The sequel to the game “Unknown Soldiers” will (again) bring you to tears

• The second installment of

  Unknown Soldiers

  , which shocked hundreds of thousands of gamers in 2014, was released on Netflix's mobile app.

• The title, developed by the Ubisoft team in Montpellier, tells the story of ordinary heroes, faced with the horrors of the First World War.

• “We don't play warriors or killers, however, says Paul Tumelaire, artistic director and creator of the game. They are everyday people.

  They never carry a weapon.

  And if they kill, it's by mistake.

  »

In 2014,

shocked hundreds of thousands of gamers worldwide.

The second episode of this poignant game, which narrates the epic of soldiers enlisted in the First World War, promises, once again, to bring us to tears.

In

, available on the Netflix mobile app, we always play ordinary heroes facing the horrors of battle: we are Anna, a nurse at the bedside of the wounded, Ernst, a German diver, or George, a strange English aviator hidden behind huge glasses.

But, above all, this new opus, developed by the Ubisoft team in Montpellier (Hérault), features two brothers: Freddie, an American well known to those who sanded the first episode, and James, a docker, who , despite his brother's warnings, joins the Harlem Hellfighters.

A formidable regiment of African-Americans, particularly feared by the Germans, although they were less fed and less equipped than the Whites.

But if it is indeed a game about War, it is not, at all, a war game.

“We do not embody warriors or killers, confides to

Paul Tumelaire, artistic director at Ubisoft, and creator of

.

They are everyday people.

They never carry a weapon.

And if they kill, it's by mistake.

This is a mechanic to which we have paid particular attention.

»

A balance “between the plausible narrative and reality”

If we are often taken by the throat, we laugh, too, often.

"That's the universe of

," continues Paul Tumelaire.

We did everything to bring emotion, but there is also humor, especially in the attitudes of certain characters, despite what they are going through, which is dramatic.

In the same graphic universe as

, close to an animated comic strip,

invites us to a clever mix of adventure, platforms and reflection.

You have to undergo training, solve puzzles, collect objects scattered here and there, or flee from bombs.

With, always, an important place for the story.

The truth.

As with the first episode released nine years ago, Alexandre Lafon, doctor of contemporary history, ensured that these adventures stick to the real story.

"We must salute the commitment of Ubisoft, which has managed to find a balance between the probable story of what the characters are going through and the reality of what was the First World War", he confides to

.

The letters that the soldiers wrote almost daily still have such an important place in the game. , explains Alexandre Lafon.

It is estimated that around 10 billion letters were written during the war.

It is enormous.

»

The entry into the war of the United States, a period little known in France, as across the Atlantic

The game has, once again, a real educational dimension.

Especially since the story he tells, this time, is relatively unknown: the entry of the United States into the war, in 1917. “The American war is little known, in Europe, but also by Americans themselves, explains Alexandre Lafon.

The historiography of the First World War is often Franco-French.

We remember the first Battle of the Marne, Verdun, the second Battle of the Marne, but few of the American troops, who arrived late.

In the school programs, there is a sentence, or a paragraph, which announces the arrival of the American troops.

And on the other side of the Atlantic, this history has been completely eclipsed by that of the Second World War.

»*

And if all the information gleaned on this period during the game phases were not enough to dry up the curiosity of the most passionate players, they will also be able to pick up plenty of other things on the First World War, by browsing the Collections option, in the main menu, as they progress through the story.

In the test phases of the game, Paul Tumelaire also found that players did not hesitate "to stop playing to take an interest" in these additional supports.

Netflix wanted "that we go to the end of what we wanted to achieve", assures Paul Tumelaire

The big difference with the first opus is the support:

was released exclusively on Netflix.

Some may be a little surprised at first by the controls on a smartphone.

But after a few seconds, we forget, and we go deep into the story.

And, as Paul Tumelaire assures, creating a game for Netflix has no particular impact on development.

On the contrary.

The platform granted the Ubisoft team in Montpellier complete freedom.

“They are very attentive to our creativity, they really don't want to put up barriers for us, they don't want to bother us, assures the artistic director.

They want us to go after what we wanted to achieve.

There was never, on their part, a desire to interfere in anything.

»

OUR FILE ON UBISOFT

Brothers in Arms

is one of the first such ambitious games released by Netflix in France.

So, inevitably, his reception will be particularly scrutinized.

“ 

is a game completely adapted to the Netflix community, which likes to be told stories, notes Paul Tumelaire.

Because

, that's it, it's a story.

»

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• Languedoc Roussillon