For Honor Game Review
We are used to the fact that online games - this is usually something in the RPG genre, where you can pump, together go to clean up dungeons, kill dragons and save princesses. But this, of course, is not true - MMOs come out in a variety of genres, including fighting games. And not only hand-to-hand in the spirit of Mortal Kombat and Tekken, but also those where players fight with cold weapons. One of the most famous and popular today is For Honor from Ubisoft, which received many nominations and awards, including the IGN Best of 2017 Awards as the best fighting game of that year. What makes this game so appealing?
About the plot and modes
For Honor is made in medieval style and tells a fictional story about the confrontation of knights, Vikings and samurai, united by a common line about the expansion of a certain Legion of the Black Stone led by its leader Apollyon. In each of the three campaigns we do about the same thing - fighting, tracking, killing enemies in duels or in mass battles, storming or defending castles. But the missions are quite interestingly framed - we destroy catapults, inspect and scout the terrain, capture control points, not just always running forward and killing everyone on the way.
Events also happen to be quite dramatic and interesting - the story has its own intrigue, heroes and villains, the action constantly switches between different characters and regions even within the same campaign. Just now we were leading an attack, in the next mission we save our comrades, and in another one we are holding the defense in the castle. All this is also perfectly staged and voiced, constantly accompanied by cool movie clips.
Events also happen to be quite dramatic and interesting - the story has its own intrigue, heroes and villains, the action constantly switches between different characters and regions even within the same campaign. Just now we were leading an attack, in the next mission we save our comrades, and in another one we are holding the defense in the castle. All this is also perfectly staged and voiced, constantly accompanied by cool movie clips.
The level of epicness is off the charts at times. Especially considering that there are gorgeous graphics and a lot of very authentic landscapes, including architectural, and on the battlefields, where something is constantly burning and rumbling, dozens of warriors (including computer AI-masses) are fighting simultaneously.
However, the story campaign is still just a prelude before the main course, namely the network battles, which take place in various modes. Naturally, there are duels in different variants, regular and ranked, where you need to consistently destroy players. There are fights pair on pair, where ideally everyone fights with his opponent, but it often happens that all at once pile on each other. All duels last a maximum of 5 rounds until one team or player wins.
In the Gifts mode, two teams try to capture so-called "Tributes", which give different bonuses. So, one of them shows on the level of all opponents in real time, another increases health, the third - damage. And to win, you need to capture all three tributes and destroy your opponents. In Deathrattle, players are divided into two groups of 4 on 4 and fight each other, without the ability to revive without the help of allies. Here, too, the game lasts a maximum of five rounds.
However, the story campaign is still just a prelude before the main course, namely the network battles, which take place in various modes. Naturally, there are duels in different variants, regular and ranked, where you need to consistently destroy players. There are fights pair on pair, where ideally everyone fights with his opponent, but it often happens that all at once pile on each other. All duels last a maximum of 5 rounds until one team or player wins.
In the Gifts mode, two teams try to capture so-called "Tributes", which give different bonuses. So, one of them shows on the level of all opponents in real time, another increases health, the third - damage. And to win, you need to capture all three tributes and destroy your opponents. In Deathrattle, players are divided into two groups of 4 on 4 and fight each other, without the ability to revive without the help of allies. Here, too, the game lasts a maximum of five rounds.
But the most popular modes remain "Assault" and "Territory Capture". During the assault, one team attacks the gates of the enemy castle, and after their destruction tries to kill the leader of the defenders. Accordingly, the second team must stop and defeat all these attacks.
This mode is interesting also because of its high interactivity on the maps - you can use stationary weapons, personally pour lava on the attackers, launch it on cables and even arrange unpleasant surprises and traps for the enemies - for example, you can throw them off the bridge by pulling the lever in time. Although in other modes, on other maps, you can throw enemies from heights. As for the "Territory Capture" mode, here, as it is easy to guess, teams of players fight to hold control points, which bring victory points. In all these modes you can fight not only with real players, but also with bots.
