The Collection is a separate bundle containing the original and its sequel, not a full rebrand of the first game.

Is Valiant Hearts: The Great War multiplayer?

No. The PC version is designed for single-player use and does not include online co-op, local co-op, split-screen, or competitive multiplayer.

Does the game have combat?

It includes limited action and danger sequences, but combat is not the main system. Most progress depends on puzzles, stealth, exploration, item use, and timing, with each chapter introducing context-specific challenges.

How does Walt the dog help?

Walt assists with environmental puzzles by reaching narrow spaces, moving through battlefield obstacles, interacting with targets, and helping characters access areas they cannot reach alone. His abilities are built into the main story rather than presented as a separate upgrade system.

Are there collectibles and achievements on PC?

Yes. The game includes historical objects and fact entries connected to World War I, along with 20 Steam Achievements. Collectibles encourage careful exploration and add context beyond the fictional character stories.

Which languages are supported?

Steam lists ten supported text languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, and Russian. Full audio is available in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Russian.

Which launcher is required on PC?

The Steam version requires a linked Ubisoft account and Ubisoft Connect. The Ubisoft Store version also uses Ubisoft Connect for activation and access.