Chivalry 2
Chivalry 2 | |
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Developer(s) | Torn Banner Studios |
Publisher(s) | |
Producer(s) | Steve Piggot |
Composer(s) | J.D. Spears, Ryan Patrick Buckley |
Engine | Unreal Engine 4 |
Platform(s) | |
Release | June 8, 2021 |
Genre(s) | Hack and slash |
Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Chivalry 2 is a 2021 multiplayer hack and slash action video game developed by Torn Banner Studios and published by Tripwire Interactive. The sequel to Chivalry: Medieval Warfare (2012), the game was released on June 8, 2021, for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S.
Gameplay
[edit]Chivalry 2 is an action game played from either first-person or third-person perspective, either on foot or on horseback for the first time in the series.
In the game, players are equipped with various medieval melee weapons such as war hammers, maces, long swords, and battle axes, though they can also use bows and arrows, crossbows and javelins. New weapons can be found in weapon caches in a map. Players have three basic melee attack patterns: slash, overhand slash, and a stab, which can be chained together. The attacks can also be charged to make a heavy attack, which is slower but deals higher damage. Players also need to block hostile attacks, and with the right timing, they can stagger their opponents and parry their attacks. Players must be aware of how they swing their weapons, as friendly fire may occur following an unplanned strike.[1] Players can also pick up the severed heads and limbs of any player on the battlefield and use them as weapons.[2] They can also throw their melee weapons at their enemies, though this may leave the player defenseless.[3]
All team-based modes pit the Agatha Knights, who wear blue and white, and the Mason Order, who wear red and black, against each other. The Tenosian Empire, a third faction, was released in a later update. The game includes team deathmatch and a team objective mode, which supports a maximum of 64 players, as well as a free-for-all deathmatch mode. In team objective mode, one group must break into the opposite team's castle and, depending on the map, destroy an ultimate objective, escort a player-controlled duke to a safe zone, eliminate the enemy duke, or kill all remaining enemy players, while another group is tasked with defending the castle. The battle is divided into various phases, with each phase having their own unique objectives. On certain maps, once attacking players successfully storm the castle, the top players in either the attacking or defending team (depending on the map) can become the duke and gain various gameplay perks. Each phase of the battle is timed, and if the invaders fail to complete the objectives within the time period, the defenders win the match.[1]
A "brawl mode" was introduced on October 26, 2021, that is essentially a free-for-all mode of up to 40 players allowing strictly the use of unconventional weapons such as a fish, chair, bottles, a rolling pin, bread and a turkey leg.[4][5][6] As of June 12, 2022 the game has become available on the Steam store alongside its initial Epic Games Store release on PC. As of October 4, 2022 the game has become available on Xbox Game Pass.[7]
After 10 major updates, "Regicide" was announced to be the game's final major update. It was released on May 22, 2024.[8] Two months later the creative director wrote a update post titled "The Path Ahead for Chivalry", where he hinted at more Chivalry games to come.[9]
Development
[edit]Torn Banner Studios started developing the game in 2017.[10] According to Torn Banner, the game was not designed to be a sword fighting simulation game, and that combat would be similar to a "bar fight more than a fencing match", as players can use whatever they find in the battlefield as their weapons.[11] Monty Python was often cited as the inspiration for this feature.[12] The main goal during the game's development was to increase its scale, as the player count was significantly increased to 64. The gameplay and the structure of the team objective mode, which features these large-scale battles, was inspired by Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings, as the team described it as a "fluid, cinematic experience."[13][14]
Chivalry 2 was announced at E3 2019 by publisher Tripwire Interactive during the PC Gaming Show.[15] An open beta was launched on May 27, 2021, and lasted until June 1.[16] The game was released for Microsoft Windows via the Epic Games Store as a one-year exclusive, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S on June 8, 2021, with cross-platform play supported.[17][18] Deep Silver served as the game's retail publishing partner.[19]
Reception
[edit]Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
Metacritic | PC: 82/100[20] PS4: 66/100[21] PS5: 85/100[22] XSX: 81/100[23] |
Publication | Score |
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IGN | 9/10[24] |
Jeuxvideo.com | 16/20[25] |
PC Gamer (US) | 91/100[26] |
PCGamesN | 8/10[27] |
Chivalry II received "generally favorable" reviews according to Metacritic.[20][22][23]
Leana Hafer of IGN praised the battle of Chivalry 2, writing, "An axe-cellent compromise between hack-and-slash fun and skill-based medieval melee makes Chivalry 2's 64-player medieval brawls a ton of fun."[28] PC Gamer liked how the game balanced the combat alongside the comedy describing it as "a brilliant mix of high skill and low comedy, and the best medieval combat game out there."[29]