This mode is interesting also because of its high interactivity on the maps - you can use stationary weapons, personally pour lava on the attackers, launch it on cables and even arrange unpleasant surprises and traps for the enemies - for example, you can throw them off the bridge by pulling the lever in time. Although in other modes, on other maps, you can throw enemies from heights. As for the "Territory Capture" mode, here, as it is easy to guess, teams of players fight to hold control points, which bring victory points. In all these modes you can fight not only with real players, but also with bots.
Artificial intelligence-controlled opponents are weaker than live players by default. But there is also an arcade mode with daily tasks and challenges. And that's where the bots can be so strong that you'll need a very high level of equipment and hero to resist them. All these missions are played in different ways, but the essence boils down to the fact that we are fighting against computer opponents, which are endowed with different bonuses and modifiers - they can have increased damage or health, their weapons can do fire damage. And some of them revive if we don't finish them off in time.
About the gear
For participation and victories in matches we get experience, currency, materials for crafting and improving equipment. And also - resources for your faction, which you need to distribute on the global map, showing the current situation in the war between Samurai, Vikings and Knights. The thing is that For Honor is divided into seasons, and before the start of each season we have to choose which faction we will play for. By distributing resources on the war map, we bring "our own" closer to the overall victory - and at the end of the season we can get bonus awards. But it is better to do it not thoughtlessly, at random, but intelligently, taking into account the situation on the map. If you don't do it yourself, the AI will do it for you, but it just distributes at random. You can change faction at any time, but if it happens during the current season, you will not receive rewards for the victory of your faction.
All these rewards and resources (we also get them for completing battle pass tasks) are needed to pump up the hero you played in the match (before the battle you are allowed to choose anyone). Gradually, this character gets new levels of reputation, which opens for him more advanced equipment of this or that faction. In addition to weapons and armor, which reduce some indicators, others increase, that is, somehow affect the effectiveness of the character in battle, there are a lot of cosmetic items. You can also buy all sorts of effects to achieve and express emotions - and they are very bright here. All this allows you to create a unique image of your character.
Of course, fiddling with equipment, improving it, trying different sets and builds is important and useful here. After all, each piece of equipment has three different parameters, among them - running speed, stamina recovery (and it is quickly spent on many actions here), damage when blocking, the size of the health restored in a killing blow. and so on. But you should realize that first of all everything depends on the skills, skill of the player himself, on how well he plays the chosen hero. It is not by chance that in severe rating duels, the equipment features are disabled.
Of course, fiddling with equipment, improving it, trying different sets and builds is important and useful here. After all, each piece of equipment has three different parameters, among them - running speed, stamina recovery (and it is quickly spent on many actions here), damage when blocking, the size of the health restored in a killing blow. and so on. But you should realize that first of all everything depends on the skills, skill of the player himself, on how well he plays the chosen hero. It is not by chance that in severe rating duels, the equipment features are disabled.
About heroes and classes
The characters and their elaboration are the flesh and blood of the game, and the main reason for its success. All heroes belong to four basic classes. The Vanguard prefers aggressive attack, the Defender relies on defense and heavy blows, the Assassin - on speed and deceptive techniques, and the Hybrid combines the features of all the others. All of them are difficult to master, and hybrids are considered the most difficult but effective.
However, the classes are just a basic framework. Each faction has heroes of all three classes, and all of them are unique in their own way, differing by a set of methods, techniques and other features. For example, the Redeemer (belonging to the assassin class) from the Knights faction has the fastest attacks and is able to grab the enemy from a run to immediately deliver several lightning-fast blows to the side and apply a bleeding effect. The Vikings' assassin is Berserk, who can perform uninterrupted combos.
However, the classes are just a basic framework. Each faction has heroes of all three classes, and all of them are unique in their own way, differing by a set of methods, techniques and other features. For example, the Redeemer (belonging to the assassin class) from the Knights faction has the fastest attacks and is able to grab the enemy from a run to immediately deliver several lightning-fast blows to the side and apply a bleeding effect. The Vikings' assassin is Berserk, who can perform uninterrupted combos.
