The Valiant Review

The Valiant is an RTS videogame with some RPG elements developed by KITE Games and published by THQ Nordic, first released last year on PC, with a much-later console port on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. The game begins in 1204 AD in the Holy Lands of Antioch; however, the main story is set 13 years after the prologue as Theoderich (the main character) is sent on a campaign by a monk who accompanies you — as well as narrates the story throughout the game — to fight his old “brother” Ulrich and remove the corruption he has wielded over parts of Western Europe. Throughout the campaign, you run into people that will join your ranks and open up new strategies and opportunities that I will not spoil.

Before starting missions, the RPG part of The Valiant rears its head. You do the usual things: level-up heroes by selecting new abilities and buffs in three separate sub-classes, as well as equip class-specific gear, which are collectables found in missions. After filling that out, you then select the squads you want, ranging from spearmen to cavalry. Each one has two bars indicating their fortitude and overall health. Fortitude will deplete gradually when fighting, lowering faster when surrounded. When completely gone, soldiers will die, prompting you to recruit troops at replenishment camps. While regular squads can be wiped out, heroes and plot-specific individuals will become incapacitated and need to be picked up by another squad to move around again.

Around a week before the release of the console port (the copy I am reviewing), the developers were touting the gameplay as “a new type of RTS is coming to consoles!” Not to burst KITE Game’s bubble, but the gameplay is similar to Company of Heroes 3 Console Edition, which had been out for months before this game’s release. And the mechanics, from specific squads having strengths and weaknesses to point-and-click battle management — I could go on — are a staple in RTS. Do not be fooled by the marketing: The Valiant is like any other RTS you can get on PC and console in recent times.

With that being said, the combat can be summed up as short bursts of engagement with long waits for them to end so you can move your squads to the next highlighted section. The fighting doesn’t take too long to do, sometimes intercut with moving troops around if they finish before everyone else and health bar management. As the game progresses, it's easy to get bored of the combat, which is why (I think) they added a foliage/cover system. If you send your squads into forests or long grass, they get a buff that decreases the enemy’s ability to see you. It also gives you, as well as the enemy AI, a chance to plan out ambushes.

The Valiant visually looks like you are playing on an expensive third-dimensional tabletop map — you know, the ones that you see on YouTube, crafted with hours of expertise and materials for Dungeons & Dragons or Warhammer sessions. From the countryside to the structures, environments have a painted-on colour scheme, the ground has amazing texture, and the foliage and greenery, when you stop to look at it, looks too clean to be organic. Whether the creators were going for the feel or not, it adds an accidental touch of authenticity to what wargames are like outside of the videogame space. If they added dioramas, it would not affect the art style or character design in any way.

However, in the sound design department, The Valiant is hit-and-miss. The overall score of the game is what you would expect from “Hollywood Medieval” — epic sounds of instruments — with some quieter moments done well. What makes it fall flat is the audio when people are talking during fights. With clashing metal and people screaming, I would sometimes mishear the dialogue, like Theoderich yelling in battle, “You shall feel my wrath!” which I interpreted as, “You shall fear my rod!” — a saying I kept uttering in my head when doing his special attacks.

I tried to enter a PvP multiplayer lobby, unfortunately after an hour of waiting alongside Theoderich with sword and shield in hand (with a look like he had been called into work on his only off-day), both listening to the main menu tune, I could not find an open session. Not because the server was down, but there seemed to be no one playing that specific mode. What I can surmise from playing the skirmish mode, you control a few squads in a game of conquest. To win, you must either capture and hold for a short amount of time checkpoints or whittle down your opponent’s overall squad numbers to zero.

And last but not least, the other mode to play, Last Man Standing, has you select a hero (with three to choose from) to protect a supply wagon from an endless horde of enemies. Besides the fact it was the only multiplayer mode I could play (something I didn’t realise while playing the mode, only learning about it when I went to play it again much later), it is a simple tower defence type of mini-game — with your only goal of winning is to make a human shield around the supply wagons until the waves are over. After wiping out a wave, you can grab equipment that doesn't assist you as much as you’d think and is a great reflection of the overall gameplay, stock standard.

Overall, The Valiant is an RTS with many faults that will put it into the realm of obscurity, only to have an uptick in players when either the game is played by a personality, or there is a sequel in the works. What sets the game apart from the others, however, is you get a lot more content for the low price. Give it a shot if you have a spare 40 dollars. But do me a favour: if you do, jump on the multiplayer, and if my guess was wrong, tell me in the comments.