Samuel, the lead character of the game

Posting on his blog page, Bernard confirms that development of this innovative title - which focuses on the horrors of the Holocaust and will attempt to tell the story of World War 2 from a different viewpoint to that which modern gamers are accustomed to – is still ongoing. The title of the game will also change.

Here’s the synopsis:

The story starts off before the occupation. You see Samuel (the main character) playing with his friends, going to school, everything is as it should be. France is then occupied by the Nazi’s, and Samuel starts to see changes. Samuel’s family move to a ghetto where he is no longer able to play in the park with the other children, and he now has to wear the yellow Jewish star.

The scene changes to the Rafle du Vel’ d’Hiv (the July 1942 raid in Paris) where the Nazi’s aimed to reduce the Jewish population in France, and Samuel is with his mother. His mother tells Samuel to escape Paris. She takes off his yellow star so he’s not recognised as a Jew, and gives him the address of a catholic priest who can help him escape Paris and the occupied part of France.

While Samuel escapes, his mother is spotted by and taken away and he hears gunshots (she basically gets killed). Samuel starts his journey to find the priest, sneaking through Paris. Samuel arrives and the priest hides him until he smuggles him down into southern France. They arrive in a small French village hidden amongst woodland, where the villagers are passing off Jewish children from all over France as Christian Orphans.

Next to the village is a forest, where Samuel meets a Fox. The Fox tells Samuel that if he helps him he will help him be able to see his mother again.

This project has intrigued us ever since we heard that it was supposedly coming to the DS. The constant flood of 'gung-ho' World War 2 games is rather depressing and it seems that game developers are only interested in showing the conflict from the viewpoint of the antagonists. No matter what the final game is like (and we have no reason to expect it to be anything but brilliant), Bernard should be applauded for being brave enough to put us in the shoes of a victim.

He also confirms that the release won’t be until 2009, and that his other title, Rose Princess, is on hold until a publisher can be found.