Chivalry 2 – Review

In the day and age where warfare is all about attacking your opponent from a distance, either by remote-controlled vehicles or with highly powered rifles, one might forget how battles were fought in the old days. Chivalry 2 is the game that takes the dynamic of hectic close combat battles and puts this in a qualitative finished product that ensures fun for hours on end. Will you slash your way through hordes of bloodthirsty players, or do you prefer to play as an archer and witness the battle from a distance?

Story

The game takes place after the events of the first Chivalry game. A civil war has torn the lands into a state of ruin and the king of Argon was slain. After that incident, the Mason faction took over and reigned the lands with an iron fist for over 20 years. The people of Agatha were used, abused, and tortured, but after all these years there suddenly is hope on the horizon. A new king enters the battlefield and as Agatha’s new leader he will push back the Mason dictatorship by retaking the land to bring might to the once fallen Agatha.

Players who enjoy the lore will be glad to find a dedicated section in the menu where they can read up on all the first and current game events and even watch what happened in the included trailers. There are character depictions and explanations on what went on in the nation, and everything needed to tie both stories together.

During your playtime, there won’t be any lore for the events that take place. It would have been cool to have a proper single-player campaign in the game, but you have to make do with a practice mode and a somewhat funny tutorial.

Graphics

As a game that once started as a Half-Life 2 mod, it is really amazing how its successor turned out in the end. For starters, the game looks like you need a very high-end machine to run it but it runs really smoothly on high settings with a slightly aged machine. Battles are a mix between blood, arrows and limbs flying around, all while you are trying to dodge your enemies. Everything moves very fluidly, which is impressive seeing how grand scale the battles in the game are.

The medieval setting is presented perfectly with the sunny open fields riddled with stakes, fallen soldiers and the feeling of dread. Night-time battles are lighted by the many torches, fires and of course a very clear moon, making sure the night doesn’t impact your vision too much. There is a wide range of different maps to play on, and while each map looks different, you will quickly familiarise yourself with the setting and you never truly get lost.

Sound

A realistic medieval game will not have any music playing in the midst of a heated battle, and this also rings true for Chivalry 2. You have some authentic bard songs while browsing through the menu, but during combat, you will only hear the (battle)cries of your comrades, soldiers blowing their horns, and the pain which is inflicted during close combat. The sound effects are spot-on. You can perfectly hear when you hit the enemy’s shield or sword. This will have you anticipate your next move, hoping to break through your opponents’ defenses and split a skull or two in the process. The voice acting in this game is a step up from the previous title, as the characters come off as realistic, fearing for their lives, shouting in the heat of battle, or simply forgetting what faction their leader is part of (especially true when playing as farmers).

Gameplay

Chivalry 2 is a first-person hack and slash game that deeply focuses on large-scale multiplayer battles. It all starts with a very elaborate tutorial that teaches you all the moves that you can pull off in the game. This tutorial is quite expansive, and because the combat is pretty complicated, this means that mastering the game will be a long and difficult process. Despite the many interactions that you can do, the combat plays out really smoothly and it doesn’t feel like you are trying to hit a piñata blindfolded. After completing the tutorial, you will be put in your first match against bots. This gives a better representation of the game and you can always play more of these matches to train your skills or to try out new weapons or setups. In these matches you will get no experience, however.

When feeling brave enough you can step into the hectic battles online against other players and bots. The game offers three main modes: 64 person war, 40 man skirmishes and free-for-all. In free-for-all, it is everyone against each other and the strongest warrior comes out on top. These fights are always fought inside arenas that offer many traps and remind us of the famous gladiator coliseums from the Roman Empire. The real action takes place in large-scale battles between either 64 or 40 people in total. The 64 man matches are absolutely brutal and you will either be mowed down or become a proper butcher. Standing still means certain death here. In the 40 man matches, you go up against a smaller company, which makes combat a bit easier, also making it better to level your character and these matches are generally a lot slower.

In Chivalry 2 you can select between four different classes, each with its unique stats, load-outs, and special items. In your arsenal, you can select between the Archer who specializes in ranged combat, the Vanguard who is more of a barbaric character who loves strong-hitting weapons, the Footman who has long-ranged melee weapons and the Knight who is beefy but has the shortest range of them all. For each class, three sub-divisions can be unlocked after earning enough XP in the selected class. Each specific class has its own unique weapon loadout, making it so that the battlefield becomes riled with all kinds of swords and hammers after a few minutes of warfare. Each character of each faction can be fully customized so you can intimidate your foes by looking powerful and fearless.

One of the most viable techniques during any fight is throwing your weapon as this can deal large amounts of damage and stagger or even down your enemy in one single hit. If you run out of things to throw, then you’ll be happy that you’re able to find weapons all around the battlefield. This is ideal for both fighters and archers, as they can stock up on ammo or continue fighting with whatever they can find when ammo runs out. There is no limit to what class can use what weapons, so just pick up and discover what suits you the best in the current situation.

The game has a few different game modes, but the most common are team deathmatch and team objective. Team objective is like a siege game where you must complete objectives by destroying the opponent their defenses or stopping the attackers dead in their tracks. In team deathmatch, you must deplete the opponent’s troops and be the last faction standing. Be warned, a match can sometimes take up to half an hour, depending on which game mode you choose to play.

Conclusion

Chivalry 2 is a game that you can sink hours in without even noticing it, be it when reigning over the battlefield, but also when getting your limbs chopped off by the superior opposition. The game boasts some really nice graphics and has a nice sound design, making the immersion factor pretty strong. You will be craving Mead and songs sung by a bard in a tavern after a long day of bloodshed. There are many things to unlock and progress to be made through leveling the different character classes. The different game modes make the gameplay quite balanced but it can take a while to finish a match depending on what mode you end up choosing. While there is no single-player campaign present in the game, there is always the option to play the game offline against bots to practice your moves and skills.

MC_JP

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Never give up on a dream. It might be a long nightmare, but one day it will change into a beautiful reality - MC_JP 2014

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