For Honor is set to receive a crossover event for Halloween, bringing the Destiny universe into the game. At the same time, Destiny 2 players will soon partake in the yearly Festival of the Lost, the in-game Halloween celebration that has remained nearly identical since 2021. And yet, there's been no confirmation as to whether Destiny 2 will see any new content to benefit from the For Honor collab. It's a stark reminder of how Destiny presents itself from the outside looking in.

Bungie is no stranger to partnering with other studios to crossover Destiny to other franchises. This has happened several times in the past, with The Witcher, Mass Effect, Ghostbusters, and even Dungeons & Dragons being recent examples. In most cases, new content enters Destiny 2 to coincide with the collaboration, but this time, Bungie has been oddly quiet about whether this would be the case with this most recent partnership -- especially considering the extent of Destiny's presence in For Honor's Halloween event.

New Guardians rise For Honor

For Halloween, For Honor is getting a Destiny-themed event called Light of the Guardians. It will run from October 24 until November 14, adding enemies based on the Scorn from Destiny in a new mode alongside Destiny-themed cosmetics. The most iconic cosmetics are "The Cruc??ible Lord" Lord Shaxx skin for the Centurion and "The Violet King" Sai?nt-14 skin for Lawbringers.

The new mode for the ?crossover event is based on the existing Domination, but it makes a few changes to spice things up. The Scorn hav??e invaded the map, with a Baron and its retinue taking up residence within the Cathedral map. Players won't have minions to help, so each match is a warzone between the new Scorn and the enemy team.

During the three-week event, players will earn weapons inspired by Destiny, and more are available through the in-game?? store. That said, players will receive a free event pass for Light of the Guardians, allowing free rewards to be unlocked through participation.

Festival of the Lost is getting tired

While For Honor players are getting an entire Halloween event built around the Destiny franchise, Destiny 2 players are getting the same old Halloween event they've been getting for four years. Of course, it's not as if Destiny 2 and For Honor share development teams, but it's still a little demoralizing to see an admittedly cool Destiny Halloween event appearing...not in Destiny 2.

Festival of the Lost is set to start on October 29, bringing back Haunted Lost Sectors yet again. The event has players enter decorated Los??t Sectors to fight the unique Headles??s Ones enemies. All the while, Guardians collect Candy to use as a currency for event rewards. There's nothing specifically wrong with Festival of the Lost itself, but it's basically been unchanged for years.

While some rewards and the yearly Halloween costume cosmetics change, players have been diving into the same Lost Sectors, fighting the same enemies since before The Witness made its first appearance in-game. On top of this, the timing for Festival of? the Lost feels off this year. With the event starting two days before Halloween and running for an assumed two or three weeks, the majority of the celebration is happening after Halloween has already come and go??ne. 

The timeliness of Festival of the Lost hasn't gone unnoticed by players either, with some taking to platforms like Reddit to voice their frustration and con??fusion. One commenter said, "So we get festival of the lost literately 2 days befor?e Halloween. I think that is way too late it looks like I'll be playing other games Halloween events instead."

Bungie acknowledges For Honor crossover

While keeping Festival of the Lost nearly identical to previous years and starting it so late may be questionable, excitement could be rekindled with a snazzy focal point to get players excited about Destiny 2's Halloween event beyond its new wizard costumes. In this sense, bringing some of For Honor to Destiny 2 would make&nbs??p;sense, but Bungie hasn't noted that's in the cards.

Acknowledging the crossover happening in For Honor, Bungie posted, "Knights, Samurai, Vikings, Wu Lin, and Outlanders prepare to upgrade your armory. Equip your favorite warrior with gear delivered straight from The Last City, during the Light of the Guardians Halloween event. Available Oct. 24 to Nov. 14. Dates and content may change." Notably, the studio did not mention that any content would be coming to Destiny 2; instead, Destiny content would be featured in For Honor.

While it's not impossible that For Honor content could come to Destiny 2 later, it would have made sense for Bungie to note that kind of news during this communication if it was official. As it stands, For Honor players can jump into a cool and unique Halloween event based on a more fantastical franchise. For Destiny 2 players, well, once Festival ??of the Lost actually starts, just k??eep running those Haunted Lost Sectors, I guess.

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When you upgrade your PlayStation Plus membership to tiers above Essential, you’re going to get a lot more games. But,? of all the current PS Plus games in the catalog, which ones are the best in terms of multiplayer?

We have some recommendations below.

