From 1347 to 1351 the Black Death, mostly known to us as the Black Plague, ravaged Europe due to rats. This is one a fear of many people, the rats that is. It is believed the rats and their fleas were carried around at that time which spread and killed up to 200 million people. Now imagine yourself as a person living at that time, trying to avoid death from guards, knights, priests and rats. Asobo Studios has done an interesting job of putting all of the tension in this game A Plague Tale: Innocence .
Most of A Plague Tale is in a third- person view and is really a complete stealth game. A set of siblings, Amicia and Hugo, set out to find some kind of safety. Amicia takes the lead as the older sister and you control her with her sling-shot. Hugo is there for assistance in some cases and mostly idles. The premise is very simple: survive. In a time where most people thought the world was coming to an end, two children are just trying to make it to the next sunrise.
Ideas for this game concept comes from the games Last of Us and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. Both games are very unique in stealth mechanics and design and both have puzzles. A Plague Tale mostly is built from these puzzles because the stealth is used to avoid combat. You are children, trying to survive in a world that was deadly before a plague came into the picture. You are also being hunted, for a reason that becomes clearer as the game progresses.
On the plus side, stunning guards or taking someone down opens new areas and lets rats feast on the fallen so you don’t suffer any damage. You do what you have to do to survive right? Planning your attack can be simple but I personally have never really been very good at mastering stealth. I’d rather fight my way through it but you can’t exactly do this with two kids. There are rats and for the most part, they are your enemies. Rats can be useful, however, especially if you turn their attention to a much bigger food source.
A Plague Tale has great imagery and a good concept. People that are good with stealth-based games will have a good time with this one. Always carry a torch and you won’t become rat food. Watch out for your sibling. And try to avoid those knights.
8/10
Available on: PC, Xbox, PS4
