Valiant Hearts: The Great War tells a World War 1 story about five people and a dog

Ubisoft have let loose the games hose at their Digital Days event in Paris. As well as announcing an unexpectedly HD'd re-release of Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation , they've also revealed a couple of new games that continue their experiments with smaller-budget, digital only releases. And, if you're looking for experimental, Valiant Hearts: The Great War ticks a lot of the right boxes. It's an exploration driven adventure set during the first World War, which tells the story of five characters and a dog.

The cast is comprised of a French POW, an American volunteer, a Belgian combat medic, a British pilot and a German infantryman. Also, the dog: affiliation unknown. That dog will link the five characters through the course of the story, which will apparently be told in a non-linear fashion.

The game is being created using Rayman's UbiArt framework. Despite sharing a stylistic 2D look, Valiant Hearts is unlikely to be a vibrant side-scrolling platformer. Instead, Ubisoft are teasing a mixture of exploration, puzzles and adventure.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War is due out next year.

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.