This War of Mine
Like many other small games that flew under the radar - Limbo, Braid, Bastion - This War of Mine came out and surprised a lot of people. Some time in September it was discounted 75% off on Steam and I figured I would give it a shot. I have mixed feelings about this game. I both love and hate this game for taking a realistic approach.
If you immerse yourself into the characters and try to play it safe by not doing anything criminal like stealing other people's property or killing anyone, then the game turns into a desperation. In the beginning of the game, you will do your utmost to scavenge everything that is available. By the time winter settles in, your choices are pretty much limited to using a hatchet on abandoned building furniture or trading everything you own for wood. Then when the dust clears, the game turns into a nightmare (of boredom) when you basically sit back and let each day pass as you continue to scrap parts (or your own creations) just to survive a few more days.
However, many walkthrough videos show the more aggressive approach in doing whatever it takes to get an advantage. You kill people, take their items, and then trade high-quality equipment for whatever you need. The game tests your will to learn how to counter people and survive the night. I've heard people actually having to choose what items to take home for there were so many options available to them. They don't worry about running out of items during the winter or which workbench to advance next. The challenge is strictly tied to making sure their characters don't die from a knife or gun and the minor mental consequences they encounter afterwards.
In my eyes, I don't see an option. In every playthrough I simply refused to harm other people. This created problems. The game shows the percentage of items available per map and nearly half of them were locked out to me. There were maps that weren't even worth exploring for how little you can salvage with no care to the people in the area. By around Day 20 I was unable to collect another item, cutting off half of the game mechanics. I wouldn't even consider it a video game at that point. I could see my patience and care slipping as I intentionally pushed my characters into dangerous situations just to find something that makes the game still worthwhile. Fortunately there are different scenarios you can play that give some flexibility for multiple playings. I've listed below each scenario in the order I completed them and the tactic I attempted:
1) Pavle, Bruno, Marko - Introductory setting for beginners. Benefits: Cheaper to cook, good inventory size, very little problems from raids or winter. Tactic: Advanced Weapons and Armor - Learned you don't exactly craft weapons but fix broken ones Story: Grew bored by day 35 and started trying dangerous locations - Lost 3 men by getting trapped by Construction Site and by triggering a private area in two separate military controlled points. Spent the rest of the days with Marko by ending the day early and staying at the house.
2) Iskra, Christo - Introductory setting for expansion. Benefits: Less time required to rest Tactic: Advanced Boiler and Alchohol; Guitar Stand - Alchohol doesn't work well without Herbs; Only certain people can play guitar well. Story: Tried sending someone through Sniper Junction and failed. Another was trapped in a pincer attack from bandits. Both father and daughter made it.
3) Bruno, Roman, Africa - Introductory to Addiction. Benefits: Bonus to Combat and Cooking Tactics: Advanced Garden; Moonshine - Learned Moonshine can be used to alleviate depression and cause hangovers Story: Three smokers without cigarettes can create problems with their mental state. Roman became depressed and nearly broke. He also caused a lot of fights with other people.
4) Anton, Cveta - Introductory to security. Cons: Hard to guard and prevent being wounded. Tactics: Focused on the value of items. Learned wood sells really well during the winter if in extra supply. I had about 65 on hand when winter came. Story: I was raided nearly every night for 20 days. My people kept getting wounded and a hospital was not open to me. Iskra and Christo came to stay. I was careful enough for all four members to make it alive.
5) Zlata, Emilia, Kalina - Security. Cons: Hard to guard and prevent being wounded. Tactics: Rushing board-ups and security door. Learned it is nice to have weapons on hand for raids. Story: This is the first time I had to restart the game. Not even a week passed when a raid wounded all three members. The small girl broke under the pressure. I only had two valid locations to obtain items and there was no way to obtain bandages. I only had a couple of slight wounds the second time around. The goal was to let the raid through while only maintaining the bare minimum supplies in your inventory. Valuables can be moved offsite until needed.
6) Boris, Emilia, Marin - Introductory to initial winter conditions. Benefits: Large inventory, cheap build cost. Tactics Advanced Garden - Learned a lot of items can be stacked more than once but have the same cooldown time. Story: With Boris having a whopping 17 slots open to scavange, I never had any trouble getting equipment quickly. The raiding was light and the ceasefire came early after 25 days.
7) Henrik, Ivano, Arica - Winter. Cons: Hard to guard and limited inventory to scavange. Tactics: Advanced Medicine - Learned that it requires the rare item of pills usually only found in hospitals which defeats the purpose. Herbal medicine doesn't work on those who are severly ill. Story: I used all I could to make sure the house was warm. The hospital was snowed in and Henrik got too sick to visit once it cleared up. I went to the garage to get saws to clear away the apartments for medicine, but it was too late. Progress was cut short when ceasefire came after 25 days.
8) Marko - Advanced Security. Cons: You have to only loot what you can use and carry what you don't use with you off-site. Tactics: Rushing board-ups and security door. Story: For about 12 days I was stuck rushing Marko to and from site. I used an Abandoned Cottage as my personal home where raiders couldn't get my valuables. It was hard to even bother trading until I meet up with a friend. It was smooth sailing when I could have a second person watching home.
9) *Dangerous Girls (Custom Story) Zlata, Emilia, Arica, Katia - Utilizing only the 12 maps with dangerous situations with harsh crime but no winter conditions. Pros: No need to be saving up wood for winter, more trade-in value, and silent runner for sneaking around. Four characters at the start gives an advantage to guarding the house as one scavanges. Cons: Without fully knowing the layout of the maps, things can get pretty interesting staying alive. Story: Sniper Junction requires timing. Military Outpost storage items can be stolen if you first unlock, run out, then open upon re-entry. The couple won't hurt you in the Quiet House but there is nothing to scavange (outside stealing) inside. Many of the others - Hotel, Brothel, Shelled School - can be manageable if you carefully sneak around.
Final Thoughts: Not knowing the mechanics makes the game scary. You are unsure about opening a door, whether someone will come and trade with you, whether someone will join your group, and if the things you left behind will still be there the following night. You fear whether that wound will get worse by moving around or if a person will die after not eating for four days.
After awhile, you tend to see patterns you can prepare for. You know a trader will come about every three days and with a full supply of items. You know another person will probably visit you after a week. You know things stashed away, even dropping them on the ground, will be there the next time you visit. You know when to treat a wound or to get people talking to each other when depressed. Once over the hurdle, the game turns tedious as you intentionally wait for the end to come. I was actually happy when the scenarios switched from 45 days to 25 days. I can't imagine what it would be like trying for the maximum 80 days survival scenario.
9-24-2016