$20 Game of the Week: This War of Mine (PC)

You’ve no doubt played shitloads of games involving war. Maybe they were strategy games where you commanded an army and gathered resources to fund said army until you can smash your opponent into oblivion. Maybe you played a role playing game where you and your party were involved in a plot which had the war as its backdrop. Maybe you played games such as Dynasty Warriors, Age of Empires, or Total that let players battle through historical (if not totally accurate) portrayals of war. Maybe you played FPS games that made you a one-man army as you gunned down untold amounts of faceless enemies. War in a video game always helps enhance the gameplay or the plot is is typically an awesome affair. As anyone knows however, war in real life is nothing like in a video game, and in real life, not everyone involved in a war is a soldier. I’m not talking about the politicians and corporate execs who profit and benefit from war either, but the innocent civilians caught up in the war. This War of Mine, from 11-bit, helps capture the experience in what can be considered the darkest version of the Sims ever.
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You take control of a group of survivors in an eastern European country torn apart by war. Each of the 12 playable characters (many have to be unlocked) has their own background. One was a soccer star, and another one was a chef who had his own cooking show. None of that matters now, all you can do is survive. You have to gather materials, craft items, and make sure there is enough food to keep from starving to death. Also you’ll have to deal with criminals trying to take what you have, soldiers willing to kill on sight, and snipers. You’ll be called upon to make some hard choices. Do you try to rescue a girl from being raped by soldiers, or do you stay out of sight? Are you willing to kill and steal from someone else? Are you willing to rob a church just to get what you need? This War of Mine is bleak, and difficult, not just in a gameplay manner, but in a manner which will drive you to question what you are willing to do to survive. The game also includes a scenario editor, so you can design scenarios just as bleak (if not bleaker) then what 11-bit has included.

Yes, there are many games about war, but most of them deal with armies and soldiers. Very rarely does a game bring the experience of war close to home, and This War of Mine does just that. TWOM will be hitting consoles later this year, complete with all new scenarios featuring children.