Review: This War of Mine

Whether the guilt trip works on you or not, you just can't hate on good game design.
This War of Mine is on Steam here: store.steampowe...
This video uses music from incompetech.com/

[@SuperTheblackhand]

You don't have to steal to survive, this game is not a guilt trip if you play your cards right... Also, stepping over the line is well communicated you should not steal and the icon for stealing is obvious and trespassing is explained through the NPCs placements and movement.

[@DanielMak1234]

[spoiler] I reckon to survive you must either murder thugs so that you have firearms, or rob the old couple (or both); otherwise you simply won't have enough - especially when winter hits and your resources consumption just goes through the roof

[@derinedala5032]

I played through every single scenario without robbing or killing anyone or losing any of my people and I'm not very good at computer games. I also managed to help all the civilians I came across needing help during the night, and most of the ones who came to my door (although I didn't always have medicine or food for the kids and sometimes I was too tired to fortify shelters). There's no point where you have to hurt or rob anybody in this game unless you're really unlucky with sickness when you don't have hospital access; if I can do it, people who are good at games shouldn't have any trouble with it at all. Unless you're really unlucky and cop a bad sickness or wound at just the wrong time, there's no reason to cause any NPCs pain in this game unless you decide you just want to.

[@DanielMak1234]

Yeah, actually I managed to almost do that - but then I decided to kill those two snipers in the construction site; didn't know it would contribute to bad karma since I thought they were killing civilians...damn

[@mhelbz_1017]

the most important stuffs here are just (components, woods, and all kind of parts) just to make all station tables and create all you need like food form traps, guns and bullets form workshop, water from water cleaner, etc without stealing

[@woah5333]

saying it's a guilt trip kind of missed the mark ngl

[@TheKnownCollabarator]

You can double click to make characters run.

[@Learned_English_Dog]

I've been right-clicking.

[@GrilledChickenTV]

Are you serious... God I'm an idiot...

[@peterclarke7240]

Oh for god's sake... This is why it's antiwar! It's not pacifist, its about the reality of trying to survive in a warzone when you aren't a soldier. The reality is that this will involve horrendous situations, loss, making inhuman decisions you would never consider normally. This is what war does to people. Read up on the Serbo-croatian war of the 90's.

[@jumbo4billion]

You are way off about having to kill people. The game doesn't force you to harm anyone, killing everyone in sight was how you chose to play it. You can donate supplies to the hospital or dig through the rubble to find medicine.You can give food to the homeless.Or grow and catch food, make booze, smokes and coffee. Moral stays higher if you are well fed and don't go around knifing everyone... Imagine being shacked up with a stranger during a war and on the second night you know him, he returns to tell you he murdered the old folks down the round? That ain't helping the coffe house/lounge bar vibe I'm trying to establish with my armchairs, book collection and absinthe. I've even got a celebrity chef in the kitchen:)

[@Shaewaros]

A very good video, but I don't agree with the twist argument. The game is to some extent about expanding territory, but you're not playing predatory murderers who just want to walk over others without any kind of moral conflict. Helping others unconditionally helps your teams morale, which is a resource just like food and security. Also mechanics are merely a framework for player to start roleplaying - thinking what they would do in such difficult conditions. Would you try to stop an armed soldier from raping a woman when you're wounded and carry only a shovel as a weapon? Chances are you will die trying to do the "good" thing. But you can't just ignore such injustice, can you? So what will you do? I love this game.

[@nokturnallex2160]

Yea you're not the bad guy unless you let yourself be a bad guy. You can easily survive the entire war while never harming or stealing from other people, just scavenging. You can even be a hero who saves people in peril, if you're not too much of a coward and know how to engage in combat.

[@XxTheIKINGxX]

Nokturnal Lex Is that then what the Hemingway quote is referring to? You're "putting people down like dogs for no reason" as you can easily make do without doing so and simply just scavenging?

[@SpicyChickenGodAJ]

There is also the problem of your people leaving if you become a bunch of bandits. On my third attempt I was getting bored of playing Mr. Niceguy, so I just decided to kill everyone I meet without remorse and loot their bloodied corpses. Well from what I experienced, the game punishes you for being a dickbag. The more people I killed, the more I stole; the game punished me for it, more bad events happened and more people got sick, depressed, or just left the group. Either I just got some bad RNG, or maybe there is a karmatic consequence for every action.