The 10 best PS Plus multiplayer games

There are two other tiers for PS Plus, so we’ll also note which one is for which service to give you a better idea of which one to get or what’s available?? in your current subscription.

For Honor - Extra

For Honor has been around for over se?ven? years at this point, but has received so much content ranging from new maps, characters, customizations, and progression options. Team up with some friends to take on the PvE or PvE modes in this brawler. 

It takes a while to get good at a game like this sinc?e it’s different than many other games in this genre, but once you get some decent combos and defensive plays down, this opens up tenfold.

Monster Hunter Rise - Extra

With Monster Hunter Wilds on the horizon, now is the best time to get into the latest installation of the franchise to prepare for it. Rise is more akin to the classic formula of the MH games, borrowing a lot of the more modernized stuff from World, but also making it better.

The cooperative aspect is seamless and just more fun with more people coordinating awesome methods to hunt, trap, and beat the monsters. If you’re looking for a game to introduce you to the franchise, you will not be disappointed with Monster Hunter Rise.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege - Premium

Similar to For Honor, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege has been out for a long time, having so many maps, operators, and content that awaits. Adm??ittedly, this game is a sweat fest, but as long as you ignore the ranked side and team up with some friends for casuals, it’s a great time.

This game breaks away from the twitch shooter aspect that many may have grown tired of from games like Call of Duty. It’s slower, more tactical,? and methodical. You still need to be a decent shot, but each operator has their own set of weapons and gadgets that can help snag that win.

Killing Floor 2 - Extra

Killing Floor 2 is a round-based zombie shooter game with classes. The cooperative aspect of it makes this so much fun, especially when?? pitted against the hu??ndreds of zombies (or Zeds as they are called in-game). 

With so many maps to choose from and so many builds in the game, you can easily have dozens of?? hours slaying these Zeds. There’s even a PvP aspect of the game if you and your gr?oup are feeling competitive.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge - Extra

If you want a classic beat ‘em up in the modern era, TMNT Shredder’s Revenge is the best you’ll? get from the PS Plus collection. It’s an awesome pa?rty game that’s so reminiscent of the Sega Genesis and arcade era of 16-bit games. 

The best part is, if you have a group above four people, you can play up to six players at once??!

Worms W.M.D - Extra

The Worms games were all wacky fun with hilarious physics, explosions, and interactions. To break away from games that have a more cooperative aspect, Worms W.M.D is all about blowing up all th?e competition to be the one to get out on top. 

It’s an easy game to get into, wh?ether you h?ave ever tried 2D tank-styled games or not.

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 - Premium

The Division 2 is one of the bigger looter shooter games out right now that isn’t free to play.? It has only gotten better since it was first released. Having a full-on cooperative aspect, PvP, and a sizeable community, this is something you can easily sink over a hundred hours into.

The gunplay and all the build??s are for the hardcore, but the initial playthrough of the base campaign will st?ill provide plenty of fun for casuals.

Serious Sam Collection - Premium

If you want a more cooperative experience with a shooter, the Serious Sam Collection is going to be a blast. B??eing more akin to early 2000s boomer shooters, this collection of games will provide you and your friends with dozens of hours of high-octane shooter gameplay.

While highly unlike?ly, you can play cooperative mode with up to 16 players. The action will b?e insane and hilarious all at the same time.

Moving Out - Extra

If you want a more party-centric multiplayer game in the PS Plus catalog, Moving Out will scratch that itch and then some. Think of these games being an extension of the Overcooked games. You’re constantly walking over your teammates and other obstacles to get the jo??b done.

You might brea??k a few th??ings or have a huge fail along the way, but it’s all in good fun.

Overcooked 2 - Extra

Carrying the momentum forward from Moving Out, Overcooked is the OG of birds-eye view, cooperative, item-moving games. The experience in the second game is different almost every single time since everyone is frantically trying to get their tasks done and? efficiently. 

The post 10 Best PS Plus multiplayer games appeared first on Destructoid.

No game is safe

Just the other day I was talking about how regardless of how many games Shovel Knight crosses over with, the character doesn't really feel stale yet. I'm still in that zone, even hearing the news of this recent crossover with For Honor.

This limited-time crossover adds Shovel Knight gear into the mix, including the "Stalwart Plate" armor, as well as the "Ornate Plate" and "Rodent Regalia" (the latter of which is named after the pesky little rat enemies). Other smal?ler bonuses include emotes ?and executions. Yes, executions! This crossover is dark.

