E3 2015: For Honor Hands-on Preview – A Storm of Swords

E3 2015: For Honor Hands-on Preview – A Storm of Swords

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Richard Walker

Ubisoft Montreal is getting Medieval on your ass with For Honor, its game of multiplayer swords and shields, in which historical warriors battle tooth and nail armed only with steel blades and hefty suits of armour. Potentially, For Honor is a game that fulfils the fantasy of a knight, samurai or viking cleaving a bloody path through armies of expendable fodder, fighting your way towards a head-to-head showdown between two proficient swordsmen (or swordswomen). It's something I've dreamed of doing in a video game for years.

Is the reality as good as the fantasy, however? The short answer is yes, because For Honor works, and it works remarkably well. The key is in its simplistic controls, with guarding mapped to the L2 and light and heavy attacks mapped to the R1 and R2 respectively. While guarding, you use the right stick to change stances and deflect incoming attacks from three directions: up high, and low to the left or right. Straightforward, right? It genuinely is.

Matching your opponent's stance like a game of rock, paper, scissors is the key to defence, while looking to wrong foot an enemy is the only way to connect with a hit. Add the ability to shove enemies with square while holding the guard button, and you can break your opponent's defence, but your timing has to be just right to avoid leaving yourself wide open.

The result is a nigh-on perfect ebb and flow in combat that's only interrupted when you face multiple players. Then things can become complicated, making the best strategy to turn and run or call upon an ally to help even the odds. Communication can be important.

Otherwise, you'll find yourself very dead, very fast. In For Honor, dealing with attacks from multiple directions is difficult, if not almost impossible. You have the ability to very slowly roll to dodge incoming strikes, but given that you're dressed in a heavy suit of armour, it's not a particularly effective evasive manoeuvre. Still, it can come in handy when you're outnumbered and looking to escape an insurmountable encounter.

Going hands-on with the game, you're able to first choose the gender of your knight and adorn them in a selection of different armours, which range from shiny silver numbers to bronze helmets and chest plates, each with various configurations. Dominion is the mode of choice, presenting two teams of warring knights with an objective-driven battle to take three territories marked on the game's streamlined HUD. A take on the traditional Hardpoint or Conquest mode you find in almost every FPS, Dominion sees two factions battling for control over points A, B and C, set within the walls of a Medieval castle.

Beyond the portcullis, the central castle grounds is where the NPC red and blue knights meet in a flurry of violence, and it's here that you can rack up a few quick points by carving up the opposing team's waves of soldiers as they fight.

Slaughtering enough soldiers and holding all three territories for long enough racks up the 1000 points necessary to achieve victory, although the score can fluctuate wildly as points A, B and C change hands, and the battle to retain each zone grows ever more frantic and desperate. If your team is really good, you can gain control of the catapult, and bring a flaming shitstorm raining down upon your enemies. This gives you an edge, but doesn't completely turn the tide.

While point A is where much of the action takes place, B and C situated in confined turrets at either side of the map are where the one-on-one battles largely occur, and where a successful player kill can prove pivotal. Combat is weighty and (yes) visceral, as swords clash and hits feel palpable, each met with gushes of blood. Dominion is but the first PvP mode to be revealed, with more promised down the line, while the knight faction is the only one currently playable in Ubi's hands-on demo.

Once vikings and samurai get in on the action, we can only imagine the level of carnage that For Honor will deliver upon its release. Hopefully, each faction will play differently enough to set them apart, with the samurai presumably favouring swift moves with their katanas, and the vikings adopting slow and measured attacks with swords, maces and shields.

I can't wait to get my hands on For Honor again and try out the other warriors, not least because it's a game I thought couldn't work without feeling finicky, but on the basis of what I've played so far, it works incredibly well. Whether the formula can be spun out across other modes will prove to be For Honor's ultimate litmus test, as the only question mark hanging over the game is its potential longevity and replay value.

Should For Honor manage to successfully overcome that possible hurdle, Ubisoft could have another hugely promising new IP on its hands.

For Honor is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Comments
5
  • Saw the words 'A Storm of Swords' and got excited for an ASOIAF game :(
  • Sounds very cool, I was a bit curious to hear more about it. It's seems like more slower paced and more deliberate MP brawler, which should be a nice change of pace from all the MP shooter these days. Finally something not relying on twitch reflexes LOL Can't wait to hear more about this=)
  • i really like the concept of this and will support it if it lives up to it's screenshots, looking forward to seeing more.
  • I'd like to see more of the gameplay. If they really can deliver a 'true' knight experience they will make a dent in the hack/slash world.
  • this was already done with chivalry
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