[@j.otaviorossetti6706]

That was a very good description of gameplay. The game is very cheap now on steam sale and I was thinking about buying it. You make a very good point and it shows how this game plays. I'll buy it for sure, specially now. Thanks.

[@GigawingsVideo]

I felt that this reviewer only view this game as just another survival type game that focus on number crunching and stockpiling everything. I felt that he's very jaded with playing video games so much he consider playing game as a job rather than experience. I checked his latest review (Hitman 2) and to be honest he never changed. He's so stiff he can only doing one path and claimed that he can't do anything else even when there's many videos that prove him wrong otherwise.

[@RavenValor95]

This game looks really interesting, but one thing that really bugs me are the eyes in the portraits blinking. It looks so comical and out of place, I feel like the game would be better if they never blinked and just stared at you.

[@milanjudak7574]

***** somthink that stupid will make you ignore such a great game? come on man

[@RavenValor95]

Are you like, 7 or something? haha, calm down dude, no need to be so upset over a comment about a game.

[@RaineErasmusWalker]

+Milan Judák Ignore the children, slavbro. I feel #based and #blessed to have the ability to understand and truly appreciate such great games :'^) and so do you, friend

[@milanjudak7574]

cant wait for This War of Mine The little ones it will be realy hard caring for the kids thou

[@zenbrown7144]

+Milan Judák It's not something I would worry about, but the little details like that bother the hell out of some people. It's just a personal quirk.

[@FartMaster69]

Thought about picking this up a day ago but instead I went and bought pepperoni sticks.

[@OCMOOO]

Either way, you made the right choice

[@OPMultiplayerCoopGames]

+FartMaster69 Pepperoni sticks forever.

[@JoRosieQueen68]

+FartMaster69 games can be pirated while food can not be.

[@YoungBlaze]

JosephKing75 CBP na you havent met my food in the matrix

[@fredmethot6116]

Actually, pepperoni stick IS pirated food ;)

[@milanjudak7574]

well a lot of stuff is hand made thats why the crowbar breaks afther what? 12 uses or somthinc like that, its hand made not from a factory if you look at the animation you see its just a makeshift pipe made into a crow bar thats why guns dont wear off

[@mrscruffy8045]

What this game is like depends on how much experience you had with it. During my first game, i had an online chat with a friend who told me, she had just finished a game of "Oregon Trail" and lost all the participants in different ways at different stages of the game. I only replied that i had just played a game of "This war of mine" and that the experience was pretty much the same. I then added, that this was interesting to me, since i hadnt realized that TWOM is a variation of the Oregon Trail theme, essentially.

[@matthewsansom5180]

this game is like a better version of fallout shelter

[@woah5333]

5 years later: I just played this war of mine after playing fallout shelter. lol. Well turns out it is actually much more fun to play a complete, solid game than a time waster ad watching game. Fallout shelter was fine and a very different game but you know what I mean

[@matthewsansom5180]

@@woah5333 I couldn't of said it any better myself 👍

[@soupy-san]

I really wish the character interaction was more fleshed out with dialogue choices.

[@pr0xy87]

I really wish you would shut the fuck up. ...bitch

[@soupy-san]

pr0xy - dang, why you gotta spread the hate m8?

[@PaladinGuy]

About that Hemingway quote, he was very much a "man's man" and valued the importance of self reliance and proving ones self. He was a big romantic when it came to concepts of chivalry and game hunting; one-on-one combat whether it be between two men in a battle or a hunter stalking (and/or being stalked by) a lion or bear. When you look at modern warfare (for the sake of argument let's just say WW1 and up) soldiers don't purely fight one-on-one anymore; soldiers can kill or be killed by snipers, artillery, and aircraft without ever seeing or hearing the bullet/shell/bomb that kills them. Most of the time a soldier will think they are safe in their bunker, trench, or APC just waiting around for the next order and BOOM, you're dead. You could be the worst conscript in your whole nation or the most elite special forces member in the world; one wrong step in a minefield or just poking your head around a corner could be the very last thing you do. In the past, if you were a skilled hunter/warrior the odds of you surviving were much higher then a fresh recruit, but modern war neglects experience because of technology. I remember (I believe) an ex-NATO officer mentioning that in war you don't play fair, you stack the odds in your favor no matter what through technology or just brutal and crude strategy.

