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A lot of stories across media have tried to capture different times throughout history or retell major historical events. Hollywood films often catch flack for misrepresenting or straight-up altering certain events or time periods in their portrayals. Video games can and have obviously committed similar sins, but some games that portray history manage to do it well enough that they easily put most Hollywood historical films to shame.
A Plague Tale: Requiem
While both Plague Tale games take obviously narrative liberties, they are simultaneously still impressive displays of one of the most incomprehensible times in human history. There’s something so uniquely bleak about the simultaneously occurring Black Plague and the Hundred Years’ War of the 14th century that creates an atmosphere that many pure works of fiction wish they could conjure up.
For all of the viewers angry with the incredibly loose depiction of Napoleon Bonaparte and French culture in the recent Napoleon movie, Plague Tale: Requiem is obviously from a very different time period but it nonetheless does a better job.
This War of Mine
It is cheating a bit to put This War of Mine on here because the developers have stated that, while the game is heavily based on stories from the Siege of Sarajevo that took place during the Bosnian War, it’s not actually trying to be a historical retelling of that event. That doesn’t make it any less of a potent tool for players who want to understand the true hardships that have been experienced by those who have lived through one of the bloodiest wars of the last three decades. It’s so potent, in fact, that the Polish government (The country that is home to development studio 11-Bit) actually placed This War of Mine on “recommended reading” lists in high schools across the country.
While there are plenty of Hollywood films that have done a fine job depicting how war affects civilians, it is almost impossible to conceive one that does a better job than This War of Mine. That’s because the game puts people in a position that a movie can’t, as a player, the role in avoiding destruction and death is active, not passive like when experiencing a film.
Anno 1800
For all the city-building fans out there, Anno 1800 is a great title for those who want to step into history to build something massive throughout the Industrial Revolution. Ubisoft Blue Byte did a great job capturing both the look and some of the finer details involving architecture and trade in a period when everything was rapidly changing, and the result is a game that’s a thrill for fans of this genre.
Many Hollywood films are set during the Industrial Revolution, but obviously, none can go quite into the amount of detail about the setting and environment that a game like Anno 1800 can. You literally build it, piece by piece, and get to see the time pass and the city evolve over time.
Battlefield 1
DICE does an impressive job on Battlefield 1 capturing various World War 1 stories while delving players into surprising engaging combat considering the technology of the era. Obviously, some fictional concessions were made, but the studio keeps them minimal enough while integrating them well with the gorgeous visuals of the first-person shooter to not break immersion.
It would have been interesting to see the studio try to poke at the notorious trench warfare of the era a little more, maybe with an alternative game mode or something, but Battlefield 1 is still a game that well captures the aesthetic of the First World War, even if it’s not always so accurate about the way soldiers clashed in the way that movies like All Quiet On The Western Front pull off.
Last Train Home
War strategy gamers should definitely have their eyes on this one as one of the most promising titles in the genre from 2023. Last Train Home from Czech development studio Ashborne Games just launched and has already been met with significant positive reception. The game retells the wild and little-known story of a Czechoslovak Legion as it journeyed through enemy territory in the final days of World War 1 hoping to make it back to their newly established independent country.
It’s difficult to compare Last Train Home to any Hollywood film because the story hasn’t actually been utilized in any major pieces of media prior to this game. It’s frankly surprising that it hasn’t been adapted before considering how interesting this tale truly is. It’s a great story for games, as the survival elements create a level of tension a film can’t easily replicate.