It'll all run until March 4. Check out the sweet little cartoon promo image and the trailer below! You gotta give it to the marketing team: they actually tried for this one, and got the tone of Shovel Knight&nb??sp;across. I'm ??surprised they went with the original music, but it totally works.

The post For Honor is getting…a Shovel Knight crossover? appeared first on Destructoid.

'Current-gen game owners�player profiles, including all purchases and inventory, are automatically shared with their next-gen counterparts'

For Honor was released all the way back in 2017, but Ubisoft Montreal has been steadily supporting it sinc?e then, to the point where it's outlasted many other similar online games.

It's kind of Ubisoft's thing lately, a service they've also extended to long-running titles like Rainbow Six Siege. So it was kind of inevitable for them to announce that For Honor would come to the next-generation, and the tran?sition is going to be fairly smooth.

Ubisoft announced the news on Twitch, noting that the Xbox Series S version of the game is targeting 1080p resolution, with PS5 and Xbox Series X hitting 4K. "Current-gen game owners on PS4 and Xbox One" will be able to play For Honor for fre?e, with the option to transfer over "all of your purchases and inventory automatically." 60FPS gameplay is being targeted "for all next-gen consoles in early December."

These updates wil?l be playable "at each respective console launch," so November 10 for Xbox Series S/X and November 12 for PS5. The unavailability of 60FPS gameplay right away isn't great, but it's probably a casualty of?? the current global climate. A month isn't that long to wait, especially if you're upgrading for free.

For Honor [Twitch]

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The Dark Prince shows up next week

Ubisoft knows people want Prince of Persia, and 2020 is all about delivering on that front. Last month, we got word that there's going to be a VR escape room built around the Sands of Time. Now, t??he p?rince is back to swinging his dagger around and murdering skeletons.

The catch? It's all within For Honor. Ubisoft has introduced a limited-time mode to For Honor that crosses over with Prince of Persia. Called "Blades of Persia," this three-week event??'s main draw is the new "Ruler of Time" mode. Ruler of Time is a twist on Dominion that takes place on a reskinned Harbor map where there's a tornado in the middle and sand monsters all over the place. The princ??e occasionally pops out of the whirlwind to kill whatever's in his way.

There are plenty of unique rewards for playing the Prince of Persia mashup. Ubisoft? mentions outfits based on Ratash and Sandwraith,?? a Blade of Fate execution, and other customizing options like themes and emblem outlines. There are also 26 new weapons to loot.

This is only the first part of Prince of Persia's excursion into For Honor. On March 19, there will be yet another new game mode as "th?e prince [embraces] his evil roots, [and] eventually?? [transforms] into the Dark Prince." We only have to wait a week to see what that's all about.

The optimist in me says this has to lead to something bigger. All this sudden interest in a long-neglected franchise has to be in service of a revival of sorts. The cynic in me says this is probably the best it's going to get. A VR room and a crossover promotion in For Honor are the e?xtent of this prince's kingd??om. Those two sides are at odds with one another, and I don't know which one has the best chance to be proven right. 

The post ??Prince of Persi?a is back (as a limited-time game mode in For Honor) appeared first on Destructoid.

For Honor, for keeps

If you wait long enough, just show a little patience and hold out, For Honor&??nbsp;will be free. If that describes you, your self-control is rewarded.

Ubisoft is again giving away the standard edition of For Honor on PC through Uplay. It's not the most complete and current version of the game; that will cost some money. But, it's also not the starter edition which is the most bare bones For Honor gets. It's the standa?rd edition, which has all the content from the game's launch two years ago -- including the 12 heroes and 7 multiplayer modes.

You have until August 27 to claim your free copy of For Honor. Once you nab it, it's yours to keep forever. If this deal seems familiar, maybe it's because the Epic Games Store offered the exact same thing just two weeks ago.

Get For Honor Free on Uplay for a Limited Time [Ubisoft]

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Get ready for Soul Rush

For Honor players will be tackling a new challenge for the next coup?le of weeks. At this afternoon's E3 press conference, Ubisoft revealed a new limited-time mode?.

"Shadows of the Hitokiri" is an event that's available until June 27. It's a new Soul Rush mod??e where teams race?? against each other to kill each other and collect souls. The event is named after the Hitokiri, who's a part of the samurai faction.

Ubisoft has a page dedicated to explaining the nitty gritty o??f Soul Rush. If reading isn't your style, that trailer that's embedded at the top sets the atmosph?ere nicely?.