[@ThisIsMyFullName]

Actually, Hemingway said it himself, if you look at the whole quote: "They wrote in the old days, that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog, for no good reason." It's pretty strange that the developers didn't include the whole quote. It would have made a lot more sense.

[@justletmelistthese]

"mouse driven one button side scroller stealth action survival guilt tripping facebook game"

[@randomguy6679]

Nope

[@GigawingsVideo]

It's too complicated to be a facebook game. Why not getting it it's only 4 bucks in gog now.

[@Multimorten]

I completed it, now I want to play it again, can't give a better recommendation then that

[@xisumavoid]

Great review as always :-)

[@bluemoon6264]

Xisuma omg I know I'm late, don't judge

[@PaladinPrem]

My man has only 12 likes and is in hermitcraft😂

[@lowkeydrugaddict]

BRO WTF

[@ihavenoson3384]

Great suckin' skills there boi

[@Redem10]

Why am I reminded of the last stand serie (I mean the flash zombie survival game)

[@rs-pg8mb]

Redem10 Probably cause the scenery and art style can be same at times, plus you can visit survivors homes and even live in them in union city.

[@matthewjones39]

It isn’t even close.

[@8.3.4.N]

Terrible take. The point of the game is that in war, normal people will often do terrible things to survive. You can play as a complete pacifist (I did and it's very doable), but there's a lot of situations in which it would be easier to be immoral. It's up to you to make the choice. If you chose to play as a murderous lunatic, that's on you not on the game.

[@mhelbz_1017]

i even made a challenge for my self. DO NOT STEAL TO SURVIVE and i made it several times

[@AK_14564]

Poor review. It can be seen that you have not played the game much and that you played the game absolutely technically which means just to win the game. I have spent almost 100 hours playing and never killed anyone because while it would be more profitable for me it is against my beliefs. You should do some role-playing when you play this game and try to think what would you actually do in such situations. Not what is optimal for you to win the game. That's the goal of the game after all, to make you think about your morality and if I judge from the decisions that I see you made, you have no such thing.

[@12kwh]

Holy shit, Bruno looks a bit like George there.

[@Clowndoe]

This clearly affected his review. George, you should be ashamed for not disclosing that.

[@LucyPero]

I'm not seeing the resemblance. Clowndoe 's comment was funny as hell, though.

[@Lukefonfabre9]

Damnnnn, EVERYBODY'S doing a review/first impressions on this. You, Totalbiscuit, Northernlion, I think I actually remember somebody else doing a review on this way back in Early Access.

[@Learned_English_Dog]

Lovely review, George. I just ragequit after a 5 hour play session. I had a character get shot to death outside the hospital the moment he arrived and for no good reason at all. I hadn't even entered the building or looted any rubble. Can't tell if it was an "unfair death" or me failing to recognize a certain limitation that had been set. Still excited to return to the game, but man... Punishing.

[@hovnaruvraj]

Life in a warzone is not fair.

[@Learned_English_Dog]

CommentSection Barbarian No need for the harsh words. It's up for debate. As I said, the game does not highlight its rules too explicitly. You have to work them out through trial and error. It's quite possible I missed a rule, but indeed, it may also be an instance of bad game design. Even so, it's a minor issue in an otherwise very tightly designed game.

[@Learned_English_Dog]

CommentSection Barbarian haha, thanks for co-operating with the censor. I appreciate it.

[@ThisIsMyFullName]

CommentSection Barbarian The action could be a design in and of itself, meant to cause a feeling of despair or animosity, for the player. "The closer a man approaches tragedy, the more intense is his concentration of emotion upon the fixed point of his commitment. Which is to say, the closer he approaches what in life we call fanaticism." -Arthur Miller

[@ThisIsMyFullName]

CommentSection Barbarian That entirely spends on your ability to emerge yourself in the game. I think the developers partly aim to make the player hate the game. It seems to very deliberately give you space to build up something, and then, without question, take that away again. That, to me, seems like a deliberate design, when put in relation to the tone of the game.

