For Honor

Ubisoft is no stranger to games dabbling in Alternate History, though they’re most famous for their use of it in the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Other franchises of theirs that utilize the concept, like Anno, go a little looser with it. No matter how much they play with historical events and time periods, there is an attempt at depicting details with as much accuracy as the setting and gameplay can allow. Today’s game is, as a result, a very bizarre beast because it’s going for insane historical accuracy while, at the exact same time, depicting something completely fantastical.

If knights and samurai fought at some point in our long
History, I'm sure it's never to the extent that they do here.

Developed by Ubisoft Montreal and released on February 14, 2017, For Honor’s genre is hard to pin down. At its core, it’s a third-person melee fighter, which sees you mowing down weak enemies and using strategy to take down stronger ones. Like a 3D beat’em-up with swords. While the game includes a single-player campaign, it puts a lot more focus on its multiplayer options. There, you can take part in fights as a member of one of the available factions, earn points for your group, and help conquer territories in this endless war.

For, yes, this game is about war. War never changes... Wait, wrong studio. But the spirit is the same. I’m not huge on multiplayer, but I’ll do my due diligence and discuss that part before focusing on the single-player campaign. I’d usually do this in the opposite order, but I’ll probably spend a lot more time on the campaign, so multiplayer first. Or, wait, no. First, I guess I’d better explain the setting.

Fighting Spirits

The base concept of this endless war is that multiple warrior races live next door to each other at the same time and, since that’s all they really know, try taking over each other’s territories. At launch, only three “clans” existed: The Legion (medieval knights), the Warborn (Vikings), and the Chosen (Samurai). Later updates add two new clans: The Wu Lin (based on Ancient Chinese warriors) first, then the Outlanders, travelers from other cultures, who don’t fit the other four and chose to team up against them.

There's probably an entire thesis to be written about every
bit of equipment worn by every member of every
character class. I shall not be the one who writes it.

An interesting aspect of these clans is that they all span several centuries of our world’s History, and it’s reflected in their various classes. And yet, at the same time, classes are about all as time-displaced as can get; an example would be the knights, who feature Centurions and Gladiators based off Ancient Rome fighting on the same side as multiple types of knights who existed anywhere from the twelfth to sixteenth centuries. The same goes for armors and weapons, as most if not all of them are inspired by very real equipment worn by each class, to say nothing of techniques and strategies co-existing despite having been invented several centuries apart. Anachronisms is the name of the game, not just within clans, but sometimes within a single character class. I’d probably need a few years of historical studies to understand everything that’s featured here and all the ways in which they shouldn’t make sense when put together.

These anachronisms fly by so easily because the setting is blatantly fantastic. Either way, you’ve at least got to hand that to Ubisoft Montreal, they put in the work.

Gameplay is a beast all its own, as well, with a unique system: The Art of Battle. You can access your class’s attacks at any time, but you get access to a more in-depth system if you enter a duel against an opponent. In it, a design shaped like a shield appears, with segments up, left, and right. You can change your stance towards either of these three positions using the mouse, then attack by clicking (left-clicks are regfular attacks, right-clicks are songer ones, pressing the center button is a guard-breaking bash)... or stay in that position to defend against the opposing duelist, as their own shield will appear, indicating where they’re attacking, allowing you to parry. If under attack from multiple opponents, your shield will indicate from which direction an attack is coming, allowing you to parry them.

Stronger enemies in the campaign definitely drill early into
your mind that playing smart will be necessary here.

The resulting system paves the way for a lot of strategies, especially when every class’s special moves and abilities are added to the mix, but it also results in a game where quick thinking and fast reflexes are necessary. Characters have a stamina gauge that depletes when they attack, so if you keep striking without thinking, you may end up depleting your stamina, leaving you open for retaliation as it recharges. As a result, players are heavily punished for attempting button-mashing strategies instead of playing smart.

