My esteemed colleague, Tony, charged into battle wielding a longsword, ready to lop some heads off. I was taking a different approach, standing behind a little ways and firing arrows into the front-lines. With a long draw time, I was having a difficult time lining up my shots, but I continued launching arrows into the two enemy knights dancing around the teammate I was trying to help. I missed several shots, and Tony continued being silent as he fended off the attackers. Then he side stepped. And his skull met a stray arrow from my bow. Needless to say, I switched classes after that and opted to fight alongside him for the rest of the night.
I thrive on competitive games, especially first-person (and sometimes third-person shooters). While I’m less apt to burnout from the dreaded “shooter fatigue” than some of my friends, it still happens. Chivalry: Medieval Warfare quenches that thirst for competition without making me feel like I’m playing another shooter. While you can certainly shoot people (and even friendly teammates), Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is at its best when you are going toe-to-toe with someone else, steel-to-steel.
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is a melee-centric first-person combat game where two teams clash on the battlefield. Take your standard first-person shooter and replace the guns with swords, pikes, spears, halberds, maces, axes, and the like, and you have Chivalry.
Chivalry is not a new game, mind you. This game has been around the block a few times at this point, but this is the first time it has been playable on the Xbox One home console. The basic premise is the same. Pick a class from one of four, and charge into the front lines. Each class has a series of weapons to choose from, all of which can be customized from the field a la Battlefield and unlike Call of Duty. This is a small feature, but one I love. Having to head back to the main lobby to try out the new weapon you unlocked in the last match has always been a grating quirk of shooters that I couldn’t stand.
Combat itself is fluid and handles well. There’s a standard block, and then three attacks that have varying uses. A stab has better reach, the overhand swing is great for sidestepping and hitting over a shield, and then the common swing that can decapitate people in hilarious fashion. Blend all of those together, and once you get the finesse of things down, Chivalry is a great time.
Out of all of the modes, team objective is the one I found the most fun. There was a distinct line seemingly drawn on the battlefield as everyone rushed the objectives. Team deathmatch felt too scattered and I was never brave enough to try a one on one duel. Horde mode took too long and got old fast, though it was fun for a little while. But team objective was always a good time, especially if it came down to protecting one over-powered but still very vulnerable king. Team objective had a variety of points of interest as the game evolved based on the skill of the attacking team. If time ran out during an objective, the defenders won.
As much fun as Chivalry is, it has a serious flaw if you intend to buddy up with a friend or two. You can certainly play together, but getting into a game with each other is more of a hassle than it should be. I would launch into a game in progress, and if there were too many people, I would have to leave and join a new game. If there was a good deal of people but a few spots open on each team, I had to quickly invite my friend into the game and hope he could play on the same team. This felt very archaic and really should have been fixed before coming to a new console.
Even with its flaws, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare has enough shining moments to make it worth playing. If you are into competitive games, this will break up the monotony a little bit, and definitely has some value. If you are playing by yourself, getting into a game is easy and enjoyable, though it may be worth the hassle to coax a friend into getting this one, because the laughs and good times that ensue are more rewarding when someone is out there chopping heads off alongside you.
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