Is Chivalry 2 Good?

Gore, carnage, and honor.


You might want to remove the last part - this game has no such thing as honor, it’s just a massive bloodbath and you can expect to get double or even triple-teamed. Getting stabbed in the back is common, and you should always stick to your teammates - the medieval world of Chivalry 2 will show you no mercy.

Now that you know what this deranged game is about, we should discuss whether it’s good. Let’s roll!

Character Customization

You can customize your character quite thoroughly, by changing their clothing, weapon skins, helmets, and voice. It always makes your character stand out in the middle of the battlefield and that’s probably the main reason why you’re gonna get killed.

Customization options:

  • Head type(male, female)
  • Helmet type
  • Armour set(changes the whole body - chest, arms, legs, etc)
  • Heraldry(symbolism that you can wear on your armor)
  • Weapons(you can change the skin of any weapon, whether its a sword, hammer, or axe)

Combat

  • In terms of combat, it can be complicated for some. First of all, you can:
  • block enemy strikes with your shield or sword, although it drains stamina
  • perform forward, horizontal or vertical attacks(normal, hard) with your blade, mace and an axe
  • feint your attacks, which will catch your enemy off-guard and allow you to strike your enemy for real this time
  • Sidestepping is useful for dodging attacks and counter-attacking after a successful dodge

If you happen to be in a massive brawl where everyone swings their clubs, axes, and swords, your best bet is to swing your weapon horizontally, that way you’re gonna deal damage to multiple people at once - this is especially great for players using greatswords, which deal plenty of damage.

1v1 scenarios require more brains, as you have to predict your enemy’s attacks, successfully dodge them or block them. You also have to manage your stamina, which will drain out the more you move. Keep in mind that some weapons are better than others - you can perform more attacks with lighter weapons, at the cost of dealing less damage, while greatswords are slower but deal a lot more damage, and have higher range.

1v2+ scenarios are pretty much impossible to get out of unless you have hundreds of hours played or plenty of luck - you have to be aware of your surroundings, which means that you should switch to a third-person view, that way you can see what’s behind and next to you. Keeping your distance and taking advantage of your weapon’s range is also important, as well as managing your stamina - keep in mind that all of this is pure theory and once you’re in an actual skirmish, you’re gonna get your head curbed in.

Multiplayer

The highest amount of players a server can host is 64 players. It’s worth adding that there are also 12,32,48-player servers. Each player can pick the Knight, Footman, Vanguard, or Archer - keep in mind that there’s a specific quantity of classes that each team can have, so picking your favorite class might not always be an option.

The game also lets you level up - the more players you slay, the more experience you get. You also get rewarded for playing the objective - whether it’s pushing a cart, desecrating precious monuments, or just slaying a king. 

You also have a chatbox in the game, whether it’s to communicate with your team or throw a couple of slurs at the enemy team. Psychological damage is key to winning a game in Chivalry 2!

Balance

Archers are by far the most annoying class to play against - they are ranged and there are specific bows that can 1-shot or deal a very high amount of damage to your character. People tend to complain about Archers but if you’re smart, you’re gonna sneak past the enemy lines and cut their arms off with your greatsword in less than a second - they’re softer than a piece of paper!

Besides classes, the teams are not always balanced - there are team switchers and higher-level players are not always split evenly between the two teams. This causes 1-sided matches and frustrating/boring results. 

There are also minor bugs where you get stuck in a tree, in the ground, or just on a rock. It forces you to fight enemies in a stationary position, which is always a death sentence.

Graphics

The lowest requirements for Chivalry 2 are:

And if you have a beefy PC:

If you compare the graphics of Chivalry 2 to Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, they were vastly improved - every detail, when it comes to lighting, foliage, shadows, and general texture quality, has been highly increased. 

If you want to improve the frame rate of your game, you can:

  • Disable Vsync - I never really had issues with screen-tearing, so I turned it off - it consumes plenty of FPS.
  • View distance - low=best performance, high=low performance - all this depends on your PC, though.
  • Field of view - this helps you while playing in the first-person mode, keep in mind that a higher value means a higher risk of a lower framerate.
  • Shadows - Buildings, corpses, and players can emit shadows - while they make the game look a lot cooler, they consume your framerate greatly - setting them to low or medium should be considered, even if you have a beefy PC.
  • Texture quality - It depends on your GPU - if you want a higher framerate, set it to low. 

 

Updates and New Content

The game gets regular minor updates that fix minor bugs or change the damage of weapons, maybe sometimes adding new skins. 

The major ones in the past were:

The Tenosian Invasion - Agathians don’t take part in this conflict, it’s a beef between the Masons and the Tenosians. When the update first launched, you could ride horses on maps like The Breach of Baudwyn or The Razing of Askandir, it got eventually NERFED because it made players on horses hard to kill. 

  • The Charge of Wardenglade and Desert - these maps have no objective but just brainless slaughter between Masons and Tenosians. 
  • It’s also worth adding that you get different voices per class, as well as different skins. 

The Winter War - Agathians and Masons are at it again, this time fighting on snowy maps like the Assault on Thayic Stronghold - the main objectives of this map are:

  • Destroy defense towers on the coastline
  • Destroy the bell tower
  • Destroy the Agathian banners
  • Lower the bridge
  • Secure the courtyard
  • Kill the King, Argon II

Replayability

Each combat situation can turn out in many different ways - you can get absolutely obliterated, have an even fight, or completely dominate your enemy - all this depends on your personal skill. The learning curve in Chivalry 2 is difficult but highly addictive, the more you learn, the more enjoyable the game becomes, which keeps you intact with the game.

You can level up to level 1000 - it’s gonna take you thousands of hours and since leveling up is a dopamine rush, you’re gonna play it till you eventually reach the maximum level. 

If you don’t care about leveling up your character, you can always level up your weapons and unlock new skins, perhaps you want to unlock all of the achievements. There are many things that keep players inside of this game for long periods of time but the primary reason why people play this game is because of its gameplay - it’s intense, gory and awesome, especially when you’re charging into a group of Agathians, cutting off their heads left and right.

Sound Effects

There’s a sound for everything in this game, you’ll gasp for air as you run out of stamina, hear your footsteps as you run, hear the clanking of your armor, or even the sound of your arm getting cut off. 

There are commands that you can give to your allies - apologizing, thanking, complimenting, etc. 

There are also combat-related orders, such as retreating, attacking, or defending. 

The least important commands are taunts, like the previous commands, they differ from the class that you’re playing+the voice that you’ve picked in the customization menu and are mainly used to trigger your opponents into ragequitting. 

Sounds also depend on the impact of your weapons - hammer impacts make crunchy and meaty sounds, while sword sounds can be heard cutting through armor+flesh.

Overall Fun Factor

8/10.

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No-life from a cold land, been playing video games since the age of 7, from FPS to MOBA's, Spent thousands of hours on PC/Console video games. No regrets.
Gamer Since: 2007
Favorite Genre: MOBA
Currently Playing: Dota 2
Top 3 Favorite Games:DOTA 2, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Dead Space


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