The post Shadows of the Hitokiri is For Honor’s new special mode appeared first on Destructoid.

Sit back and watch these massive battles

In case you didn't know, Ubisoft's For Honor is still going strong and soon, it??'ll be getting a f?eature fans have been asking for. Ahead of its E3 press conference, the company dropped a trailer confirming spectator mode is coming the hit action game. 

Spectator mode will be added to For Honor in a free update sometime in 2019.

The post For Honor is getting spectator mode appeared first on Destructoid.

You'll never see it coming

With two of the most anticipated games of all-time releasing in the last week, Sony could have easily put a bunch of nothing up for PS Plus subscribers in February and gotten away with it. Thankfully, it didn't cheap out on the freebies, because next month has some pretty solid titles on offer. PS4 users will get both For Honor and Hitman, which is enough content to last you for a ??full year.

On the PS3 side, we have a fitting title for the last month of PS Plus freebies on Sony's last-gen console. Metal Gear Solid 4, the conclusion to Kojima's epic saga, will be available alongside Divekick. I don't think you could ask for a better send-off, apart from including the entire MGS collection. The Vita is getting some indie ?titles, which basically?? sums up what the Vita was good at.

• Hitman - PS4
• For Honor - PS4
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - PS3
• Divekick - PS3
• Gunhouse - PS Vita (Cross-buy with PS4)
• Rogue Aces - PS Vita (Cross-buy with PS4)

Sony will also be upgrading the cloud storage space for PS4 users. While the current limit is 10 GB, you'll soon have access to 100 GB for making back-ups of your saves. That seems a bit like overkill, but I actually do have a few titles with save data over 1 GB. It's kin??d of crazy how much data some games will write.

PlayStation Plus:? Cloud Storage Expanding to 100GB, Free Games for February [PlayStation Blog]

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New modes and warriors join the epic crusade

Ubisoft has launched Marching Fire, a major update to online multiplayer battle title For Honor, bringing a glut of new content, chara??cters, modes and b??alance tweaks to the sword-clashing title.

Marching Fire mixes both paid and free content in an attempt to reignite the flame within the community, much like how Operation: Health turned around the fortunes of Ubisoft's multiplayer success story Rainbow Six Siege. Marching Fire i?ncludes an entirely new faction, The Wu-Lin, which brings with it four new characters to master.

New modes include Arcade Mode, allowing players to get to grip with the mechanics in PvE scenarios and challenges. The 4v4 Breach Mode, which sees teams of attacking and defending players respectively attempt to conquer or protect a point on the battlefield. From a technical standpoint, For Honor's engine has had a graphical?? overhaul, whi?lst tweaks and adjustments have been made to the game's balance.

If there was ever the opportunity to leap in battle with the warriors and dynasties of legend, now is as good a time as any. For Honor: Marching Fire is available now on PS4, PC and Xbox One.

The post New trailer celebrates For Honor’s new update Marching Fire appeared first on Destructoid.

Marching Fire

You have to give it to Ubisoft when it comes to support for their recent multiplayer o????fferings.

While they generally had the same reputation as EA for abandoning their online projects in record time, they've done a fantastic job bringing constant content and updates to things like For Honor and Rainbow Six Siege. Despite launching in February of last year For Honor is still going strong, and will host a new expansion in Marching Fire next week on October 16.

Along with the 4v4 Breach gametype and the other trappings of Marching Fire (four Wu Lin heroes, PVE arcade mode), it'll also host what Ubisoft is calling a "graphical remaster," with enhanced lightning and textures. This update will actually be free next to the paid Fire expansion. Ubisoft says it began work on the remaster in early 2017 and has steadily improved upon that base for over a year. While maps aren't drastically going to change (or even swap layouts) the publisher does note that you wil?l notice more details.

Art director Christian Diaz notes: "If you’re playing a Valkenheim map and it’s supposed to look and feel cold, we can convey that sense of temperature much more now. Similarly, the warmth of a place like Ashfeld will be more apparent now. The campaign and the cinematics have receive a refresh as well so players looking to revisit the campaign will also no??tice new visual aspects."

For Honor Gets Visual Remaste??r in Marching Fire Expansion [PlayStation Blog]

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That's a lot of clashing swords 'n' shields

In just a few days' time, Ubisoft will release a major update for online medieval battle title For Honor. Marching Fire will bring with it new ??modes, such as Breach and Endless PvE, as well as the all-new Wu Lin faction, bringing four heroes, ready and raring to charge the battlefield.

