Attentat 1942

Despite (or because of) Attentat 1942's short duration, there's nary a slow moment. A small thread quickly expands to a tapestry of narratives that weaves around the protagonist's grandfather. For those who love exploring history or simply resolving an investigation, Attentat 1942 provides a fascinating intersection between history and gameplay. Given that there's still plenty of room for more games like this to emerge, I look forward to seeing what else the Czech Academy of Sciences concocts in the future.

There are lessons to be learned in Attentat 1942. Whether on social media or on the streets, there’s something to be said for taking a stand in the world. It might be hard to see it now, but we can only hope that in fifty years we’ll we be proud that we were talking about #YesAllWomen and #BlackLivesMatter and #LoveIsLove because we changed the times… or perhaps the times will change us? Attentat 1942 is a welcome wake-up call showing that it’s impossible to look into the future, but we can recall our past, and when doing so, good people are going to wish they had something better to say for themselves than “I didn’t know what to do.”

While it fails at being a game, Attentat 1942 succeeds at being an experience. It sacrifices all aspects of player choice and interactivity at the expense of delivering a compelling and interesting story. It can be praised for exploring an aspect and setting of a famous conflict that most games wouldn’t touch on.

Do not look for a traditional adventure. You won‘t find it. Instead, a hard-to-answer swirl of emotions and questions is hidden in both the black & white and the color worlds. [issue#282]

To fully embrace the terror of the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, Attentat 1942 creates a story of true events with fictional characters.

Attentat 1942 is really simple and pretty short, but stands out thanks to a powerful narration based on intense flashbacks, historical documents and cinematic interviews.

Attentat 1942 is a full-motion video game that hits you hard with a harrowing story and dozens of facts from the era. Although, the mini games are slightly lacking, they do create some tension for an overall exciting and interesting experience. A must play if you have an interest in history, and want to learn more about the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.

Attentat 1942 is a well-written narrative and investigative adventure, a different kind of story in the World War II which delivers despite the flaws in pace and its extremely poor gameplay.

A game document that excels in a faithful representation of WWII-protectorate reality. It has a cool atmosphere and sympathetic visuals, yet if you are looking for a sophisticated gameplay, you will be disappointed.

Attentat 1942 provides an insightful history lesson into the events of the Czechoslovakian occupation, while its cinematic interviews prove a crucial gateway into understanding the impact those events had on human life. It doesn’t provide the interactivity of Her Story or This War of Mine, but it’s pleasing to see the game format being used to educate.

Although short in duration (my meticulous approach lasted two hours plus), and it really needed more to the game for the kind of story that it was telling, Attentat 1942’s poignancy managed to stir me on several occasions, and its ending in particular was touching.

As I said before, all games can be educational, but don’t all necessarily have to be educational games. For me Attentat 1942 feels like by trying so hard to be an educational game, it has missed an opportunity to be a better regular game. However, it is still filled with historical content, flashback sequences and a wonderful art style, even though a lack of a cohesive story and any real driving force to the narrative does make it feel meandering, like a conversation with an aging grandparent. But like a conversation with an aging grandparent, you might also learn some amazing things, or have your perspective broadened, if you’ll only take the time to listen. So if you feel like a meander through some thought-provoking history, Attentat 1942 is out on Steam now.