Multiplayer

Not gonna lie, I feel a bit out of my depth since I partake in multiplayer games so rarely. I’m not used to these systems. The game is divided into years and seasons, and at time of writing, is on Year 8, Season 1. Its core concept involves the map being split into small territories that can be claimed, defended or conquered. The interesting aspect is that playing fields can change depending on who owns them at any moment in the season; as an example, if the Warborn claim a territory previously owned by the Legion, the knightly banners will be swapped for Viking ones. The map gets updated every six hours, rounds last for two weeks and seasons last for ten.

The map, last I saw it.

The big guys are more than just figurative roadblocks.

There are multiple battle modes, most of which are also covered in some capacity in the single-player campaign. Several focus on claiming sections of the field or killing the player characters on the opposite team. Some games require four players against four others, but modes exist that are 2 versus 2; and there’s the Duel mode that’s 1-vs-1, in both regular and ranked formats.

The more interesting mode, in my opinion, involves an assault from a conquering team on a territory owned by another, using troops and battering rams. Their goal is to smash open two doors and slay the opposing commander, while the defenders must do their best to prevent the attackers from succeeding. (It helps that the one time this pops up in the campaign, there’s also a boss battle to go with it, so it’s more memorable.)

If you're not careful, the AI will massacre you just
as well as any human players can.

Since this is meant to be a multiplayer mode, all battle types are available in PvP, but they can also be played in PvE where teams will play against the A.I. I’ll at least grant Ubisoft that; this is a much welcome option. Sure, it means you're in a team with other human players, but the hassle of playing against others is removed.

You can complete daily quests, known as Orders: Two base ones, three that you can add from a short list of quests, and a cumulative clan-wide quest (as an example, which clan did the most executions this round).

More tools with which to "bring the law", since this
is the Lawbringer.

The campaign will teach you to use special skills known as Feats, which you can either pick up while going around the map, or use at the cost of a cooldown. Things work a little differently in multiplayer, where feats are divided into three tiers, with the ability to equip one from each tier, and four total. You unlock new ones for a character class by leveling up that class’s Reputation. This is different from Perks, which are bonuses a character can obtain by wearing/upgrading specific pieces of equipment.

The base game grants access only to the first four classes of the first three clans, with some unlocked by paying steel, the in-game currency. The other classes? All locked behind season passes and hero bundles. Yaaay, capitalism. If you want to have every hero, pay up. If you want to unlock extra execution animations, outfits, effects, and ornaments, you can spend even more steel. (Or obsessively play For Honor for the foreseeable future.)

Single-player - The rise of Apollyon

The Story Mode here dates all the way back to the game’s release, and as a result features moves and options that are no longer in multiplayer, making it good at learning the basics but not so much when it comes to learning the more specific elements of each class. That said, the story takes us through all three starter clans: Chapter 1 follows the Legion; Chapter 2, the Warborn; and Chapter 3, the samurai of the Dawn Empire.

Apollyon on the left. Also known vy fans, alongside the
later-added Warmonger class, as "Warmommy".

The story chronicles the wars led by the brutal warmongering Apollyon and her (yes, her) desire to keep war raging everywhere across this world, by all means necessary. Despite being a bloodthirsty tyrant, she still thinks that common peasants must be protected from the war – but the warriors themselves? They’re either weak sheep to be slaughtered or wolves who must devote their life to fighting. She’ll gladly let a warrior live if she’s sufficiently impressed, even if they’re from an enemy faction. And if they’re a knight? She hires them into her Blackstone Legion. Her tactics all involve sowing chaos and making sure that whatever remains of the other factions, it’s either busy fighting itself to weed out the weaklings and let the strong ones rise and/or will head out on the warpath.

The Warden gets knighted by Holden Cross,
one of Apollyon's commanders.

You’ll play as a total of eight different characters throughout the campaign – three knights, three Vikings and two samurai. For each clan, your first playable character is customizable; male or female, with a choice among a few looks. At the start, you play a Warden who starts as a mercenary under Lord Daubeny, only to be tasked to fight in said lord’s name in a decisive battle when Apollyon and her Blackstone Legion arrives. The Warden wins and impresses Apollyon enough to be invited into her group.