Another Viking - Holdar, belonging to the vanguard class, loves to disorient enemies with a blow of the axe handle on the head, and then ram and scatter the crowd from a run. And the hybrid Justiciar of the Knights literally sits opponents on his halberd and drags them forward until he drops them to the ground. In addition to active skills and techniques, each character has its own passive features - for example, Nobuchi of the Samurai has stealth skills and inflicts additional damage to enemies with bleeding.
That's why you need a different approach to each character - for example, when you see the same Deliverer, it's better to prepare in advance to repel her attacks in an attempt to apply bleeding. And this is just a small part of skills - each character has its own long list of abilities, techniques and features. But even the basic techniques and tools are enough to talk about For Honor as a competent fighting game. All characters can perform light or heavy attacks, block, dodge and counterattack, make grabs, push back or roll to the ground. When attacking, blocking and dodging, you must take into account the direction of the blow - from left to right, from above. It is not easy to keep track of this in the heat of a hot fight, but it is very important.
That's why you need a different approach to each character - for example, when you see the same Deliverer, it's better to prepare in advance to repel her attacks in an attempt to apply bleeding. And this is just a small part of skills - each character has its own long list of abilities, techniques and features. But even the basic techniques and tools are enough to talk about For Honor as a competent fighting game. All characters can perform light or heavy attacks, block, dodge and counterattack, make grabs, push back or roll to the ground. When attacking, blocking and dodging, you must take into account the direction of the blow - from left to right, from above. It is not easy to keep track of this in the heat of a hot fight, but it is very important.
In addition, characters can build up rage to knock back all opponents and gain temporary bonuses to defense and damage. Finally, characters are pumped directly during matches, which gradually unlocks three unique active abilities. For example, Deliverer can throw disorienting bombs at enemies, make a powerful crossbow shot and lower the defense of surrounding enemies. And one of Kensei's abilities from the Samurai faction allows him to perform unblockable attacks for a short period of time.
It is also important to know the features of weapons. Each of them is different, has its own parameters and is quite realistically designed. The same Kensei has a very long two-handed katana (called nodachi), which gives a certain advantage. So you can say that some characters are easier to master, others are more difficult, someone beforehand is too strong and so on. But in fact, with proper play, for every argument there is a counterargument.
It is also important to know the features of weapons. Each of them is different, has its own parameters and is quite realistically designed. The same Kensei has a very long two-handed katana (called nodachi), which gives a certain advantage. So you can say that some characters are easier to master, others are more difficult, someone beforehand is too strong and so on. But in fact, with proper play, for every argument there is a counterargument.
Finally, For Honor has an excellent map design, and each map has its own peculiarities - somewhere with a certain periodicity there appear reinforcements that increase damage, defense or restore health, somewhere, as we have already said, you can throw enemies off the bridge. There are even locations where you need to look carefully under your feet - geysers periodically shoot out from under the ground. In general, there are a lot of nuances in the game and you can't master everything quickly - it's no coincidence that you can find a lot of guides on the net, telling about the tactics of battles for certain heroes, about the features of maps, modes and so on.
Conclusion
Yes, For Honor is quite a hardcore medieval fighting game, which is not so easy to master. But if you have mastered it, you risk to hang on seriously and for a long time. It is this combination of difficult, but addictive and almost realistic battles, colorful characters with unique techniques and styles, interesting modes and maps, multiplied by gorgeous visuals and authentic atmosphere of harsh medieval battles, and brought success to the game. That's why even 7 years after its release there is quite a vigorous online, and the game itself is regularly equipped with new heroes, maps and events. One of the last ones was dedicated to the Assassin Creed series - there, among other things, you need to protect Ezio Auditore from enemies and hunt for Cesare Borgia. So you can never be bored here.
Zarium. May 2024
Zarium. May 2024