Just ahead of this exciting new launch for the multiplayer slice 'em up, Ubisoft has announced that For Honor has hit a particularly impressive new milestone, surpassing 15 million registered players since its launch back in February 2017. Although this is only half of the playerbase of Ubisoft's other popular multiplayer title, Rainbow Six Siege, its still an impressive battalion.

Ubisoft will be hoping that the launch of Marching Fire will give For Honor a shot in the arm, much the way the Operation Health project did for Siege last year. You can check out some of the new charac??ters and features in the? trailer below.

Marching Fire launches on October 16. For Honor is available now on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

The post For H??onor hits 15 million player milestone ahead of Marching? Fire update appeared first on Destructoid.

CHARGE! (at a later date)

Ubisoft has announced the expansion for their en masse medieval brawler, For Honor,?? will see an open beta in September, giving the game's PC community a chance to get their gauntlets on the new content a l?ittle earlier than expected.

Marching Fire, scheduled for release on October 16, is the biggest expansion to For Honor to date. Containing a new mode, Breach, as well as the opportunity to play Endless PvE, the centrepiece of the expansion will be a new faction; the Wu Lin, which brings to battle four new heroes, Tiandi, Jiang Jun, Shaolin and Nuxia. Ubisoft are also planning to implement some tweaks to For Honor's? visuals, an in-game dialogue system, as well as general balance changes and bug fixes.

The new content could really help bring new players into the For Honor fold, similar to how Operation: Health turned around the fortunes for online shooter Rainbow Six: Siege. The upcoming be?ta will afford PC players the opportunity to try out the four new heroes and the new Breach mode, and is set to run from September 6 until September 10, so get sharpening your steel.

For Honor is available now on PS4, PC and Xbox One.

The post For Honor’s Marching Fire expansion gets PC beta test next month appeared first on Destructoid.

For glory

A whole lot of people are playing For Honor right now. More specifically, a whole lot of people are playing the For Honor Starter Edition right now.

Yesterday, the bare-bones Starter Edition of For Honor went free-to-play on PC. The move was a major shot in the arm, as Steam's concurrent users chart shows a peak of approximately 227,000 players today. That's Monster Hunter: World territory, which had a tremendous PC launch earlier this month. Not too shabb?y for a game that released in early 2017.

It's impressive enough to earn a spot on Steam's vaunted list of games with the most concurrents ever. For Honor's 227,000 easily cracks the list and firmly places it in eighth place. Earlier this week, For Honor had something like 5,000 players. This graph i??s basically a fl??at-liner until it suddenly spikes.

Is it temporary? Yeah, probably. Evolve saw a similar resurgence when it went free-to-play a few years ago. Now it has 125 concurrent players. For Honor's drop-off may not be that steep, but it's not likely to retain hundreds of thousands of players. But, for now, For Honor has its day in the sun.

[Correction: For Honor's Starter Edition is only free through August 27. However, anyone who downloads it before then will b??e able to play it for free permanent??ly.]

Steam & Game Stats [Steam]

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Mickey's Dead Space

It has been quite some time since Xbox Live's "Games with Gold" service has seen a month as eclectic as this. While I enjoy having a diverse selection of games to pick from, there is likely going to be only one game that speaks to each user while the other three seem like a wash. On the Xbox One side of things, the venerable Forza Horizon series gets some representation with Horizon 2 being up for grabs while Ubisoft's interesting, yet flawed, For Honor sits alongside it.

For 360 users (and Xbox One via backward compatibility), you'll be able to nab the conclusion of Visceral's Dead Space trilogy and get the lackluster follow-up to Warren Spector's Disney game, Epic Mickey 2. I can't say I'm particularly i??nterested in any of these games, but everyone is likely to find at least something to entertain them.

You can catch the dates for them below:

• Forza Horizon 2 (Xbox One) - Aug 1 - Aug 31
• For Honor (Xbox One) - Aug 16 - September 15
• Dead Space 3 (Xbox 360) - Aug 1 - Aug 15
• Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (Xbox 360) - Aug 16 - Aug 31

New Games with Gold for August 2018 [Xbox Wire]

The post Forza Horizon 2 and For Honor headline August’s Games with Gold titles appeared first on Destructoid.

