The Bubonic Plague. Also known as the Black Death, the Black Plague and more commonly known as the Plague. This was the disease that nearly wiped out 60% of the human population in Europe and Eurasia between 1347 to 1351. That’s roughly around 150 to 200 million at the time. The Plague was transmitted by fleas carried by rats and exacerbated by primitive sanitary conditions and a lack of medical knowledge. Many though that the Plague was an act of God punishing the sinners. This lead to the Catholic Church to start an Inquisition to punish heretics and non-believers in order to “ask God for forgiveness and stop the disease”. It also didn’t help that during this time period that the Hundred Years’ War between the English and the French was going on. So add a plethora of dead bodies due to the war on top of unsanitary conditions and unhygienic practices that added more fuel to the spread of the Plague. This made the 14th century a harsh place to live as a youth, and also great material for a video game. After developing several licensed games over the past few years, French developer ASOBO Studios used this dark time in human history as inspiration for their first original title since Fuel, A Plague Tale: Innocence for the PS4.
Viva la France
Historical fiction- I’ve always enjoyed history class back in my school days. Digging deep to learn about the past of various civilizations, societies, people, events etc, can really open up new creative avenues in storytelling. And when used in interactive media, like in video games, it can inspire gamers to learn more about what era the game they’re playing takes place in. ASOBO took this to heart when developing A Plague Tale: Innocence. They took the backdrop of the Black Death and the Hundred Years’ War and created a world that to Amica and Hugo is ending.
A siblings’ tale- This sad tale has players in the role of Amica de Rune, a young girl of noble birth who lives with her family in Aquitaine during the 14th century and her five year old brother Hugo de Rune. Hugo is stricken with some sort of mysterious sickness that has him quarantined to his room and is watched over carefully by their mother Beatrice. This has led Amica to have some animosity towards her brother since their mother is always doting on him and secludes herself in her study, looking for a way to cure Hugo. Their world comes crashing down when not only does Amica and her father Robert de Rune find out that the plague is at their doorstep but an Inquisition led by Lord Nicholas has arrived at their home and is demanding that they hand over Hugo. Thanks to their servants and mother Beatrice, Amica and Hugo escape with their lives and instructions to find a doctor named Laurentius, but at a cost to their lives. Now Amica has to grow up and be a protector to a little brother she hardly knows and resents. Through the game we see both Amica and Hugo forced to grow up fast: Amica learning how to cope with her brother and become an adult and Hugo learning that he needs to understand whats going and not be bratty little kid.
Deadly rat swarms- Having packs of rats as fodder isn’t new to gaming. However the way that the rats were portrayed in A Plague Tale: Innocence was much more upsetting and scarier than portrayed in other games. For instance most rat enemies usually are never in groups and often attack solo. The rats in A Plague Tale attack as a group swarm. There has to be at least hundreds if not thousands of rats rendered and moving as one. The way that they were animated made them look more fluid, like a rushing flood. Even in video games rats don’t normally move like that.Now with other games I wouldn’t be so creeped out since I would have the weaponry to deal with the rats, but in A Plague Tale all I have is a slingshot, rocks and a limited supply of fire bombs. In any other game, rat mobs wouldn’t be a problem. In A Plague Tale they’re something you avoid and fear like the plague, pun intended, and that’s awesome to see.
Ambient sounds and musical score sets the tone- I feel that sound design doesn’t get a lot of credit that it deserves. It’s much more than recording sound effects and picking music that matches the level/world/etc. Sound design helps set the mood and feeling for the world. It gives players cues to let them know if something big is going to happen or lull them into a false sense of security, only to then ramp up the intensity of the situation. A Plague Tale does all of this in spades. From when the siblings encounter the plague rats and running away from the Inquisition to stealth segments and the brief moments of peace in between enhance the experience.
Both French and English voice acting is great- When I think of dual audio in video games, I mostly think of Japanese games. Most of the time these game will have English audio included and depending on the game, I will have that on instead of the Japanese audio. So when I found out that A Plague Tale also had French audio, I was very surprised. The last time I heard French in a video game was Onimusha 3 when it had Jean Reno as a playable character. So I played the game for the first couple of hours in English. The English voice cast did a really great job in portraying their characters. The French accent that some of the characters had wasn’t the cringy accent that most American are accustomed to and sounded pretty natural. I then went through the game again on a different save file and switch the audio over to French. The French audio actually enhanced the immersion that I was in 14th century France.
Stealth and combat is solid- Stealth mechanic in video games can be hit or miss depending on who the character is and what kind of genre the game is. Sometimes these mechanics are shoehorned in and don’t really work. In A Plague Tale’s case, the stealth mechanics for Amica not only work, they make sense. There’s no fancy rolls or awkward stances, in fact the way Amica sneaks behind enemies, hugs walls and crouches feels realistic and not overly dramatic. As for combat, Amica relies on her slingshot. Even though she’s up against armored knights and enemies twice her size she is able to dodge and quickly aim at their armor’s weak points to score the head shot, which instakills them. Getting a head-shot or successfully sneaking past enemies without being spotted is rewarding, then you remember that you have Hugo along with you. And that can be a bit finicky.
No one expects the Inquisition
Bratty brother- There’s something about Hugo that really gets under my skin. I know that he was sheltered and he’s just a kid, but his constant whining at every turn is really annoying. You would think between the plague rats and the Inquisition trying to capture him at all costs he would catch on to the situation and try to be somewhat helpful, or at least quite. And if you’re thinking “Well he’s just a kid. Don’t be so hard on him”, what’s so hard about understanding that some big scary men with swords wants to possibly kill you.
One long escort mission- A Plague Tale is one long escort mission. Now that won’t be so bad in other games, however Hugo makes it difficult to proceed in the game. You have to make sure that nothing happens to him, which is all well and good but as the game furthers along he will start going off on his own, not listening to commands, his AI getting stuck on things, you know common problems found in escort missions.
A Plague Tale: Innocence is a great change of pace from traditional adventure games that I normally play. I enjoyed the fact that the developers used the historical backdrop of the Hundred Years War and the outbreak of the Plague as its setting. I enjoyed they story of Amica and Hugo having to grow up fast and get to know each other and trust each other in order to survive. And I greatly enjoyed the sound design and both voice casts, they really help immersed me into the game. That being said Hugo is a brat and having to guide him through danger after danger can be a bit tiring but that doesn’t diminish how good the game is. If you’re looking to play something different this summer, give A Plague Tale: Innocence a try. Just make sure avoid all rats.
