A New Take On War

For Honor is a game that surprised me and came out of no where. At least for me. When I tried the online demo, I was surprised by how fun it was. It was a no brainer. I pre-ordered it on the spot! For Honor is an interesting take on fighting games with a mix of Dynasty Warriors. It’s a Hack and Slash game with a Rock, Paper, Scissors approach to fighting. In For Honor there are three factions one can pick from – Knights, Vikings, and Samurai.

Rock, Paper, Beheading

Like many classic fighting games like Street Fighter, For Honor shares a lot of characteristics. Although it can be defined as a Hack and Slash, game, you can get punished for spamming the same moves continuously. To keep it simple: there are three directions to block and attack. Grabbing or Guard Breaks are another way to engage. Both of these things work marvelously when combined together in fighting against other players online. Just as you have to block in the direction you are attacked, you can also counter your opponent’s Guard Breaks. I am impressed by how fun the game is as well as how much of a mind game it is. When attacking you have to be aware that you can be punished if you do not mix up your attacks. The fight system is so complete that there is a workaround for every situation! Feats are special abilities to aid you in combat. You can select from a variety of them. The game is gorgeously balanced in which not one character is completely overpowering of others.

Presentation and Visuals

The opening cinematic reminds me of Dark Souls. I love how unique each faction and character looks. Other than the generic looking pawns each army has, the game looks fantastic. The different environments are very wonderful and pleasing to look at, and the buildings are very inspiring. There is a lot of detail that goes into every map as well as every character.

Speaking of characters. This is one of the few games I have seen where they get female armor right. What does that mean? Most other games and other forms of media exaggerate a woman’s chest body armor to be molded in the shape of breasts. Most of the time I didn’t even know I was playing against a female character until I heard them fight.  The body armor of females mold to their shape, but don’t overly exaggerate past the point of practical.

The Online

One of the most annoying characters to fight against are the characters with shields: The Warlord, The Valkyrie, The Conqueror. Just as you will have to work past their defenses, you will have to be on the lookout for people doing the same thing to you when playing as these characters.

You fight as three different factions, and each one of the three factions (Knight, Viking, Samurai) has 4 characters to pick from. You can pick as a well-balanced Vanguard, a Heavy that is slower but has more survivability, an agile Assassin, and a Hybrid character.

Once you reach level 20 online with a character you will be rewarded with a sort of Prestige. This will unlock different loadouts so that you can create different presets and equipment loadouts for every game type.

Many of the characters can be switched between male and female, while others are set to their sex. The game also allows a wide range of customizability. You can level up your gear, and even choose different gear with different stats to compliment everyone’s play style!

Game modes include 1 on 1, 2 on 2 matches. There are different 4 vs. 4 matches that include zone captures (Dominion), and all out fights with respawns, and others without. You can revive your downed teammates unless they got executed. You’ll grow to love the sight of heads rolling off your opponents.

The Store

The Store in For Honor allows you to use your own money to purchase Steel. Steel is the currency of the game that is used to upgrade, unlock new characters, acquire new gear, and even use it to gain Champion Status.

Champion Status allows you to gain bonus XP along with other perks that make getting ahead in the game quicker. You can use Steel to gain Champion Status.

Another way you can use Steel is to unlock all your Feats right away. You can unlock the Feats for each multiplayer character by leveling them up. So I would stay away from it, unless you really just want to unlock them right away and you have Steel to spare.

Personally I’m not one that supports Stores like this, but I’m glad that they aren’t necessary. Especially for a 60 dollar game, and that’s not even including the Season Pass.

The Story

The Story is consisted of 18 missions that are split up into 3 separate within the 3 different factions that I mentioned earlier.

Within the story, you come face to face with a character that has been manipulating the 3 factions into fighting each other. Manipulating the three factions into war is Apollyon. A woman with a goal to keep the three factions fighting. There are special powers called Feats in the campaign Story Mode that can aid you in conquering your enemies.

Conclusion

I love this game and everyone else that has had a chance to get this game loves it, too. Many had never heard about it until the demo came out. If you enjoy fighting games, hack and slash games, and even Dark Souls, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this, as well. The game has a heavy emphasis on multiplayer. If you have another friend or a group of three other friends, you can be guaranteed a good time. Learn from each other and try different characters. The store doesn’t get in the way and it’s not a pay to win – it’s more of a pay to get stuff quicker. The game feels incomplete, at times. Fortunately, the characters are very balanced and can feel unbalanced if you aren’t used to fighting against a certain character. There are only 18 story mode missions, so it’s short. One thing I am afraid of is this game suffering the same fate as Chromehounds. Remember that? Before I start this story with a, “back in my day,” I will say that Chromehounds was amazing. Unfortunately, it was server based and For Honor may suffer from it, as well. When the servers where down not long ago, I wasn’t even able to get past the Title Screen. I was unable to even see my characters or do Story Mode. I do hope this doesn’t die and suffer the same fate as Chromehounds.

You can pick up For Honor on Amazon here:

Standard Edition comes with just the game itself. Deluxe Edition comes with bonus content. Gold Edition comes with the Deluxe Edition’s content along with the Season Pass. For Honor is available for Xbox One, PS4, and PC now.

8.4/10