Long live the king

For Honor's upcoming Marching Fire update looks as though it's designed to shake up the game in a significant way. In addition to the new WuLin faction, the update also introduces Breach, an asymmetrical game mode that has one team trying to? break into a castle and kill their opponent's king while the other side does everything in their power to stop the siege. 

After its debut at Ubisoft's E3 press conference, Breach's minute-to-minute gameplay was detailed in a narrated walkthrough. Each match is divided up into three phases, that revolve around escorting (or trying ?to destroy) siege weapons, breaking through castle defenses, an??d toppling (or protecting) the defender's king.

It seems like Breach's structure will make sure players are continually vying for position against one another, where coordinating assaults and on-the-fly strategizing are the key to success. Despite being a departure from For Honor's usual gameplay, the new mode looks l??ike it has some great potential.

The post For Honor’s upcoming Breach mode looks like a bloody tug of war appeared first on Destructoid.

GUAN YU!

Along with the starter edition being free on PC, For Honor is going to get a new update soon. Titled Marching Fire, this will bring graphical overhauls and some new modes, but the bigg??est ??addition has to be the Chinese Wu Lin faction. Along with just looking incredible, it also features a soldier that looks suspiciously like Guan Yu. I'm sold on that, alone.

Marching Fire will bring four new playable characters; the Tiandi, the Jiang Jun, the Nuxia and the Shaolin. Each has fled their home country to escape the incoming cataclysm that is s?wallowing up the land (probably that dragon in the trailer). This will likely be the focus of the new single-player addition, which wasn't given much information at the con??ference.

A new PvE mode with two-player co-op is coming to the game (as paid DLC) along with castle siege battles and a 4v4 Breach mode. This is being touted as the biggest update to For Honor yet. For Honor: Marching Fire will be available on October 16, 2018, for all pla?tforms.

the Tiandi, ??the Jiang Jun, the Nuxia, and the Shaolin

The post For Honor’s Marching Fire update brings the Chinese Wu Lin faction appeared first on Destructoid.

The Starter Edition so you can get started

For Honor is well pas?t its first year and?? it's seemingly still going strong. Ubisoft has a new promotion that's sure to pad its player numbers.

For the next week, Ubisoft is giving away the starter edition of For Honor for free on PC. Just go to this site and register. It launches through Uplay, so having that ser??vi??ce installed is mandatory.

If you don't have time right now, there's a one-week window to claim your free copy of For Honor. This p?romotion runs until the afternoon of June 18??.

Giveaway [Ubisoft]

The post For Honor is free on PC right now appeared first on Destructoid.

More at E3

Much to Ubisoft's cred?it, they've been going full hog with several of its ??multiplayer games.

Rainbow Six Siege (2015), Division (2016) and For Honor (2017) have been getting a ton of updates both of the paid and f?ree variety, and each team has taken in the input of fans to help shape the evolution of their projects. Ubisoft Montreal went out of their way this week to showcase all of the updates For Honor has gotten in particular to date, as well as teasing an upcoming E3 announcement that will detail the future of the game and...a potential new fighter?

If you aren't familiar with For Honor the power fantasy theme pits various warriors of history against each other, and what seems to be coming next is an eastern combatant who wields a scimitar. Given the middle eastern skew it's entirely possible that Ubisoft is adding a new faction (especially since?? they're using E3 as a showcase for this), or it could simply be an addition to an existing one.

We'll have info, as they say, "soon."

The post Ubisoft recaps For Honor’s history so far, teases new character appeared first on Destructoid.

Season 6 begins May 17

For Honor is still trucking along and if you want to see vikings, samurai, and knights trade blows, this weekend brings a good opportunity: the game is holding a free-play event. It's live now and will run until May 6 at 1:00pm Pacific on PC and May 7 at 12:00am Pacific on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Note: if you're on console, you will need either Xbox Live Go?ld or Pl??ayStation Plus.

In the time since the last free weekend, Ubisoft has added dedicated servers on all platforms. There's also an incentive for existing players to return and populate the game. For Honor players who group with newcomers and finish five matches will earn two weeks of Champion Status, which entails XP bo??osts, more salvage, and more end-of-match loot, among other benefits. Teach your children well.

While Rainbow Six Siege has had a tremendous turnaround, For Honor hasn't been quite as fortunate. The develop?ers are still puttin?g in work, though, and plan to start Season 6 on May 17.

The post For Honor goes free for the weekend appeared first on Destructoid.

