Chivalry II
Torn Banner Studios
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare debuted back in 2012 and filled a gap within the gaming community—large-scale, massed medieval warfare with soldiers and knights battling it out in bloody combat. Since that time, only a few other games have vied for that throne, including standout, 2019’s Mordhau.
But developer Torn Banner Studios wasn’t ever keen on giving up the title. Their sequel to Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is slated to debut June 18th of 2021 and is suitably titled—Chivalry 2. My first impression of the sequel is that it seems to capture the essence of what made the original game so fun, while also bringing new enhancements to Torn Banner’s award-winning gameplay.
While Mordhau managed to garner its fair share of medieval combat enthusiasts, Torn Banner is determined to win them back, even though it’s been nine years since they caught lightning in a bottle with Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. Time will tell if they can manage that task but from the looks of it, they have a great chance of doing so.
Torn Banner has emphasized their strategy of larger scale for Chivarly 2 and I must say, I’m very impressed with the direction they’re taking things. The sequel’s maps are indeed larger and have both more defensive chokepoints and avenues of attack.
The large-scale maps aren’t the only new addition in terms of scale—a large player count is also present. These elements can lead to some truly massive throwdowns. Fortunately, each team’s color-coding stands out enough so that you can readily distinguish friend from foe.
Loss of not only life but limbs is part of the game. I evidenced this during my very first match when an enemy hacked off one of my arms. While I did lose my off-hand I was still able to use my remaining arm to weird my mace and even managed to take down a few enemies before finally croaking. If you do get your main weapon arm lopped off you can still punch your foes with your off-hand.
A couple of things that I believe Chivalry 2 does better than its predecessor is that not only does it allow for great controller feedback, but each hit you land or block feels like it has weight. There are also many more ways that you can attack enemies which makes combat more complex this time around. Yes, crouch dodging is still something you can do in the game—and is even put to better use here. Not only that, but you can use special charges, punches, kicks, and wide, sideswiping maneuvers.
I was afraid that the unique Chivalry identity might be missing with this sequel but am happy to report that not only is it still present—it’s been improved upon. There are both comically-gratuitous, and downright hilarious situations that can arise during a match, such as chopping off a limb and watching as exaggerated geyzers of blood start spraying from the nub or insulting an opponent’s lowly station in life as you kick him in the face. Chivalry 2 has a certain bloody charm that reminds me of a famous Monty Python skit set in Medieval times.
So far, Chivalry 2 is making a great case for snagging away fans from Mordhau, so we’ll just have to keep our eyes on it to see how it is further developed.
Chivalry 2 has some pretty good graphics so you’ll need a pretty beefy gaming PC or gaming laptop in order to play it at a decent framerate. Therefore, you may just want to invest in a superior gaming rig:
Visit CyberpowerPC’s website to check out all of the other great deals as well!