See, it's like I said. Lawbringers... bring the law.
Though it's more Judge Doom style.

The following missions see the warmonger expand her activities and strike the Vikings, first using the Warden to push them away, then also sending her second-in-command Holden Cross, and later a Peacekeeper (who plays more like an assassin among knights), to make the assault easier for her Legion. Every “Chapter” is divided into 6 levels, and in each one of them, you can explore to find observables (activated by pressing O, those will trigger a voiceover from Apollyon describing what has been found or discussing the situation or the current enemies) and breakables. Slowly, we clear the Vikings out of Ashfeld, then strike back, breaking through and killing everyone at a Warborn outpost, then striking at the heart of their land of Svengard.

Not pictured: The massive destruction of the Warborn
base we've infiltrated, caused by our tampering of its
elevator mechanisms. It must be seen to be believed.

Make way for the ram!

It ends in a duel between the Warden and Warborn leader Gudmundr, the first major boss and an impressive one, who tanks a lot of attacks and is also aided by wolves in one phase of his fight. When he goes down and the Warborn are defeated, Apollyon requests the Legion burns most of the Vikings’ food, before leaving them to fight for what remains... hence, making the wolves rise above the sheep. This is exactly what happens at the start of the Vikings’ campaign, in which we control a Raider who chooses to rebel against one village that’s been raiding and taking more food than it needs, not leaving enough for the others.

I hated this fight, because the boss here is way tougher due to
the constant respawning mega-wolves helping him.

Single-player - War and peace

Will say, that raid is pretty friggin' awesome.

The Raider confronts and fights the village’s leader, Ragnar, and eventually kills him after a chase on horseback. He takes over the Warborn and frees captives from another Viking warlord named Siv. After clearing whatever remains of knights in their shipyard, the Warborn decide that the only way to regain their past glory is to take part in a raid... which they choose to lead against the Samurai of the Chosen. We control Stigandr, a powerful Warlord, for a mission. Later, we also control Runa, a Valkyrie, as she raids a Chosen monastery and kills everyone there. Mind you, her only job was reconnaissance. Hey, if you're badass enough to do the job yourself, do it.

It would be really easy to slam this guy into the
spike traps behind him. Insta-kill.

Of the eight characters we play, the Raider is the most villainous, defending his clan, sure, but doing so by pillaging another group that wasn’t responsible for what happened. After we kill the Chosen’s General Tozen in another difficult boss fight, the Warborn pack up their spoils of war (mainly food) and leave. Unbeknownst to both sides, Apollyon has been closely following the events.

Of the three major bosses in the campaign, Tozen is the
one that gave me the most trouble. He's faster than the
Raider, and he's helped by archers.

Once more, we have proof that both genders in the world
of For Honor kick all of the ass.

At the start of Chapter 3, we follow the Oroshi, the clan’s most legendary soldier, jailed by the Emperor for “speaking out of turn". Freed by their Kensei friend Ayu just as the Vikings are attacking, they’re unfortunately not enough to halt the Viking attack. As if that wasn’t enough, Apollyon and her Blackstone Legion come in, kill every trustworthy leader, and leave the remaining assholes to fight each other in the Myre for domination of the clan. In this stage, we play as Ayu, and kill every boss-like Daimyō in the area.

Legend versus warrior. Guess who wins.

In the last four stages, we control the Oroshi as they first rid the Myre of any remaining Vikings, then sneak into the Imperial Palace to defeat Seijuro, the Daimyō appointed by Apollyon to be the new Emperor. After Seijuro is bested in battle by the Orochi, he bows to Ayu’s leadership, letting her become Emperor. Ayu declares an attack on the Legion. We scout Ashfeld to plan an assault on Apollyon’s fortress, which is then carried out in the final stage.

Another cool idea for a boss: The Oroshi VS the Warden. Yes,
that Warden. Your first character. With access to their healing
skills. It's a very interesting fight.

It's over, she has the high ground? I don't think so!