You'll start with six heroes and grind for the rest

In recent years, Ubisoft has experimented with a Starter Edition of Rainbow Six Siege, offering players a chance to get the game at reduced price in exchange for a more-limited starting selection of playable characters and the ability to earn additional heroes by grinding matches for in-game currency. Now, the company is adapting that model for another of its multiplayer-centric titles -- it's For Honor's turn.

For Honor Starter Edition is out today on Steam and Uplay for $15. Here's the ??breakdown per Ubisoft:

• Three fully unlocked Vanguard Heroes: The Warden, Raider, and Kensei will be fully unlocked (playable and customizable) at the start of the game.

• Three Launch Heroes from Players' Selected Faction: Three additional playable heroes will be granted to players based on the faction they choose when first launching the Starter Edition (Knight, Viking, Samurai); Players can progress and loot with these heroes, however customizations become available once the Heroes are "recruited" for 8,000 Steel each.

• Twelve Remaining Heroes: Players will also be able to fully unlock the six heroes from launch for gameplay and customization for 8,000 steel each. The six heroes released in post launch seasons can be fully unlocked for gameplay and customization for 15,000 Steel each.

It's a similar system to Siege, in other words. Whether or not it's a good deal will depend on how into the game you get and how much you can put up with drip-fed currency. For Honor is currently ??in its fifth season, and the Starter Edi??tion is compatible with the game's season pass and add-on content.

With dedicated servers now supported, For Honor is worth another look.

For Honor PC Starter Edition Now Available! [For Honor]

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For Honor and quality connections!

Almost a year ago, Ubisoft claimed that it would be adding dedicated servers to its historical brawler For Honor. While that update arrived on PC last month, it hasn't made its way onto consoles...that is, until now! Starting tomorrow, March 6, console players will be able to finally play For Honor with a decent connection.

Coming as part of For Honor Season Five, dedicated servers will also be accompanied by major hero updates, new training features and a special three week long  "Apolly?on’s Legacy" event. Data gathered from the PC rollout has shown improved match completion rates and a complete elimination of games being stalled due to host migration. There are also some other unnamed improvements that Ubisoft is promising will happen for console players.

Whether or not this is too late to save the game is up for debate, but at least Ubisoft has shown dedication to improving the experience. With how successful Rainbow Six Siege has been for the publisher, maybe For Honor can make a comeback and do ju?stice to its intriguing prem?ise.

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Love me some silly spooky game modes

Vi??kings, knights, samurai, and... skeletons? Yes, skeletons!

For Honor is celebrating Halloween early with a limited-time Feast of the Otherworld event running from today to Thursday, November 2. The main draw is a rework of 4v4 Dominion, dubbed Endless March, in which soldiers are replaced by ske??letons capable of dealing far more damage than normal troops. Another wrinkle: the points you earn from holding zones? are only temporary, and the only way to secure permanent points for your team is by killing the undead and other players.

The event will also introduce Halloween cosmetics ranging from masks to emotes to new outf??its.

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Right before Season 3 starts up

Is it too late to get into For Honor? You'll be able to decide for yourself later this week as Ubisoft holds a free weekend, opening up the campaign and multiplayer modes on PC, PlayStation?? 4, and Xbox One.

On PC, the event will run from August 10 at 10:00am Pacific to August 13 at 1:00pm Pacific. PS4 and Xbox One players can play for free from August 10 at 12:01am PT to August 14 at 4:59pm PT. Pre-loading For Honor will be an option later tonight, albeit only for the PS4???? and Uplay versions.

Why run the event now? Ubisoft is looking to build buzz for the game's third season, which starts August 15. I can't help ?but wonder if it would've been better to run the free weekend at the same time.

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For Honor? For F&%$'s sake!

For Honor hasn't been the biggest hit for Ubisoft. While the game launched to some decent reception and sales, the game has been in rapid decline ever since. The last we heard about it, For Honor lost around 90-95% of its player base on PC, which basically means close to no one is st??ill? playing this.

So how is Ubisoft going to fix this problem? With a host of new features, maps and modes to entice people back onto the battlefield. The most significant of these scheduled updates is the implementation of dedicated servers, something that has been desired since the open beta for the game commenced earlier this year. That is, sadly, further down the line then the?? rest of the updates coming.

So with the ability to actually finish an on?line match soon coming, how else can we expect to be doing battle? Well, two new seasons will be launching in August and November that will bring more heroes to unlock, new maps to wage battle on and some new gear to unlock. I wouldn't be surprised if both were themed around their respective seasons (i.e. Summer and Fall), but we'll just have to wait and see.

