For Honor: 10 Crucial Ups & Downs

Combat in For Honor is an intense and bone-crushing affair that changes pace quite often. Being the very meat and bones of the game, it was important right out of the gate that Ubisoft really nailed their melee combat system in order to set their new IP apart from other competitors and any other 'hack and slash' sword fighting mechanics currently out there.

In group confrontations with enemy AI soldiers, it's massively satisfying to stride boldly into the fray, clearing enemies with every swing of your weapon as if they were nothing. Engaging 'lesser' enemies is always important as it can effect "the push" of your own forces, making it easier to secure objective points or hold vital ground from your enemies.

Combat against other heroes, whether player or AI controlled, is where the combat of For Honor becomes slower, more focused, and uses the "rock/paper/scissors" method of matching and mismatching your opponent's stance in order to block or land strikes respectively.

This might put off players who want a faster experience from the melee, but the slow methodical approach certainly gives confrontations with other heroes real weight and meaning. Testing an opponents defence as they try to find a weakness in yours, and exploiting errors in positioning, stance, or ability use. It's thrilling to come out of a one-on-one hero duel as the victor, especially after performing an execution kill.