Chivalry 2 Gameplay Preview – Medieval Mayhem

The genre of medieval combat sims is slowly expanding, with games such as Mordhau and Mount and Blade gaining popularity. Chivalry 2 is a fantastic addition to the world of immersive medieval combat. The combat feels fantastic and has a surprising amount of depth and complexity for such a simple system.

Massive online multiplayer battles are the main focus and draw of Chivalry 2, with forty and sixty four player matches. There is little else to do outside of that, with just a tutorial, offline practice mode, and server browser available. The matches take place on different maps featuring different objectives. Some are more goal oriented such as breaking down doors and freeing prisoners while others are like a death match with the team with the highest kill count winning.

At the heart of all this is the lovely combat system. Returning players of the genre will find it familiar territory while new players will find it simple to learn but difficult to master. For example, each character has a simple slash, thrust, and overhead attack. The person that manages to attack first will deal damage and interrupt the other person’s attack. You could just spam attacks and hope for the best but that will give you less than ideal results. You need to initiate the attack, and then swing the camera in the direction your weapon is moving so that the initial frames of the attack hit your opponent, instead of waiting for the animation to reach your enemy. This will let you hit your enemies much quicker.

This technique is actually not that hard to learn but throw in the fact that your enemies can block and riposte, execute a perfect counter, switch attacks mid swing to throw you off, execute special attacks, and etc. and you can see how complex and nuanced each encounter can be. Each mechanic is relatively simple and straight forward but being able to use each mechanic properly and out smart your opponent consistently is incredibly difficult but rewarding to pull off.

Overall, Chivalry 2 is a pretty darn fun and goofy game if medieval combat is up your alley. The fluidity of the combat mechanics and the sheer amount of ways you can outplay your opponent make it very appealing for those interested in mastering a system with depth.