Jonathan Birkenstamm
Vikings versus Knights versus Samurai – what’s not like to like? Well, quite a lot actually. JB gives the rundown on the good, the bad, and the brutal.
For Honor is a historical fiction video game where the Viking, Knights and Samurai exist in a world where they each fight for territories divided up by the three. You are tasked with picking a side and fighting for glory in the name of that faction.
Once you have chosen which side you want to represent, you are then thrown into a quick but effective tutorial about how the combat system works. When this is all complete you can then access the main menus of the game. Here you can choose to fight through the Single-Player story or jump right into the meat of things and play Multiplayer.
The Single-Player is divided up into three chapters that are about six missions each. Chapter one starts you off with the Knights, which flows into Chapter two, the Vikings, then Chapter three, the Samurai. You can beat the Single-Player in about six hours and, well, I’m pretty disappointed with it overall.
The story was forgettable, and the characters didn’t really stand out to where I really cared enough. I found it rather boring and couldn’t wait to just finish the whole thing. Now I can see why someone working at Ubisoft said that For Honor wouldn’t be worth the price tag for the single player alone alone. I’d have to agree.
What the Single-Player mode lacks in depth, it does make up for in teaching you about the combat – it is a great extended tutorial. The one thing I found valuable from playing the Single-Player mode is the fact that it forces you to play more then one class so you can see how they work. While it may be forgettable, it is worth a play through at least once to get a more advanced tutorial with the combat system.
As disappointed as I was with the Single-Player, the real meat and potatoes here is the Multiplayer. In the full game they give you several other Heroes you can unlock, which you can play during the Multiplayer matches.
As with the Open/Closed Beta, you can choose to play PvP in a faction war between the three factions, or you can play a custom game and play by yourself or with friends outside the PvP faction war. It is good to know that no matter which faction you picked, the Samurai, Vikings, or Knights, you can still unlock and use any of the factions Heroes during the PvP faction war. What matters is winning 1v1, 2v2, and 4v4 matches to conquer the Faction Map for your team.
I personally liked playing the 4v4 dominion mode, where you have to dominate the map by capturing and holding three sections. Holding these sections will give your team points to win the match. There is also a 4v4 duel mode with either Humans vs AI or Player vs Player. These can be fun too, because you have to win the duel as a team.
“For Honor” does have a progression and gear loot system, which is only used in the Multiplayer Faction War. As you fight for your faction you can gain levels, unlocking more feats. Feats can then be applied before each match begins. Feats are a whole range of abilities, some are passive and others have to be used to gain their effects. Some give you a temporary boost to attacks, or heal you up during battle. Gear is given after each match and is random. You can also buy gear packs with the in-game currency called Steel. Steel can be gained by playing matches, completing daily “Orders” or even bought with real money. Steel can be used for unlocking new Heroes, Outfits, Feat Bundles, and Champion status which gives you a boost to exp gained for a limited time.
The in-game currency would be perfectly fine if earned in-game only, but you can buy more of it with real-world money. This to me can promote a pay-to-win situation. I don’t agree with it, but a very skilled player could prevail without ever paying a dime.
The graphics in For Honor look amazing, from the detail of the armor, to the set pieces and environments. For Honor is one pretty game to look at, and I am happy to say that on the PC at 1080p I didn’t drop below 100 Frames-Per-Second on a GTX 1080 GPU. The game ran smoothly with no texture pop-ins or issues. Sound effects and background noise all fit and match perfectly for a game set with melee combat and war during this time period. The only issue I noticed a few times was the lip sync with the voice acting. Luckily it didn’t happen often.
Buy/Wait/Avoid?
All-in-all “For Honor” is fun to play with its dueling combat system in Multiplayer and looks amazing. But, if you are looking for a meaningful Single-Player experience, this is not the game for you.
The melee combat system shines in 1v1, but can be a bit of a learning curve when fighting more then one Hero at a time. With the lackluster Single-Player, always on DRM, and the in-game micro-transactions I would have to say that For Honor is a “Wait” for a sale. Unless you simply HAVE to play as a Viking, Knight, or Samurai and duel players online, this one title can be avoided until a later date when the price has gone down.
Final Verdict: Wait
