For Honor is an ambitious game from Ubisoft that manages to combine the action of a multiplayer shooter with the methodical combat of a sidescrolling fighter. The fusion of multiple genres is a beautiful one, and the title provides a gameplay experience that certainly shakes up the multiplayer sphere. For players searching for a new type of game chock full of intense 1v1 duels, heroic final stands and the brutal, savage clashing of master warriors, For Honor provides that and much more.
For Honor, a copy of which The Post received from publisher Ubisoft at no cost and will be donated to Operation Supply Drop, is an always-online game with both story and competitive multiplayer modes. For a game that initially seemed to be primarily focused on PvP combat, the included story mode is surprisingly fun to play and is really the ideal place to begin For Honor.
In it, the mysterious warrior Apollyon instigates a war among the three factions of the land: the Legion (knights), the Warboron (Vikings) and the Chosen (samurai). The story is split into three parts, one for each faction, and the player is able to see the conflict from all sides. As the player uncovers the motives of each faction, he or she also realizes a deeper, underlying theme of the war and the game as a whole.
Without going into much detail about the story itself, it’s enough to say that the storyline is average. It revolves around a bunch of gruff warriors slaying one another for control; there’s not a lot of in-depth character building, backstory or dialogue to be had with the setup. But the story moves along at a perfect pace, giving the player just enough understanding of what’s going on, and, most importantly, introducing the player to the factions and classes of the game.
While For Honor’s focus is certainly the multiplayer, players should not dive into the multiplayer without playing at least 1/3 of the story first. That’s because the combat mechanics of For Honor, while similar to those of games like Dark Souls, are unique and take some getting used to. The story acts in part like a seven or eight-hour tutorial that moves the player through the ranks, teaches the player new skills in constant doses and culminates with a fight that really tests the player’s mettle. The enemy A.I. in the story, especially on the upper difficulties, are surprisingly tough and human-like (even emoting and taunting the player at times), making it a good alternative to diving straight into multiplayer and getting creamed by more experienced warriors.
For the most part, the combat mechanics are simple. The player locks onto a target and can attack with a light attack, a heavy attack and a guard break. The player defends by maneuvering the right thumbstick (of a console controller) to the left, right or up to block in the direction of incoming attacks, which are signaled by red flashes on-screen. It seems simple enough, but much like a typical fighting game, the combat of For Honor is complete with attack combos, counters, dodges, parries and feints. Each character also has a stamina bar that depletes as the player attacks, making each fight a balance between attack and defense.
The three factions come with a character for each of the four classes: Vanguard, Heavy, Assassin and Hybrid. Each class is different from the other, and each of the three characters within the class are different as well, for a total of 12 fighters. Every warrior comes with strengths and weaknesses that allow it to exploit or be exploited depending on the skill of the player and the foe.
For example, take the differences of two of the Assassins: the Peacekeeper in the knight faction and the Orochi of the samurai. The Peacekeeper has two small swords and is great for dashing in from a distance, striking quickly and backing off. She can also break the guard of other characters and stab them with a dagger, causing them to bleed passively. She’s great at being elusive and annoying. Orochi, on the other hand, has one long katana and is slightly less mobile. But she is a good counter-attacker and deals a hefty amount of damage. Comboing two light attacks together while aiming for the upper body ensures that if the first strike lands, the second will always land as well. As a result, one good strategy is to block an incoming attack, then follow up with two swift light strikes to the head while the opponent is unguarded, then backing off to guard again.
But to compare an Assassin like Orochi to her heavy ally, the Oni-inspired Shugoki, would be to compare the fighting styles of Manny Pacquiao and a Sumo wrestler. The point is there’s a class and niche for every player. A typical multiplayer game like a shooter doesn’t have so much variety. For the most part, shootouts come down to whoever can look, aim and fire more quickly. But in For Honor, each fight is as unique as the player holding the controller. Some are more aggressive than others, some prefer light attacks more than heavy ones, some like to use the environment to their advantage, and so on. The game constantly feels fresh because each battle requires learning the foe and learning his or her flaws as quickly as possible.
And when the odds are stacked against a single warrior, the player can take on two or three at the same time if they are skilled enough, can prioritize enemies, can use combos effectively and has just a bit of luck. For Honor puts the power in the hands of the player more than most games.
It does an incredible job of making the player feel like a warrior. Heavy characters feel like slow, crushingly-powerful doombringers. Assassins feel speedy. With each character, the player can feel the weapon and become one with the character. Gamers often “get in the zone” when playing a game, and For Honor is outstanding when it comes to getting players “in the zone.”
Furthermore, the combat is surprisingly realistic for a video game. Sure, there’s some showboating and other aspects of the combat that could only be possible in a video game. But at its core, it’s obvious that For Honor pulls from actual sword-based arts, fighting styles and techniques. Not to mention the variety of weapons, armor pieces and emblems is quite pleasing. There’s a great attention to detail and ability to customize characters in For Honor.
The one spot where combat really falters is the camera sometimes refuses to cooperate. When walking around freely or locking onto a single target, the camera works just fine. But when multiple targets are attacking at once, it becomes difficult to direct the camera in a specific direction to focus on the desired enemy. And, of course, there’s no worse time for the camera to be uncooperative than when being double or triple-teamed by enemies.
There are a handful of modes to explore in For Honor, some of which mix in two teams of four with easy-to-kill A.I. “minions,” while other modes just pit humans against each other 1v1, 2v2 or 4v4. Dominion mode is basically the game’s take on Domination with a twist: when one team meets the winning threshold of 1,000 points, it doesn’t automatically win. The other team starts “breaking,” meaning that the players cannot respawn and lose if all four are defeated. But if that team can hold on until it too reaches 1000 points, it can cause the other team to also break and can pull off an upset.
But maybe the best mode is the 1v1 Duel. There’s nothing quite like a best-of-five match that culminates in a final round “next strike wins because both fighters have such low health” scenario. Pulling off a victory against a well-matched foe is absolutely invigorating.
Each match fits into the greater Faction War. The three factions are fighting for territories, and each match rewards the player with War Assets that can be deployed to attack or defend a segment of the map. The war is divided into seasons comprised of five two-week rounds. At the end of each round and season, the victorious faction gets to revel in the spoils of war with high-quality loot for characters.
While the balance and combat of the multiplayer modes are great, the technical performance is far less so. For Honor doesn’t utilize dedicated servers, so matches pause or drop out entirely from time to time. Virtually every play session is interrupted by at least one disconnection from a match. Sometimes, the matchmaking process itself just doesn’t make sense. For example, if not enough players are in a match, the game will substitute A.I. bots until new players can fill the slots. That’s all fine and dandy when it’s just one or two bots or somebody leaves halfway through, but sometimes a 4v4 fight will begin with two bots on each side. At that point, why not just merge the lobby with another half-filled one before the match starts?
Another oddity is once a player chooses a class,they can't switch, even before the match starts. It’s understandable that once the match starts the player might be forced to commit, but there’s not even an option for one to change his or her mind from the pre-match loading screen.
But while For Honor suffers from poor matchmaking, a lack of dedicated servers, and average storytelling, it more than makes up for with adrenaline-filled hand-to-hand combat. This is not a simple hack-and-slash game. It’s not a typical fighter or a typical multiplayer shooter. It combines elements of all three to create an exceptional experience unlike other games available. Its balance makes it a joy to play, its variance in classes and characters makes it accessible to any fighting style, and the level of strategy and focus required to succeed makes it a gratifying affair.
Score: 4/5
For Honor was released Feb. 14 for PS4, Xbox One and PC.
