When a game manages to make you start grinning like an idiot, you know it must be doing something right. I don’t know if it’s the boyish fantasy of donning plate-armour and bashing seven-bells out of an opponent, the ability to actually win 3-on-1 encounters if you’re skilled (and lucky enough), or the option to hurl just about anything (from your weapon to a random pig you found in a field) at your opponent, but I suspect it’s a combination of all of them.
Chivarly II is, to put it bluntly, bonkers. A medieval multiplayer battle game, up to 64 players can take part in massive, objective-based battles – everything from protecting villagers and pigs, to defending a castle – or go nuts in a no-holds-barred free-for-all. Battles are fast, chaotic, and oh so much fun. Want to man a ballista and turn your foes (or teammates, if your aim’s a bit off) into shish-kebabs? You got it. Drop rocks on your enemies as they try to batter down the gates? Yup. How about manning a catapult? Yes. You can even man it a little too literally, as I discovered when I got a bit too close to the end of the catapult’s arm, and found my character being hurtled across the battlefield towards the enemy.
Combat is both surprisingly deep, and easy to get into, and amounts to far more than just swinging away at your opponents. With three basic types of attacks, the ability to block, riposte, counter, jab, kick, and even throw your weapon at you foe in a last ditch attempt to catch them off guard, combat quickly turns into a series of exhilarating duels. And should you find yourself outnumbered, well, it’s still not game over. With riposting briefly blocking all incoming attacks as you launch your counterstrike, you can still emerge victorious.
With four main classes, each with three subclasses, and a ton of different weapons to choose from there’s a lot of toys for players to enjoy. Especially as they’re not restricted to the class you spawn as. Start off as an archer and decide you’d rather get up-close and personal? Simply grab one of the weapons lying on the battlefield (or pried from the cold, dead fingers of your enemy), and wade into the fray.
And it looks fantastic. Light glints off armour, castles loom in the background (and then up-close when you get to storm them), and limbs go flying courtesy of a successful blow. There’s also a good sense of humour underlying the game, with a huge and funny array of phrases able to be issued at the tap of a button, ranging from insulting your opponent’s lineage, to shouting ‘for that guy we’re fighting for!’
Chivalry II is fast, chaotic, and absolutely brilliant. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a castle to storm: “FOR THAT GUY!” ■