REVIEW : Chivalry 2 (PC)
It’s an exciting, theatrical simulation of mediaeval combat that emphasises both martial arts expertise and historical buffoonery in equal measure. Sometimes you expertly duel another player for 30 intense seconds with swords; other times, a ballista bolt skewers you while you’re shaking a fish in the air and proclaiming that you’re “power incarnate.”
Teams of 64 players compete in objective-based matches at the heart of Chivalry 2. These are multi-stage wars when peasants are massacred, caravans are attacked, and fortresses are besieged with rolling towers and ladders. There aren’t many maps available right now, but the ones we do have amazed me. Each features a good selection of targets to take on and defend, interesting geography and architecture, a good combination of open spaces and bottlenecks, and fantastic gameplay. They all begin similarly: both teams line up and race toward one another while brandishing swords and axes. I respond to these charges by slamming the ‘yell’ key and howling stupidly, hurling my shield and sword into the group of bodies in front of me, and then attacking them with my secondary axe. You might be using ballista bolts to push enormous siege structures up against a wall one second, then trying to steal as much gold as you can from a hamlet and get it back to your cart before time runs out the next. If I’m lucky, I manage to get past the defences and pursue the cowardly shooters who stayed put 50 yards from the front lines.
In the objective maps of Chivalry 2, subsequent life starts out more subdued. You start off close to the action, where one team is attempting to accomplish a standard mediaeval objective (burn the tents, push the siege walls, smash the trebuchet) while the opposing team is obstructing their progress. There is always a better side to be on because some missions are more enjoyable than others (transporting gold from one location to another is a bit of a pain, but escorting payloads is always fun). Each map depicts a conflict between the Agathians and the Masons, a scenario that may have been unnecessary but is handled with such hilarious gravity.
Using brief chat lines, teammates can join a chorus of yelling and babbling while rushing from the spawning zone to a contested objective. There are tactical commands and “your mom” jokes, each with VO from many actors. This is a crucial component of the Chivalry 2 adventure. I constantly aim to win, and when my colleagues are lost on an objective, I’ll sometimes finish it by myself. However, approaching Chivalry 2 like an esport would be like expecting a WWE Hell in a Cell bout to follow Greco-Roman wrestling regulations. Chivalry offers 12 set classes divided into four archetypes, with four available at the start of the game, as opposed to requiring you to build out a sophisticated custom kit with all the precise weapons and armour you desire. Within each class, new primary and secondary weapons can be unlocked as well, providing a tonne of meaningful progression to strive for. There are kits to suit just about every playing style I could imagine, from a lethal crossbow sniper to a crazed, axe-throwing berserker, which made me a little bummed that I can not just go crazy combining and matching.
The addition of theatre makes Chivalry 2 great. Two players may occasionally bow to one another or crouch back and forth. They are doing what? It is irrelevant. Simply let them finish. I also liked how special powers in each class seemed to be more about helping your team than about improving you as a lone combatant. You can still make a huge difference in large battles even when you’re not the best one-on-one fighter of all time by sounding your war horn and providing a powerful area-of-effect cure to your side of the melee. When I truly need a break from the battle, I’ll take up someone’s head or whatever else is lying about and stand there shaking it and shouting, even while arrows pierce my chest. I never attack someone who is being silly.
Chivalry 2 is about a passion for the game as much as winning it, much like Rocket League, which has also given rise to some peculiar player behaviour. Normally, I don’t use text chat, but every game feels like a discussion nonetheless. Most immediately, if you believe the person who just killed you did it well, you can hit a key to send a compliment their way. I like to use this sparingly. But even when my team and I are simply shouting and sprinting toward a goal as the clock runs out, I have a sense of camaraderie that I don’t have with the Battlefield games. It benefits from being able to think quickly and respond to what your opponent is doing because there are just enough methods to strike, parry, riposte, dodge, and counter. But once you’ve made a decision, carrying out those actions doesn’t call for superhuman reflexes or razor-sharp mouse motions.
Though most cooperation in Chivalry 2 is accidental. The finest multiplayer experiences I’ve had with friends have been in games with smaller teams, like Rocket League or Rainbow Six Siege, whereas I don’t think adding friends would make Chivalry 2 better, unless maybe we organised duelling parties on empty servers. Instead, it’s a low-stress game where you can idly concentrate on personal performance.
The relaxed atmosphere partially masks the intricate and difficult melee fighting system in Chivalry 2. Attacks like the slash, stab, and above strike don’t have fixed animations. You may aim your blade as you swing, and rotating or bending your torso into attack mode is accomplished by swiping the cursor in the swing direction. You can stop an opponent’s attack by striking them before they strike you, causing damage while sustaining none yourself.
But if they succeed in blocking, they will be in control of the following swing, and if you show too much predictability, they might counter and earn a free hit. The heart of everything, of course, is the fighting system. And after more than 30 hours, I still adore it. Although it isn’t the most authentic feudal fighter I’ve ever played, this is a power fantasy, not a documentary.
Jabs, kicks, and attack cancels are also incorporated, and there is a wide spectrum of weaponry velocity, variety, and power, from knives and truncheons to kriegsmesser and pole axes. Personally, I enjoy using a light sledgehammer swing to aim at skulls. Blades continue through whereas blunt weapons halt on hit, and I feel that makes sense. Its overall structure and the ways in which it restricts how much a player with exceptional talent may completely control the battlefield hit the mark for me. But don’t believe that by madly swinging a mace around you can quickly propel you to the top of the leaderboards.
The finest accomplishment of Chivalry 2 is that several opponents can be defeated. You could just perceive it as being useless. Counters and ripostes are specifically timed attacks in Chivalry 2 that momentarily deflect all incoming attacks. It is possible to win a one-on-three due to the fact that clumped adversaries are equally likely to hit each other as you are.
Certainly, there are a few goals that feel out of balance at the present. For instance, in all the times I’ve played Falmire, I’ve only ever seen the attackers successfully capture the bridge once. Additionally, the ramp on Lionspire is quite slick. However, this is nothing that a couple of small adjustments shouldn’t be able to correct. And if everyone has some experience and comprehends how these objectives function, things might even out a little. Aside from a few balance flaws, the maps are fantastic; the gleaming armour and towering castle walls all look fantastic, and there are a wide variety of goals to keep things fresh.
REVIEW : Barn Finders (XBOX Series X)
