Verdun

Verdun is a squad-based multiplayer first-person shooter set during the First World War. It was released on 28 April 2015 on Steam, after more than a year in Steam Early Access.

Verdun is inspired by the infamous 1916 Battle of Verdun in France from which it takes its name. The game includes historically accurate WW1 weapons, authentic uniforms and equipment, detailed injury and gore modeling, and maps based on the real battlefields of the Western Front. In addition to realism and authenticity however, it's also rapidly becoming infamous for its difficulty.

The game runs on the Unity engine and was created by independent studios M2H and Blackmill Games. It is also still a work in progress, with the developers continuing to release updates.

A free expansion, Horrors of War, was released in March 2016. A console release for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 was released on 30 August 2016.

A larger, standalone expansion, Tannenberg, is in the works. Set in the Eastern Front of World War I, it's slated for a 16 November 2017 release.

Tropes used in Verdun include:

• Anachronism Stew: Downplayed, but the uniforms and equipment available for the various sides and classes range from across the duration of the Great War. Thus it's not uncommon to find Germans with antiquated Pickelhaube helmets facing US Marines c.1918.
• Bayonet Ya: Bolt-action rifles can be attached with bayonets, allowing them to double as impromptu spears in melee.
• Bottomless Magazines: Averted. Run out of ammo, and expect to die very soon after.
• Bilingual Bonus: The various factions all speak in their respective languages (German, French, etc.)
• Bling of War: While uniforms are generally worn and grimy, officers tend to look more distinctive, particularly if they're French.
• Cool Guns: It helps that a good portion of the standard-issue firearms on both sides were commonplace, with some even having staying power well into the present. Be it the M1911 pistol for the Americans, the Lee-Enfield for the British, or the German Gewehr 98.
• Doing It for the Art: A major reason behind the game's existence.
• Deadly Gas: Poison gas is very much a danger, making the use of gas masks a necessity if you don't want to suffer a painful death. Said gas also conveniently serves as a smokescreen.
• Death From Above: Artillery strikes can be called upon by non-commissioned officers on both sides. Though said strikes can be indiscriminate if you or your allies aren't out of the way in time.
• Death World: The game does a rather unsettling job of depicting the French and Belgian countryside as this.
• Dueling Games: With the recently-revealed Battlefield 1, which is also set in World War I. Among the key differences however is that Verdun primarily concerns itself with the Western Front, whereas Battlefield 1 is slated to include other parts of the world.
  • The upcoming Tannenberg standalone expansion is shaping up to be one to the In The Name of the Tsar DLC for Battlefield 1. As both involve the Eastern Front.
• Fog of War: Due to the presence of fog and smokescreens, it can be very risky to make a break for it out in the open, especially when enemies can be hidden right in front of you.
• Genius Bonus: The end-game music in earlier versions of Verdun is a snippet from God Save the Tsar, the anthem of Imperial Russia.
• Grey and Gray Morality: Unlike World War II games, there are no real villains or Nazi-equivalent opponents to be had here.
• Highly-Conspicuous Uniform: French soldiers tend to have uniforms that are glaringly blue. Which is Truth in Television, given how this more or less happened during the actual Great War due in part to shortages.
• Hollywood History: Averted. The game goes through quite a few lengths to show that there's a lot more to the Western Front than just static trenches. And proceeds to show said lengths in all their harrowing glory.
• Hollywood Tactics: Played straight, complete with human wave attacks on enemy trenches. It's justified however, as many defences and assaults on the Western Front really were this during World War I, with graphic and brutal consequences.
• Imperial Germany: One of the playable factions in the game. While they aren't (yet) the Wehrmacht, the Germans' uniforms and equipment foreshadow their later incarnations.
• Invisible Wall: Similarly to the Battlefield series, going out of bounds is treated as a sign of desertion and eventually, insta-death.
• The Many Deaths of You: There are a lot of ways to die in the game that aren't just from gunshots, be it death by bayonet, gas attack or even by getting stuck in barbed wire. Horrors of War adds even more ways, complete with your dying soldier pitifully groaning in the ground.
• Milestone Celebration: Of sorts. The game was made to roughly coincide with the 100 years since World War I broke out.
• More Dakka: As standard-issue firearms of the period tend to be bolt-action rifles, having a machine gun by default is this.
• Multinational Team: This is most evident on the British side, which also covers various members of the Commonwealth such as Australia and Canada.
• Nintendo Hard: This is a game where it's horrifically easy to die. Where obstacles such as barbed wire or even just one wrong move can mean life or death.
• Nothing but Hits: Subverted. The soundtrack is comprised of tracks and songs that would have at the very least been familiar to someone from the time period, though not necessarily what people today would recognize.
• Obvious Beta: Verdun has undergone several updates over time, but continues to be in development even after being released. This is in part explained by the developers involved being comprised of only four people.
• One Hit Wonder: In general, soldiers can only take very few hits at best. More often than not however, a single shot or melee attack can be lethal.
• Paranoia Fuel: Enemies, traps and lethal dangers abound at every corner, be it in the trenches or simply by going "over the top."
• Real Is Brown: Downplayed, though the overall color palette is fittingly muted. It's also justified in that the trenches and bombed-out battlefields of the Western Front were very much like that.
• Reality Ensues: Going lone wolf or simply running and gunning out in the open is a guaranteed way of dying an ignoble death.
  • Either getting caught in poison gas without a mask or attempting to power through it is a sure way of causing a quick and visibly gruesome death.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: The British/Commonwealth sidearm, the Webley Mk. VI.
• Scenery Porn: Some of the maps can be this, showcasing the French and Belgian countryside of 1914. Justified, though not for long as said maps are either set early on in the Great War or otherwise hadn't seen much combat.
• Scenery Gorn: The Western Front is as desolate and brutal as it is a sight to behold.
• Screw the War, We're Partying: The developers incorporated a special Christmas mode, based on the real 1914 Christmas truce among the warring sides.
• Selective Historical Armory: Averted. All the weapons available in-game are what would have commonly been available to soldiers during the Great War, such as the Lee-Enfield, Mauser or M1911.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: In the confined spaces of a trench, they're especially useful. So much so that there were those in real life who thought it was too barbaric.
• Shown Their Work: The developers have done their research, which shows in-game. Whether it's the bolt-action rifles used, the kinds of trenches deployed or even the particular gear soldiers would have had on them at the time. The maps themselves are based on actual battlefields in the Western Front.
• Sincerest Form of Flattery: The game definitely takes considerable inspiration from the Battlefield series.
• Super Prototype: After a fashion, the game also includes early-generation LMGs and SMGs that saw action in the latter years of the Great War.
• The Squad: Gameplay revolves around this; simply going lone wolf on enemies is a guaranteed way to die quickly.
• Unfriendly Fire: It's possible to switch friendly fire off, though the game strongly discourages team-killing.
• Yanks With Tanks: The US military also shows up, albeit as "Doughboys" befitting the era.
• War Is Hell: In spades, given how Verdun is set in the trench warfare-laden Western Front, not to mention being inspired by one of the bloodiest battles in the Great War. The Horrors of War expansion also takes this even further, by adding gore and more graphic deaths.
• Widget Series: Unlike World War II-themed works, there aren't many first-person shooters, let alone games in general that focus on the Great War.
• World War I: The game covers the conflict in the Western Front from 1914-18.