A Plague Tale: Innocence – Review

I’ve got to be honest, I’m getting really depressed at how serious the content of video games are becoming. It seems having humour is soooo last gen, and everything is now is so serious. Doom, Agony, and now A Plague Tale – Innocence are not exactly titles you expect a good fart joke to come from. So strapping in, preparing myself for the worst, I delved into this game.

What a pleasant surprise I was in for to. No, there are no laughs here, but despite my serious misgivings about this game, and the thought I was going to be utterly depressed playing this, it didn’t take very long for me to start enjoying this game, a lot.

The first thing to draw you into this incredibly realized world is the outstanding graphics. They are stunning. The attention to detail and realism is console generation leading. Not even Uncharted, or Tomb Raider looks THIS good. It’s a photorealistic smooth as silk, stunning artwork visual delight. Visually you are transformed to 15th century, rural France. The lighting is incredible, and the detail! At one point in the game, you walk alongside a stoney river bank. There must be 1000’s of stones and rocks on that beach, yet every one is in clear, rendered detail, let alone to the lush undergrowth, the crumbling buildings. It’s truly breathtaking. It’s one of the few games I wish they had a photo mode as it needs it!

Add to the amazing level of detail, the audio is also mightily impressive. The surroundings have that white noise in the background, birds chirping, water tumbling, footsteps scrunching. The voices change also depending on where they are set per location. In a church the characters voices reverberate with echos, outside not.

So after the superb initial reactions, the 10-12 hour game comes down to story and gameplay, again which it excels in both. The story is gripping despite being very cliche at times. A family torn apart by war, the inquisition, and a plague of rats, trying to survive. However there is a twist. You play as a young girl called Amicia who is tasked by her mother to look after her poorly brother, Hugo. Desperate escapes move the story on until you find out fairly soon, that the Inquisition is actually looking for Hugo ! His blood hides a deep secret.

The game is linear, with a few little nooks and crannies to explore to find collectables and materials, and at its heart, this game is basically a stealth puzzle game. It has a few tricks up its sleeve, that I’m not going to spoil, but here the simplicity of the gameplay works in its favour. The game is all about how to get from one end of the level to the next. This can be hiding from humans, lighting fires to scare off the hordes of rats, chase sequences, or a mixture of all. The puzzles come in the form of how to do that. Distracting guards, finding ways to light fires, ie for example swinging or moving flammable items.

Amicia’s range of items to do this is limited. A sling, her throw, benches to upgrade, new alchemy skills to make new items like fire bombs or sleep potions. Interactions with the world around her and a keen eye is needed. On the face of it, it sounds simple, but that just makes the world more believable and draws you into the experience more.

Finally, we get to the rats. The plague is an ominous ever present menace that can and does literally pop up from anywhere. They aren’t chilling, but the sense of atmosphere, and dread when you know you have to find a way through the swarm is real. Early on in the game you have to walk through one of their underground nests, and the scene has obvious inspiration from a similar scene from the film Aliens. My only real issue with the game was graphically the swarm of rats didn’t look convincing. At times there are thousands on screen, but up close they look a little silly.

So when you put all these excellent aspects together, it makes for one fantastic, engrossing draw you in superb experience.

Summary

Asobo studios mention on their web site that they took inspiration from the games, The Last of Us and Brothers A tale of two sons and it shows. I’d even go so far as in a way they have surpassed both.

My only real negative about the game is that there is little replay value for a 10 – 12 hour experience at £45, so it’s hard to justify the price tag. Games like Hellblade / State of Mind / Uncharted the Lost Legacy got it right at the £30.

Be that as it may, despite the dark nature of the game, the hideous, graphic horror of life in 15th century France during a plague and the inquisition, this is an amazing new IP from a fairly new developer, and hopefully the start of a long series.

A Plague Tale – Innocence
Developer: Asobo Studio
Genre: 3rd person stealth adventure
Release Date: 14/5/19
Platforms: PS4/XB1/PC1