Developer: Charles Games
Nintendo Switch Review
*Disclaimer: I was sent the code for this game in return for a review, all opinions are mine and mine alone.
I've always believed that Gaming and education can go hand in hand together, games can be a great learning tool for both kids and adults. I can remember in primary school each child would be given a time slot to use the computer and play learning games throughout the week. This was the best form of learning I used to do and helped me with my year 6 SATs more than I knew. So when u come across games that can not only educate but shed light on history I get a little excited, one such game I recently was sent a code for was Attentat 1942.
Players discover that their grandfather was arrested by the Gestapo not long after the assassination of Reinhard Heydric in 1942, Heydric was a German SS and police officer during the Nazi era as well as the leading architect of the Holocaust. Unbeknown to you there is a lot more to the story than you first anticipated and you soon uncover stories from 8 different survivors who share their personal memories with you so long as you choose the right way of asking and right dialogue. As the story unfolds players will realise that the world was a very different time and people did what they could in order to live. Your Grandma takes the role as a main protagonist telling you the bulk of your Grandfather's history, she points you in the direction of those who can give you more information on what she's already told you. Unfortunately your grandfather himself isn't well, but your Grandma is happy to sit and talk to you about their life under Nazi rule.
Mini puzzles tie the story together and although it's based on historical events actors in the game are fictitious yet do a brilliant job at speaking about WW2. There was only so much we learnt about WW2 in school and we didn't delve that much into propaganda, I have learnt a lot since the days of school this game sheds a whole different kind of light on war time in 1942. I was curious what the word Attentat meant so I looked it up, it's a German word meaning attack which makes sense as the players grandfather was a resistance fighter and they attacked back in many different ways, it's a clever play on what the game is about.
These mini games are easy enough to get through, you may have to re-play some of them again to collect more coins, coins allow you to repeat speaking to certain characters which unlocks more of the story and encyclopedia, you can check this at anytime to see what you could ask next and what information you have already gathered. At times I found it annoying having to repeat parts of the interview but it's a clever way making us listen more thoroughly to what we are being told so we pick are next question carefully. Attentat 1942 is entirely in Czech, you're given the open of different countries to use for subtitles which does make it slightly more accessible. It was a wise move to keep it in Czech, I personally feel it made the game authentic, the stories told in their language deserved to be told by those from that country not an English actor.
The style of game (full-motion adventure game) has a more relaxed and laid back approach to war, I was able to sit down and immerse myself in a different way. Some may say this doesn't feel like a game but in all honesty games can be told in so many different ways, having a mixture of real life and a comic book style animation brings history to life in two very different ways. One being the way real life actors can portray emotion the other how animation can go back in time like a picture book and tell stories shedding a very different light on how tense the world was back then.
Attentat 1942 will make a brilliant learning tool in classrooms, it approaches history in a very different way, instead of sticking on a video kids will be allowed to give their input, interact with the game itself and discuss with teachers what they think answers to puzzles are, how the story may pan whilst finding a new found respect for those who experienced WW2. The fact that it can be a learning tool is what I love most about the game, hopefully teachers will see this game and want to use this type of learning in the classroom. Charles Games who are the developers for this game have shown that FMV games can be the way forward in learning, it's a very welcomed initiative in my world. - Attentat 1942 is available on - Android, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Linux, macOS, iPadOS, Nintendo Switch.
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