Chivalry 2 – A New Game With Awesome Gameplay
Although other first-person swordfighting games like Kingdom Come Deliverance and Mordhau have tried to market themselves on the realisticity of their hitboxes, or the high skill ceilings of the combat systems, Chivalry Medieval Warfare is more arcadey. Its sequel Chivalry2 is an extension of this tradition. I believe it offers a better multiplayer experience due to that philosophy. While there are still many skills involved, it is easier to just jump in and get some absolutely gory kills than feeling like you are surrounded by wolves. This is how you build and sustain a strong community.
Chivalry 2 allows you to take your place on stylish and saturated battlefields with up 64 players. You can choose from objective-based teams or a huge free-for all. While there aren’t many maps, I was quite impressed with the ones that we do have. Each map offers a variety of objectives, including defending and attacking, as well as interesting terrain and architecture. There is also a great mix of bottlenecks and open areas. You could be pushing massive siege towers against a wall and having ballista bullets fly at you from high above. Or you might be trying your best to grab as much gold from a village so you can return it to your cart before the time runs out.
Yes, there are some unbalanced objectives at the moment. In fact, Falmire’s bridge has only been taken by attackers once out of the many times I’ve seen it. The ramp to Lionspire is also quite sticky. However, it is possible to make the ramp more user-friendly with just a few tweaks. This might help a little once everyone has a bit more experience with the objectives.
Chivalry does not require you to create a complex custom set with all the weapons and armor that you desire. Instead, you can choose from 12 sets of classes. There are four archetypes available, four at the beginning and four more unlocked as your progress. Each class can also unlock secondary and primary weapons, which means there is a lot to be proud of. While I was disappointed that I couldn’t just mix and match, I soon discovered that there are kits for just about any playstyle you could think of, from a crossbow-wielding sniper to an axe-wielding berserker.
Some people have stronger niches than others. Rogue classes get a bonus to dealing backstab damage. However, I never felt like I could use this advantage in team fights or one on one. The skirmisher throws javelins. She is supposed to be a mixture of a melee class and a ranged one, but she ends up feeling worse than her specialist counterparts at either. Shields are more of a burden rather than a boon to me. However, offensive monsters like devastator or crusader can be a lot of fun. Although archers are powerful enough to cause a lot of chatter, it takes a lot of practice as well as good instincts to get the best out of them.
It’s been a lot of fun playing Chivalry 2. Other than a few balance problems, the maps are fantastic. The entire map, from the shining armor to high-altitude castle walls, is stunning and there are many objectives to keep it interesting. Combat strikes that sweet spot between easy, dumb fun, and rewarding, skill-based mechanics. It’s hard to believe that you’re going to have a good time when you respawn, everyone around you is pressing the battle call button and you race headlong into certain death. This sweaty, wet coat of mail won’t be forgotten for quite some time.