This story ends with a fight against Apollyon. She is tough as her fight is split into multiple phases, with different battlefields, and she has more HP than any other enemy. Not to mention she’s very strong and quick. However, the Orochi is quicker and you can win by waiting for her to strike and striking back before she could land her hit. Defeating the warmongering tyrant doesn’t put an end to the war as the castle is then also stormed by Warborn, implying that Apollyon won at her goal of creating an endless war. However, after all this has happened, we see Holden Cross, Stigandr and Ayu meeting up, from an invitation by the Warden (who, as we find out in the penultimate level, defected from the Blackstone Legion alongside several more knights). The three, after discussing, realize they can work together towards creating peace between their clans.

Final thoughts

Apollyon is a very interesting antagonist, while the many
characters we play during the campaighn are surprisingly
well-developed, despite screen time being split very
unequally among them.

Perhaps my bias on multiplayer games taints my opinion of this game, as it was clearly created for its multiplayer aspect first and foremost, with the single-player campaign being a necessary stop to learn the basics. I do enjoy the story, by the way; I think it does a pretty good job at showing the world, its context, and what the major clans are like. It’s the perfect way to discover the Art of Battle, a combat system that’s very tricky to learn and has its fair share of weaknesses, but is unique and special. (By the way, if single-player is all you want, there’s also an Arcade mode with both weekly quests and random quests of various difficulties to complete.)

I bothered to hide the username of a player I teamed up
with. By the way, we played against AI, and won.

The multiplayer aspect is interesting, with so many modes and options, all with the end goal of claiming regions for your clan. Though most of my interest lies in the solo campaign, multiplayer IS the main draw of the game, so there is a lot more going on over there. The game’s special combat system and all its intricacies leads to many interesting situations and battles. The decent number of different battle types helps as well. Ubisoft themselves occasionally have fun with the game’s concept, transforming the cannon fodder soldiers into Rabbids for an April 1st, and having had a Halloween crossover event with Dead by Daylight.

Randomly obtained pieces of equipment. ...Yaaaaaaay.

I’d be a lot more inclined to tolerate the game’s multiplayer if so much of its content wasn’t locked behind paywalls; the game’s official Steam page, added this year, lists so many DLCs split into season passes, battle passes and extra heroes that buying them all would cost roughly 300$ USD. That’s on top of the game’s 30$ base price. Further not helping are the additional loot crate-like mechanics sprinkled in, as you can pay real money to add more steel, the in-game currency, to your account, and then spend that steel on packs giving random pieces of equipment for a hero class. (You can get a few free “premium pack” crates while playing the solo campaign, sure, but the gear a hero gets in those packs is better the higher their reputation is, and reputation is increased by playing multiplayer matches.) Not only is better equipment locked behind random chance, but so are most cosmetic additions you may want to give your character of any given class, as most executions, emotes, signatures and effects are locked behind steel. I know the developers’ hard work in doing the research and creating this world and its new playable classes ought to be rewarded properly, so I can understand/excuse the battle passes and such; the loot crates, not so much.

I did get the base game for free on Ubisoft Connect, back when it was known as Uplay, several years ago, and hadn’t touched it until this year. Call it a hunch, but just from the 100Gb download, I felt that game would require a better computer than what I had up till last year.

Fine game, good single- and multiplayer options, so
long as you don't mind its constant pleas for your cash.

Honestly, I had my fill with the solo campaign, and though I did give a few multiplayer modes a try, I don’t intend to play them all that much more. If anything, the implied time sink for hero class reputation if you want any worthwhile results, doubled by the aggressive reach of the game into your wallet if you want anything better than the bare-bones experience, effectively killed my already low interest in the multiplayer aspect (and that, in spite of the “play versus the AI” option, which I do think is a very good idea). I don’t know if I’ll play it all that much more, if at all. If you are intrigued by this game’s solo modes and AI, but don’t intend to buy much from it, you’ll likely find enough to keep yourself occupied for a while, but there will always be that nagging feel that the best stuff requires paying up, over and over.

I don’t know which review to do next – all I know is that I’ll try to get it done soon. See you then.