FOR HONOR
It’s broadsword versus broadband
You could see For Honor developing a Dark Soulsesque etiquette around launch, though its range of emotes doesn’t permit quite as much nuance as From Software’s RPG. In fact, For Honor’s biggest sin could have been the lack of a noble, pre-combat bow – were it not for a litany of connectivity issues. After all, there’s no honour in a half-finished duel.
For Honor’s servers have been inconsistent to the point where Ubisoft has been forced to offer free Champion Status, doling out experience boosts and more to players affected by outages. It’s not ideal that you can be one sword swing away from a win, only to be kicked due to an error message, leaving you empty-handed.
Likewise, matchmaking is a bit of a shambles. It works on reputation level, meaning you get thrown against much higher-level enemies when you switch to an alternative hero, killing any desire to experiment. It’s not such a problem in the purer modes, but it’s an issue anywhere where gear stats influence your core combat ability – specifically Deathmatch, which has devolved into a coping mechanism for these mismatched battles. Deathmatch is full of low-level players doing laps of the map, waiting for power-ups to charge. This is the only way they can fight back against players with higher-level gear than they’re rocking. Ubisoft would do well to add a ‘pure’ Deathmatch variant, minus the fluff. Sometimes people just want a big four-onfour brawl where they batter each other with sharp sticks.
When everything is working, however, it’s a lot of fun. People are starting to get to grips with each class, so you’ll
DEATHMATCH IS FULL OF LOW-LEVEL PLAYERS DOING LAPS, WAITING FOR POWERUPS TO CHARGE.
find a technical battle with someone who knows what they’re doing more often than a scrap with someone who keeps running away in an attempt to coax you close to an environmental hazard. (My response when they do that? Bring up the quick chat and just say “wow” until they come back.) Orochi players run away a lot, you’ll find. Good Orochi players are rare, but they’re damn hard to beat when you encounter one, using clever feints and deadly counters that can rip a huge chunk from a warrior’s life bar. People are figuring the classes out now, making for interesting duels. For Honor’s meta is really coming together, as is the language and etiquette that makes it distinct. After all, who needs to bow when you can “wow”?
VERDICT
When it works, it really sings, but Ubisoft’s brawler is being held back by technical hiccups. Hopefully it can be turned around like The Division and Rainbow Six: Siege. Kirk McKeand