Chivalry: Medieval Warfare

The Basics: 1st Person Medieval Hack and Slash
Previous Time Spent : 1 Hour
Expected Learning Curve: High
Why did I buy this: Deep discount on a steam sale

First Impressions: At first, this appears to be a chaotic mess of a game, with armored men charging at each other's flanks and hacking eachother to death with giant swords. It felt very loose, and senselessly challenging.

My Three Hours: I spent my three hours with the game playing multiplayer on public servers with strangers. I also spent a lot of that time very sweaty from moving, and increasingly tipsy from cheap wine. With that said, my opinion of the game rose considerably during my time with it.

Most of the game consists of team or free for all multiplayer melees, using Medieval arms and armor. This is a challenging game to master, as there are many different ways to attack and parry based on movement and a number of alternate attacks.

However, in spite of the possibility of complex, dance-like melees of feints, parries and counter attacks, the most effective strategy is often to flank an opponent and hit them a bunch with a sword. (This was what I tended to do).

Reach and weapon speed also matter quite a bit, so my alternate favorite strategy became running in very close, then engaging with a dagger at a range where my opponents had trouble hitting me with a sword or spear.

My highlight: Playing at 1 or 2 am, running around with a spear, listening to Hamilton and playing as a mean spirited opportunist, but imagining myself to be a dashing and brave knight while I stabbed people in the side with a spear.

The verdict: This is a fairly dumb, fun game with a deep and well thought out approach to melee combat, which typically falls away in the face of armored men cutting eachother in half with claymores from behind or the flanks.

It's a great silly use of time, and worth purchasing if you see it deeply discounted on a steam sale.