[@unregisteredhypercam5997]

The way you do your reviews is great! Keep It up!!!!

[@LOKITYZ]

I strongly disagree on the unfair deaths part... This game doesn't tell you anything on how the mechanics work, you just figure it out yourself. So there were plenty of times where one my characters died and I don't understand what the hell happened. Like when this guy greets me at the doorway all friendly-like, and then someone inside the building just shoots me out of nowhere and my character dies. Or when you walk near the stairs and all of a sudden you're in the enemy's line of sight and he shoots you and you get swarmed and die. I personally think there are a lot of mechanical flaws in the game.

[@YoungBlaze]

LOKITYZ sucks

[@matthewjones39]

If you’re talking about the military outpost, then the death was your own damn fault. They give you SEVERAL warnings if you enter the base before shooting.

[@whatintheactualkentuckyfri6603]

This is one of my favorite games it's only 20$ but I think it's still worth full price

[@HeartlessNinny1]

I think you might've missed the mark on this one, George...

[@TheIronicTea]

Super BunnyHop, we need the MGS4 review before Phantom Pain comes!

[@PriestOfFilm]

I'll second that, but I imagine it being just a convoluted to unravel MGS4 as it was MGS2: SOL. The interplay of themes, character arcs and conclusions along with the level of ludo-narrative dissidence *I finally got to use that word in a sentence!* would take a hell of a lot of time to iron out into a review.

[@TheIronicTea]

he has still 4? months!

[@asendimchev1996]

***** Well, he has way more than that. You can't do a close up analysis of something that's just been released. MGS4 is an interesting game, it's just that the very structure of it's messages of getting tired and pointless are making the game itself tired and pointless.

[@SergioSergio12345]

T'was a long wait.

[@OrangeVision]

Sold.

[@dobayj]

It's nice to see a game like this work so well. Enemy detection seems fair. I think I'd end up killing a lot of citizens for resources in the end. Lol

[@matthewjones39]

And then all your survivors kill themselves from the guilt. The end.

[@ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgh]

Glad to find a review that talks about the core game play rather than the game's message. Thanks for the video sir, I'll definitely try to get this game.

[@Czarewich]

Sounds like the void, honestly. I would love to see you take on that George!

[@fdofvgf]

Hope to see more games like this, games that you can show to a relative to prove that games do have value apart from recreation

[@kurf4122]

Yeah except this game gets really boring after 4 hours.

[@GigawingsVideo]

This review felt like written by someone who think the game can only played one way and not even trying to get immersed with it. Also you don't even mention the depression the characters can get from doing stuff against their moral code? You're the type who consider all games just a bunch of codes and number crunching. I wonder if I tap your head it will make clanging sound.

[@michaelhuang5087]

haha. I agree. The reviewer seems like the type of person who likes stuff like deadpool, either afraid, or too cynical and prideful to embrace sincerity.

[@metalmugen]

The fact that the faces in the corner blink creeps me the fuck out.

[@watercolour]

Such an eloquent review ~ (although, as other pointed out, i may not agree with the territory expansion description, but overall is one fine review)

[@DNH17]

Very well done review. when you say : we fight a war economy you touch the high point of the whole review provoking interesting reflections into the viewing user that is following the video. very interesting. i saw this game in a shop and i was thinking it is really worth it.

[@shul5684]

Its okay... But here is what i dont like about the game. I only played one run but i hate the fact that you don't get survivors till one of the ones you already have dies. Thats unrealistic.

[@StevesSammiches]

My problem was how the hide, stealth and backstab mechanics made clearing the areas manageable, even with low skilled survivors. Once you had body armor and weapons to sell, the game became repetitive.

[@Will19058220]

This game seems very similar in mechanics, look and narrative drive to very similar to the also excellent State of Decay. Any comments on how the connection This War of Mine has to real-world events changes the game?

[@badger6728]

Ugh, the hamfisted and completely unsubtle delivery of the game's message really, really turns me off of this thing. Every single line of dialogue and every single action seems to be written and scripted to scream "WAR IS BAD WAR IS BAD WAR IS BAD WAR IS BAD". I mean, I don't disagree, war is /horrible/, one of the worst things human beings can inflict upon one another, but Jesus Christ, could you drop the anvil any harder? And no, this isn't an anvil that needs to be dropped, there are countless books, films, and yes, other games that tread upon the same "WAR IS BAD" message but do it in a far more graceful and intelligent, thought-out way, if sometimes equally as unsubtle.

