Attentat 1942 is a WWII story seen through the eyes of survivors

Lately we’re seeing a new trend emerging, video games that approach war themes from another perspective – that of common people instead of soldiers and generals. We’ve seen that in This War of Mine, to some extent also in Ubisoft’s Valiant Hearts and we look forward to hearing more about the recently announced game set in a quasi-historical WWII period My Memory of Us.

There is another game of the kind incoming. Attentat 1942 (“attentat” means "assassination” in German) tells a story of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking Nazi official, and the main architect of the Holocaust, killed in 1942 in Prague, Czechoslovakia. That obviously initiated a series of dramatic events for the people of Prague—incuding massacres of civilians—and Attentat 1942 is a story about them.

What’s especially interesting about the game is the narrative. The player assumes the role of a grandchild of a couple directly involved in the assassination. You talk with your grandma and meet with other people who remember that time. These discussions take the form of live action cut scenes, in which you ask questions of your choice and listen to your interlocutor’s answers. Flashbacks, in turn, are presented as black-and-white cartoon animations, during which you make vital decisions, e.g. where to hide leaflets when your house is about to be raided by Nazis. See how the game actually plays in this video:

Apart from its great art style, Attentat 1942 also has great historical value. It talks about real events researched by professional historians and features archival footage from the war. Attentat 1942 is currently on Steam Greenlight, where you can support the game by voting for it. The title is coming to PC and Mac in 2017.