Amicia and her father make their
way home, only to find the
Inquisition at their doorstep. For
reasons unknown they want Amicia’s
little brother Hugo, and are not above
slaughtering their way through to
him. Due to an illness,
the small Hugo’s lived a
completely sheltered
life, and is basically a
stranger to his sister,
but in the face of death
it’s her task to protect
him at all costs. A
Plague Tale starts off
strong with a
completely heartrending intro to the
linear stealth action-adventure that
sees the siblings sneak their way
through the family estate while
Inquisition soldiers make short work
of their loved ones.
It’s also an effective introduction
to your tools and responsibilities. As
Amicia you keep Hugo close during
sneaking passages, not letting go of
his hand unless absolutely necessary,
and shielding him from the most
gruesome sights. If there’s climbing
to be done, Hugo goes up and over
first, and he helps open new passages
by squeezing through openings hissister won’t fit. Amicia’s sling is a
multipurpose item that can be used
to distract soldiers by throwing
stones at nearby metal items or
destroy simple fastenings of
drawbridges and the like.
Soon the children
make it to a small town.
It’s here that not only
the Plague’s full extent
becomes obvious, but
also how woefully
under-prepared Amicia
is to take care of a child
she hardly knows and
who’s fussing about
wanting to return home. Hugo’s
disobedience is an absolutely realistic
source of frustration throughout the
game, and a lot of Amicia’s character
growth comes from how she handles
it. Only a child herself, she can get it
wrong and lose her patience, but in
consistently strong dialogue she tries
her best to impress the seriousness of
their situation onto Hugo.
Unfortunately your actions in A
Plague Tale for the most part don’t
support the oppressive atmosphere
the narrative builds, mostly because
it’s a game that isn’t challenging to
begin with, and only becomes easier.The first time you have to resort to
violence, face a giant swarm of rats,
or even just see a pile of dead bodies
all feel momentous, until all of these
things turn into business as usual.THE RATS
You start with nothing but your sling
and a few stones, which you can use
to down enemies that don’t wear
helmets. Over time your arsenal
grows, thanks to a number of
alchemical recipes that allow you to
craft bombs, sleeping draughts, and
rat bait. In theory this should make
for a wealth of options in how to get
rid of or around enemies, but A
Plague Tale always communicates the
preferred solution, either by placing
specific alchemical ingredients
nearby or by literally having your
companion tell you what to do.
While your options grow, the
number of enemy types doesn’t, and
towards the middle of the game
you’ve seen and fought the same
handful of soldiers slowly walking
their predetermined routes so often
that things feel repetitive rather than
threatening. Rats too turn from a
horrifying force to a mere annoyance
as you gain more and more ways to
work around them using light or
tasty soldier corpses.
The amount of violence on display
also poses a tonal problem—it’s
difficult to believe Amicia is truly
haunted by what she’s doing when’s
she’s also dropping chandeliers on
people’s heads. The siblings and the
friends they make along the way
provide an interesting perspective on
the many horrors of the 14th century,
and their evolving relationship with
each other is A Plague Tale’s great
draw, but the plot taking a bizarre
turn towards the end makes for a
botched landing at the last minute.NEED TO KNOW
WHAT IS IT?
A stealth action-
adventure about two
kids on the run
EXPECT TO PAY
$45
DEVELOPER
Asobo Studio
PUBLISHER
Focus Interactive
REVIEWED ON
Core i5-8400, GTX
1060, 16 GB RAM
MULTIPLAYER
No
LINK
http://www.aplaguetale.com72
Beautiful and emotionally
affecting, A Plague Tale
nonetheless suffers from
a lack of variety and
tonal inconsistencies.VERDICTThe amount of
violence on
display also
poses a tonal
problemO
n a lovely afternoon in autumn, Amicia De Rune is out on a
hunt with her father and the family dog, a scene so warm
and tranquil you just know things are going to go very wrong
very soon. That doesn’t make it any less shocking when
Amicia suddenly comes face to face with the Plague, which
manifests itself not only as a horrible disease, but as a teeming mass of rats
that devours everything in its wake.VERMIN AGE: INQUISITION
Face the devastation of 14th century France
in A PLAGUE TALE: INNOCENCE. By Malindy Hetfeld
GO IT TOGETHER Other games featuring protagonist pairs
ENSLAVED: ODYSSEY
TO THE WEST
Nothing bonds two people
like one enslaving the
other with a headband.NEVER ALONE
This puzzle-platformer
isn’t only cute, it also
teaches you about
Iñupiaq culture.UNRAVEL TWO
Travel a Scandinavian
landscape as two sentient
balls of yarn. Less weird
than it sounds, honest!BROTHERS—A TALE
OF TWO SONS
Melancholic fairytale in
which you control two
brothers to solve puzzles.REVIEW