[@yunikage]

I don't play every game that comes out, but I read/watch material about pretty much every single one. And I'm hard put to think of many games in which the central thematic statement is "War is bad". Like....Spec Ops, maybe? But not even Spec Ops. Spec Ops isn't about war per se, it's about how media shapes our relationship with violence. Spec Ops isn't a game about war, Spec Ops is a game about games that should be about war but aren't. Plenty of games touch on the destructive nature of war, sure. Conflict, Fallout, etc. Lots of titles. But it's not the focus of the game or the narrative. In fact frequently you get some pretty heavy ludonarrative dissonance in titles that attempt to tackle this. Idk.

[@asendimchev1996]

yunikage It's nice to see somebody actually getting Spec Ops. The game was more satire than drama. As to the OP, I don't agree that everything about TWOM is specifically about war. Starvation, misery and loneliness often happen outside of a warzone, and these elements make the game hit so hard for most people. The game is good because it causes emotions, it doesn't just talk about them. Of course, there are some macho badasses like me, who wouldn't be so affected by mere atmosphere, but the game is still hold up as a survivor sim.

[@Nazareadain]

Illusive Badger I respectfully disagree with everything you just said.

[@Senthain]

CommentSection Barbarian This is bait.

[@Senthain]

CommentSection Barbarian Maximum Bait

[@AbdullaFaraz]

The only review that actually captures what it's all about. Good stuff.

[@okaidiboy3275]

im glad that i found this review, you did a geat job and you can be proud of yourself. Like you described and explained everything in such a good way that i completely know how this game is. Thx bro (sorry for bad english)

[@TLOWNSU]

I check this one out. Seems like the kind of game I'll fail after 5 days, but it looks fun

[@strife57x]

Great reviews man! I was never remotely interested in this genre until this review.

[@85percentcocoa]

very good review, thank you.

[@lostsanityreturned]

addictive. Addicting isn't a word and doesn't make sense as a word.

[@MrNiceHk]

Very good review in parts .. too much technical analysis for me, but in the interest of full disclosure I am drinking the this war of mine kool aid

[@LilDashOTS]

dat omega trailer doe

[@SmolBloof]

You know you can right-click, right?

[@tomstonemale]

+PvtCrutch That's still you assuming every "war zone" is exactly like the other, though. Or that people behave exactly the same.

[@JitteryPickles]

What a cool game, very fresh take on things.

[@MarkAndrewEdwards]

Thanks for the review. Not my style of game but I appreciate the analysis.

[@skyacaniadev2229]

Got this game for free when buying the other game from this dev called “Frostpunk”, which is a even better title than this one.

[@dantetre]

Rule 34: War is good for trade!

[@ManyAsNone]

Nice review, you sold me on this.

[@bluewarrior8080]

how to save and load a game in android?

[@matthewjones39]

You’re playing the game completely wrong. Enemies don’t even immediately open fire. They give you tons of time to leave before they do as little as punch you once. You can also run by double clicking/right clicking. You are NOT supposed to get yourself into trouble unless you’re desperate or you feel like it’s the right thing to do.

[@lamasterbatonlll1383]

Wrong......I didn't get a single warning before I was shot bro

[@harrymason8367]

What is with this desire for self-loathing and guilt trips in video games recently. It seems to have become very popular, and not many have been able to pull it off, particularly Spec Ops: The Line. Even the combined experience of Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2 managed to pull off a tighter anti-war fetishism message. But here nor there, it's weird seeing "Feel the feels, this game will make you hate yourself, give us money to remind you that you're a bad person" as a selling point.

[@matman000000]

I think CoD started it. That franchise is the best example the current military shooters set in a no-questions-asked conflict with protagonists that kill thousands of foreign soldiers with inferior weaponry, and yet it's often trying to show the horrors of war. It's an extreme case of ludonarrative dissonance where the game seems to occasionally criticize its content, only to then return to Michael-Bay-like macho action. People started noticing this and it got them thinking about the moral aspects of war and the image of the perfect G.I.Joe protagonist.

