11-11 Memories Retold: A Unique Perspective on War

It's never good idea to glorify or romanticise war, not even a little; and yet, the lives that are sacrificed for a cause where the entire future of the world is at stake is something anyone can admire and respect. For better or worse, wars reshape lives and the entirety of human history, the proverbial turning point in the always unclear journey of human history.

Some would argue the plethora of first-person shooters based on real wars do just that, turning war into nothing more horrible than a game. Many of these are set during World War II, given the fascinating historical context and the practicality of incorporating its warfare into a compelling video game mechanic. When done right (and tastefully), shooters set during World War II, whether historically or as a liberal fictional interpretation (Wolfenstein did the latter best!) can be incredibly powerful, compelling video game experiences.

Medal of Honor was a novel franchise when it started on the original PlayStattion, a system that was generally starved of FPS games. By the time the PlayStation 2 and its Emotion Engine rolled out, the possibilities for the genre to thrive on console became more apparent. One of my most awestruck memories in nearly 30 years of gaming was the opening sequence of Medal of Honor: Frontline on PS2.

This sequence was entitled 'Your Finest Hour', and at the time it was certainly the most powerful and harrowing visual depiction of soldiers stepping into the proverbial belly of the beast that is the battlefield. Crammed together on a boat on a stormy day, the experience of traversing the waters and making it to shore whilst surrounded by men enveloped in fear and anxiety, was just an unprecedented experience in gaming at the time. Though most shooters set in World War II tended to be rather formulaic, every once in a while there would be an experience that was emotionally and meaningfully artistic.

World War I hasn't been explored nearly as often in gaming, largely due to the impractical gameplay implications of that era of warfare. Many of those weapons just don't translate well into gameplay mechanics, especially in an FPS context which is the typical genre for a war-themed video game. Exceptions have emerged in recent years where developers have situated the dramatic experience of living through World War I in other genres; one of those was a story-driven adventure game 11-11 Memories Retold.

Long before the days of fancy cameras which could zoom in from a drone, war correspondents and photographers had to step right into the thick of the chaos and madness just to get the story.

11-11 Memories Retold follows the story of two men at the opposite ends of the war: Harry Lambert from Canada (back when the red flag still adorned the Union Jack) and Kurt Waldner from Germany. Long before the days of fancy cameras that could zoom in from a drone, war correspondents and photographers had to step right into the thick of the chaos and madness just to get the story and photographs. Harry found himself signing up for the war in a vain and misguided attempt to impress his love interest. Kurt on the other hand joined the war simply to search for his son who had already gone on behalf of the household to serve Germany and had since been reported missing. As different as these two men appeared to be they both had one thing in common: an ulterior motive to join the war, neither caring about the conflict itself or what was at stake for their respective countries.

As the tale progresses, this common thread of indifference to the greater cause in favour of their own selfish motives, ends up bringing Harry and Kurt together under the unlikeliest circumstances. Despite being worlds apart in culture and language, they form a genuine friendship as two men trying to survive the war by relying on each other. The friendship is simple, but the care is genuine especially considering the absence of a shared language.

Later it is their respective pets, a stray cat and a freshly minted carrier pigeon, which play a big part in their connection. Still, being at the opposite ends of the conflict makes their relationship rather complicated and unstable, constantly finding themselves caught in situations where their loyalty to the friendship and their respective nation are at complete odds with one another. 11-11 Memories Retold does a remarkable job portraying the enduring nature of kinship between two people despite extraneous circumstances and ingrained segregation.

It's all very insightful and yet harrowing how humanity tried to devise such inventive methods to harm one another despite technological limitations.

What 11-11 Memories Retold does so well as an adventure game set in World War I is that it manages to place players in the thrill of combat without any semblance of a shooting mechanic. The grandeur presentation is remarkably effective as you make your way through the explosions, gunfire, and chaos on the battlefield, even experiencing the muddled mess of suffocating bunker bases. You appreciate the challenges and limitations of primitive killing machines, back when a bucket of water was needed to reload a machine gun. It's all very insightful and yet harrowing how humanity tried to devise such inventive methods to harm one another despite technological limitations.

Even more remarkable is how the game handles a multi-path, multi-ending narrative differently than most other adventure games. Even the best games from the genre, such as Life is Strange, find themselves caught in kinetic or, at best, binary conclusions to their tale. What 11-11 Memories Retold does better than most games in the genre is to take a nuanced approach where every gesture and line uttered, as subtle or inconsequential as they may seem at the time, can dramatically lead to one of the seven possible conclusions of the tragically complex tale of love, war, betrayal, and reconciliation.

11-11 Memories Retold is an artistic expression of the horrors and tragedies of World War I. It poetically depicts the enduring nature of the inherent good in the human condition despite being enveloped in a depraved world. The artistic expression is complemented by the game's uniquely memorable oil painting graphical style, and its dramatically sweeping orchestral score. This experience will always stay with me, and I hope in the future, game designers continue to explore the subject of war in a non-FPS context. Those looking for something in a similar vein would do well to check out Valiant Hearts: The Great War.

World War I, much like the inventive nature of warfare during that time, can inspire game designers to be inventive in creating non-violent gaming experiences set within the heart of battle. Such games can get a clear message across to their audience: lest we forget.