PCGamesN enjoyed the maps, comparing the design and scale of the areas to "Hollywood blockbusters" and "Monty Python".[30] Rock Paper Shotgun's Brendan Caldwell felt that the classes offered a variety of different playstyles but criticized the deathmatch mode, commenting that they "lack the heroic (or disastrous) moments of the objective-based battles, and some are underwhelmingly short".[31]
On August 18, 2021, Torn Banner announced that the game had sold one million copies.[32] After its Steam release, it generated a further 300,000 copies sold within 10 days of its release.[33]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Jagneaux, David (April 21, 2021). "Chivalry 2 Preview: It Might Be the Ultimate Melee Combat Simulator". IGN. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Thorn, Ed (April 21, 2021). "Preview: Chivalry 2 is most fun when sat on a bench". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on June 8, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Meija, Ozzie (April 21, 2021). "Chivalry 2 hands-on preview: Medieval madness". Shacknews. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Lahti, Evan (2021-10-21). "The next Chivalry 2 update will add a ridiculous Brawl mode, a new sword, but most importantly: headbutting". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 2021-11-06. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
- ^ O'Connor, Alice (2021-10-26). "You can batter people with fish in Chivalry 2's new tavern brawl mode". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 2021-11-06. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
- ^ "Chivalry 2 Fight Knight Update Adds Halloween Event and New Game Modes". Game Rant. 2021-10-27. Archived from the original on 2021-11-06. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
- ^ "Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass: Chivalry 2, Scorn, A Plague Tale: Requiem, and More". Microsoft. 2022-10-04. Archived from the original on 2022-10-04. Retrieved 2022-10-04.
- ^ Moshrefi, Arian (2024-05-22). "Chivalry 2's Regicide Update is Out Now!". Chivalry 2. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
- ^ Moshrefi, Arian (2024-07-30). "Chivalry 2 - The Path Ahead for Chivalry". Chivalry 2. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
- ^ Hayter, Alex (April 16, 2021). "How to become a glorious warrior in Chivalry 2's closed beta". PlayStation Blog. Archived from the original on May 14, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Vincent, Brittany (February 20, 2020). "Chivalry 2 reveals more visceral kills and "the satisfaction of combat"". Shacknews. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Talbot, Carrie (June 10, 2019). "Chivalry 2's devs say that "at least half our audience plays the game drunk"". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on August 26, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ T. Wright, Stephen (June 12, 2019). "How Torn Banner Aims to Take Back the Genre They Pioneered with 'Chivalry 2'". Variety. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Wilde, Tyler (June 1, 2020). "Chivalry 2's medieval combat is nuanced, gory, and spectacularly fun". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Gillian, Ryan (June 10, 2019). "Chivalry 2 announced, coming to Epic Games Store in 2020". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Kraky, Otto (May 17, 2021). "Chivalry 2 Open Beta Starting On May 27, Includes New Maps And Customization Options". GameSpot. Archived from the original on May 19, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Gurwin, Gabe (June 11, 2020). "Chivalry 2 Coming To PS5 And Xbox Series X With Cross-Play". GameSpot. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Stewart, Marcus (February 12, 2021). "Chivalry 2 Gets A June Release Date, Cross-Play Beta In March". Game Informer. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ "Chivalry 2 Cross-Play Open Beta Begins Today, Official Soundtrack Out Now on Spotify, YouTube and more". Gamasutra. May 27, 2021. Archived from the original on May 27, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ a b "Chivalry 2 for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
- ^ "Chivalry 2 for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
- ^ a b "Chivalry 2 for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
- ^ a b "Chivalry 2 for Xbox Series X Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
- ^ Hafer, Leana (26 August 2021). "Chivalry 2 Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ L'avis de Indee (13 June 2021). "Test Chivalry II : Des joutes médiévales encore plus jouissives que par le passé ?". Jeuxvideo.com. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Wilde, Tyler (26 August 2021). "Chivalry 2 Review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ Forward, Jordan (11 June 2021). "Chivalry 2 review: a gory good time". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
- ^ Chivalry 2 Review - IGN, 18 June 2021, archived from the original on 2021-11-23, retrieved 2021-08-17
- ^ Wilde, Tyler (2021-06-22). "Chivalry 2 review". pcgamer. Archived from the original on 2021-12-05. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
- ^ "Chivalry 2 review: a gory good time". PCGamesN. 11 June 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-09-26. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
- ^ Caldwell, Brendan (2021-06-16). "Chivalry 2 review: a gore-soaked multiplayer battler with tons of humour". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 2021-11-09. Retrieved 2021-11-09.
- ^ Knoop, Joseph (August 18, 2021). "Chivalry sells 1 million copies, resulting in 7,969 flute-related deaths". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
- ^ "Chivalry 2 sees huge Steam sales in first ten days". PCGamesN. 22 June 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2022-06-23.