Chivalry Is Not Dead

How is it that a game this ridiculous can be this much fun?
I’m talking about Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, and if you haven’t had a chance to play this game yet, seriously, do yourself a favor. Stop reading right now, go to Steam on your PC, and buy it! It’s the best $25 you’ll spend this year. And if you’re reading this between January 24 – 27, you can play it for free all weekend, and purchase the game at 50% off – only on Steam!

Ok, now that the endorsement segment is out of the way, let’s get into why this game is worthy of more than a fair chunk of your time. Because as much as I’ve played it in the last week, you’d think it was The Elder Scrolls VI or something. And truth be told, if Bethesda wanted to include some of the gameplay from Chivalry into their next game, I think we’d all be happy with that!

Chivalry is, quite simply, a game where you fight people, and if you’re lucky or skilled enough, you kill them. In a gruesome, sometimes horrifying way. And not just that, but once they’re dead you can continue poking and prodding them with your weapon so much that you may grow to wonder whether you should see someone about an anger management issue…

And that’s really all there is to it. It’s just a multiplayer game, set in medieval times, and you can either do free-for-all or team-based matches with objectives. The meat of the game, however, and what makes it so special, comes when you face other players, whether 1v1 or 1v12, it gets intense! There is actually a lot of skill that can be used in this game. Whether you want to parry, thrust, slash, shoot an arrow, throw fire or daggers, jump, duck, run, kick, or attack with a shield, there are a variety of different ways you can build your character. You can even kick someone into a set of spikes and leave them hanging there. Yep. That’s awesome.

Speaking of characters, there are four classes to choose from upon starting a new game. The Archer, Man-at-Arms, Vanguard, and Knight. Each character starts with a basic set of class-specific weapons, and the more you play, the more you unlock bigger and badder weapons. Each unlockable weapon has a certain number of kills you must get with the previous weapon in order to unlock it. Some of the weapons take some getting used to, but eventually you may find you actually prefer some of the lower-level weapons, just because you like how they handle. There’s enough variety in weapon selection to keep it fun and interesting, providing for hours of entertainment.

The map selection isn’t huge at the moment, but it’s done nicely and offers a nice variety. Whether you’re fighting in the arena in a free-for-all deathmatch, with fans leaning over the edge, urging you to make that killing blow, or charging a castle, dodging trebuchets in an attempt to infiltrate the fortress, there is plenty of fun to be had. And for a game as cheap as it is ($25 on Steam/less than $13 this weekend, no word yet on a console release), the graphics are incredible. Detailed scenery, fireballs flying through the air, and beautiful rolling fields make this game look damn pretty – even with blood splattered all over it.

It took me a little while to jump on this bandwagon, as I couldn’t imagine it being nearly as good as people were making it out to be. But once I started playing, I was instantly hooked. Whether you want to work on the Archer and become a valuable resource to your team from afar, or use the Knight to charge the battlefield and chop off multiple heads at once, this game is an absolute blast to play.

So check out Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. It’s not Skyrim and it’s not Call of Duty… it’s something in between. And it’s awesome.