For Honor Closed Beta Impressions and Review

[Phoenixguard09]

Well guys, that was fun.

Fresh off the end of the Closed Beta, I'm going to tell you all about it. It was, to put it bluntly, really good.

Appearances:
Hard to rate because we all know that big developers often release prettier beta versions than finished games, but it looks fantastic. One thing both Ladyhawk and I appreciated was the way the characters move. They run in a realistic way and they climb up and down stairs in a realistic way (that was the kicker for me)

The colours are vibrant and the character models, for the heroes at least, look fantastic. The mooks you butcher in the dominion mode don't look as good, but then I suppose they're not supposed to.

Gameplay:
Well, the learning curve is extreme guys. Early on even the lowest level bots will give you an absolute beating. Once you start to get a feel for it though, it handles beautifully.

If you've played Mount and Blade at all, you'll probably have a slight advantage to start with. It feels similar in a way.

I was on an Xbox One for this, and with no Xbox Live, I wasn't able to test myself against other human players, but I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it regardless.

One thing which did get me was the lack of splitscreen. Not that long ago, the developers claimed splitscreen was going to an integral part of the game, but they dropped the feature a couple of weeks ago. I can honestly say that it almost made me drop the controller and walk away then and there when I found out. Luckily I didn't, because I still thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but splitscreen was a major selling point for me personally.

Immersion:
Unfortunately, the beta did not include the single player story mode, which means we have no idea how that will pan out.

I can say, that despite it being third person, I've yet to play a game which makes you feel as under threat in combat as this.

Overall:
Overall my impressions were positive and Ladyhawk and I are eagerly awaiting our pre-ordered copy. I give the beta a solid 8/10. Honestly deserves a 9, but I'm still dirty on the lack of splitscreen.

[Clockwork]

Like.

[Phoenixguard09]

A little bit of game-specific information.

- The multiplayer mode exists in the form of what is called the War of Factions. There's a map with territories on it, belonging to each of the three factions.

- When you play the game for the first time with an account, you are asked to choose one of the factions, which you will be affiliated with in the multiplayer. This choice does not affect what heroes you can play as.

- Matches, whether against the AI or real people, take place the same way. You choose one of the modes, three of which were available in the beta, but more will come with the full game.

- At the end of the match, depending on how well you went, you get XP, which unlocks different abilities and customisation options for that hero. You also have a random chance to pick up a piece of wargear, which changes the stats a bit and alters the appearance of that hero as well.

- You also get a resource called War Materials or something like that, which means between rounds you can apply the war materials you picked up and add them to the total in any one region your faction is fighting in on the world map.

- Ladyhawk personally found the Warden was the easiest character to use, which I agreed with for the most part. She did only try the Warlord, Conqueror and Raider as well though.

- I tried every hero and found that the Warden, Conqueror and Nobushi were probably the easiest. My personal experience found the Conqueror and especially the Orochi the hardest to fight against. Ladyhawk agreed on the Conqueror, but had more trouble with the Berserker and the Kensei than the Orochi.

- My favourite class going in was going to be the Warden, but I found myself enjoying the Peacekeeper and surprisingly the Berserker just as much. I also tried dedicating a lot of time totrying to perfect the Warlord, but even at the end I was still not completely comfortable.

- Ladyhawk going in was keen on the Warden and stuck with it, although I believe she's pretty keen on the look of the Valkyrie in the main game. For that matter, I am looking forward to the Lawbringer myself too.

- Hint and Tips:
Generally don't rush into combat. Berserkers can and should, and I suppose Raiders and Warlords can be quite effective with that if you time your guardbreak right, but otherwise your best option is to conserve stamina as much as you can.

Be careful on the frontline, mowing through mooks. Opposition heroes can sneak up on you and land a couple of heavy hits before you manage to lock on.

- Despite being Vanguards, the Warden, Raider and Kensei all feel different and should be played differently. Every class feels unique, so take some time to really get to know the abilities of each hero.

- The combat system is insanely deep. Each hero has a different, and extensive, moveset. Take some time to examine that moveset and practice them. Each hero has their own basic and advanced tutorials you can access too, which goes through a good variety of each heroes' moveset. Not all of them however, so do go and look at the list too.

- Orochi are ridiculously fast and trying to land a heavy attack on them is generally an exercise in futility.

- Nobushi can stand back, activated the same way the Warlord  and Conqueror use their shields to guard from all angles, draining stamina. I say this only because I found out accidentally and saw nothing ingame which informed the player as such.

- Knocking people off ledges is the quickest and easiest way to win. Very handy in Dominion mode, where you need Executions at the end of the match to prevent teammates from reviving the fallen. Kicking someone off a wall or a cliff or whatever counts as an Execution, if only because there's no way to retrieve the body.

[Clockwork]

Awesome! Isn't the open beta in like a week or something?

[Phoenixguard09]

Yep, open beta on February 9th now. Pretty keen.