For Honor may be one of Ubisoft’s more underrated 2017 releases. Just a few months after its first launch, the game’s player base dropped considerably. This can be attributed to a mediocre campaign mode and some balancing issues. Surprisingly though, the number of players has grown again, with Ubisoft announcing 7.5 million active players just last February. More recently, the gaming company has also made the game free-to-play on Steam to further boost numbers. Therefore, it is probably a good time to revisit this action-packed PvP game.
For the unaware, For Honor is an online multiplayer brawler game that lets players take control of medieval warriors, namely: knights, samurai’s, and Vikings. Gamespot reports that at this year’s E3, Ubisoft revealed some new sets of heroes: the shaolin and the tiandi.
In this regard, For Honor‘s action is largely melee-focused, with different warrior classes having different strengths and abilities on the battlefield. Naturally, the game’s biggest strength lies in its combat system. The system is simple enough for beginners to grasp, but the mechanics become more complex as you develop your skills. It is only when in battle with different types of enemies do you realise the full potential (and weaknesses) of your character. Because of this, the game forces you to strategize your attacks, instead of going full kamikaze.
Since the game’s release, developers have made several changes to address balancing concerns. The most apparent is in its parrying mechanic. Before, players relied heavily on parries to deal significant blows to an enemy because it offered free guard breaks. This time around, the parry isn’t as rewarding, as the window to make free attacks is a lot smaller. This small adjustment ultimately changes the flow of combat and has since helped to boost the game’s popularity.
All in all, For Honor‘s six hour-campaign mode is still its weakest aspect. The gameplay can be fun at certain parts, but the narrative remains quite forgettable. It essentially involves a fight amongst factions for land and resources in a post-apocalyptic world. Fortunately, the game has many other modes for players to enjoy. This includes the 1 vs. 1 mode, where players can really test their combat skills.
In truth, there was a lot of hype surrounding For Honor before its release. Aside from its ambitious battle arena-style gameplay, players were largely excited about the idea of pitting medieval warriors against one another. Who would have ever thought that they would see a samurai take on a Viking? The team behind the game has taken history’s most iconic soldiers and grouped them together under one title. In the world of gaming, you would usually see these warriors separately. For example, Slingo Slots has several short online games dedicated to each warrior. Titles like King’s Honour is a tribute to the Knights of the Round Table, while games like Samurai Ken feature Japan’s ancient fighters. Meanwhile, Vikings Go Wild focuses on the nomadic marauders in all their glory. Of course, featuring just one warrior class is not a bad thing for a video game, as doing so enables titles to explore these cultures in more depth. With the combination of all three, however, For Honor takes it to another level.
Naturally, historical accuracy is not relevant here. For Honor plays into our fantasy scenarios of making different worlds clash with one another. So for that unique reason alone, the game is definitely worth a try. The developers have worked hard to give players what they want, and so the experience is a lot better than when it first launched. For Honor is playable on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
In case you’re interested in other game reviews, check out our impressions on Gears of War 4.
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