REVIEW: Does For Honor live up to the hype?

Are you a knight? A viking? A samurai?

This is the first question I was asked when I played Ubisoft's brand-new game, For Honor. This was a cool opener to the game. It was reminiscent of the start of Pokemon where you have to chose which of the three will accompany you on your journey. I chose to be a knight. Don't ask why, I just did. And so my medieval journey began. I toyed around with the how-to-play function for a while, and thank God it was there, because I was absolutely dreadful at everything. I couldn't kill anyone and I was being killed every time I moved. But the game was pretty simple once I got the hang of it. The fighting style in the game is basic, but fun. It's your typical blocking and striking type of combat, with three striking angle options available - left, right and high. This is the most important part of the game, and definitely the most enjoyable. The battle scenes are absolute carnage. Absolute gore, with blood and guts everywhere, but that's partly why it's so enjoyable. Duelling is what I spent most of my time doing, as it is the most simple and definitely the most satisfying when you win (which I rarely did). If you're playing for the first time, don't be surprised if you face a few losses as you start. It gets easier the more you play, and your opponent’s strikes can become slightly easier to predict. One of the best aspects of the game is a really fun "capture the flag" type mode, in which your team tries to claim pieces of territory, and you are rewarded for the length of time you spend in the separated pieces of land. Between this and the various duelling modes, you could have hours of brutal entertainment. A word of warning - you can die by walking off the bridges. As I type this, I feel that probably should have been obvious, but alas it caught me out a number of times. The game has a tight, compact feel to it, which is quite refreshing given the recent trend of games with endless amounts of open space to explore. From the bits I've played of For Honor, it's clear that lots of people will enjoy the game. It's not too complicated like many combat-based video games, but it's not too basic either. The duelling is unquestionably fun, even though you'll have to put up with having your head chopped off a good few times. If you're into fighting games, you'll definitely enjoy this one. It seems like the type of game that gets better the more you play it, probably because you aren't being brutally murdered as often. For Honor is out now.