[@GothaBillsAndDeath]

Why not have a game that makes you feel? That's like saying, why create horror games or media in the first place if all they do is invoke a horrible sense of dread?

[@randomguy6679]

Heaven forbid we have a game with actual emotions for once. And no, metal gear solid 1 and 2 are far from anti war. 3 and 4 MAYBE.

[@yourdeath7820]

Spec ops was an amazing narrative.

[@SoulsNThings]

"sappy music" Jesus Christ could you be any more cynical? Also, it's kinda hilarious that you wrote an entire f'ing review on a game but have no idea how to make your characters run lmao

[@Legionistadbs]

Hello all, if You want to buy this game, buy it on the manufacturer's website: this-war-is-mine.gamesrepublic.com/game/strategy,this-war-of-mine,148.html

[@fa.h.]

Its a great game :)

[@oplu45]

Great review as always, I liked your point about the marketing and response to the game. After watching the trailer I was really interested in the game, but it seemed to be trying to sell itself as an anti-war sort of propaganda piece. The trailer even says something as ignorant as "For soldiers, war is about victory. For us it was about getting food." Rather than setting out to tell a whole and truthful story, it seemed like it was just taking the lowest form of "here, feel this" and essentially presenting itself to the I-think-violet-games-are-just-gross crowd as ammunition. While I still think the marketing is questionable at best, I'm glad to hear the game is actually good! It looked really good, and I'll probably pick it up after watching this.

[@franzpattison]

"skeletal", not "skeletonal" ;) Another good review however.

[@me1648]

I was about to buy it but thanks I now know how hard it is

[@matthewjones39]

It’s not that hard if you don’t kill everyone.

[@OverlordZephyros]

this on GOG?

[@g4anode]

Well, that was an interesting take on the game

[@metasaman]

nailed it. love your vids.

[@metasaman]

but your name and your logo is kinda a turnoff :P

[@QuestcastPenandPaper]

This was an really good review and gives me power to continue my This War of Mine experiment with real persons i know. Thank you! :)

[@docterfantazmo]

Is there a win state for the game?

[@Clowndoe]

I'm told something happens after 30 days, whereupon you "win".

[@docterfantazmo]

I see.

[@tommyorourke8825]

docterfantazmo probably the war ends... not any other real ending.

[@docterfantazmo]

That would be nice.

[@GreenSinic]

The war ends after around 35-40 days.

[@xuruiyu]

"It's hard to tell what territory is and is not off limits and what actions may set these guys off and what won't" Soooo, you're saying it's an accurate portrayal of Eastern Europe

[@erdwespe9005]

rust clanleader simulator

[@randomguy6679]

Please, this is much more engaging than rust will ever be

[@jcshark7023]

You make this game look so hard. It's really not.

[@Elyndyr]

Mechanics of this game look like crap to be honest. The fighting system seems to be super clunky

[@randomguy6679]

Because your not really supposed to get into games, it's more of a game about stealth and talking your way out of sticky situations

[@randomguy6679]

Get into fights*

[@peytonthe2st]

"does not hit as hard" ok once i walked into a school and started looting i opened a grate and started looting to find a gun in one of the desks to then later read that the teacher used it to defend the students after one was shot by a sniper during class and you can see a note from a kid about this going to send it to their mom which they never got to as they where also killed. now tell me this game doesn`t hit hard

[@crowmigration8245]

Concept sounded interesting but 2d point and click... no thanks

[@randomguy6679]

What's wrong with 2d?

[@Halfblood5617]

Eh defiantly not a game worth spendin money on imo, looks like 100 other flash games i played back in school during class. You know a games not good to you when you wont even download it for free

[@MuratYucel]

Bosnian civilians were Muslims. Victims were muslims. But there isn't any sign of them. All of the game is christianized. There is church, priest but not a muslim name. Worst manipulation of war memories. Shame on you Emir Cerimovic. You let them use our sorrows.

[@nacs]

It takes you a hundred words (which you liberally used the thesaurus for apparently) to say even the most minor of points. Also try reviewing the game and spending less time blabbering on and on about your interpretation of some possible subliminal messaging about war and anti-war as if anyone gives a crap.