As for game modes, Ubisoft will be introducing ranked 4v4 matches and some ?variation on 4v4 PvP that it hasn't bothered to disclose. There will also be a new training mode to help players hone their skills for online combat, which could definitely go a long way into welcoming newcomers.

Then there will be balance updates, of which Ubisoft is being kind of vague with regards to information. Instead of blindly throwing changes into the mix, there will be a new "public test environment" to iron out all the kinks in any planned fixes ??before anything goes live. You can actually get in on that testing right n?ow if you own the PC version.

Overall, I'm not sure if there really is any way to salvage For Honor's tarnished reputation. With Ubisoft emphasizing microtransactions and consistently providing spotty netcode with their games, most people gave up hope that this title would ever come around. With regards to a similarly structured game, Rainbow Six Siege, Ubisoft did make good on their commitment to improving the title, so hopefully For Honor can wrangle players back in.

I know that I'm personally excited for dedicated servers as even I had a hell of a time staying connected during the beta. It became near impossible to actually finish a match when one person would disconnect and throw the host migration service into a frenzy. With that out of the picture, maybe For Honor might actually be worth a damn as a?? multiplayer title.

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You see what I did there?

For the weekend leading up to E3, Ubisoft has decided to discount a bunch of their games on Uplay to get people ready for upcoming games...somehow. I'm not sure how that wor??ks, but if you've been ?holding out to get some Ubisoft titles on PC, first, you have my sympathy. Secondly, your time has come.

Ubisoft's "Crazy E3 Sale" runs until June 18 and features up to 75% off ??certain games. Obviously newer titles won't be that heavily discounted, but you can get so?me actual classic games from Ubisoft's store for a small chunk of change.

In addition to all the savings, Ubisoft is also holding a free weekend for Trials Fusion, The Division and Steep. Called the UbiE3 Weekend (how did you guys miss?? UbE3?), you'll need to head over to this website to register your Uplay account for access. You won't be able to try them from Steam, so that might suck for some people.

As for which games I recommend? in the sale, her??e is a highlight reel of sorts:

• Beyond Good & Evil - $4.99
• Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood - $4.99
• Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 - $4.99
• Far Cry 3 Deluxe Edition - $10.20
• Grow Home - $3.99
• Grow Up - $4.99
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - $4.99
• Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones - $4.99
• Prince of Persia: Warrior Within - $4.99
• Splinter Cell Chaos Theory - $3.40

Ubisoft Kicks Off E3?? Celebrations With A Weekend Of ??Free PC Games [Worthplaying]

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'Shadow and Might' kicks off May 16

Two new hero classes are entering the fray next month, as Ubisoft’s historical hack-and-slash fighter For Honor kicks off its second season. The samurai assassin Shinobi and knight hybrid Centurion both join the fight as early as May 16??, and bring with them two new maps, Forge and Temple Garden??. 

Season 2 also brings new customization items and gameplay updates, partially through the introduction of a new level of gear rarity. Epic gear will ultimately increase the maximum gear score, but its inclusion also seeks to overhaul and rebalance the entire gear stats system at?? the same time.

Season pass owners will be able to start playing as both the Centurion and the Shinobi right away on May 16, while the rest of you will have wait until May 23 and spend hard-earned in-game steel to unlock the new heroes. Maps and the othe?r gameplay updates will be available to all players for free at the start of Season 2.

There’s a painfully uninformative teaser trailer bundled with the announcement, but it’s only worth checking out if you enjoy ominous music and slow pans over lifeless character models. A slightly more detailed image featuring a menacing ?pose from each new hero, however, can be found below. 

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Might be permanent if the devs don't respond

I love keeping up with the individual meta of any given game. While there are usually tier lists that can be defied by any given player, you cannot defy a ban that's put in place by TOs or organizations. That's what's happening now in For Honor, as MLG has ju?st temporarily b??anned the Peacekeeper class.

T?he main problem seems to be her super-powered light attack, which can be spammed to great success, a tactic you can see in the video below -- I've heard similar complaints online having pl??ayed it myself. Due to a multitude of threads about it from the official forums, to MLG's forums, to reddit, MLG officials will run their next tournament with the Peacekeeper banned, and then poll the community after. If most of them agree with the ban, barring a pre-release balance patch, it'll stay that way.

Seems fair to me! While moves like this are al??ways up for debate, if the ov?erwhelming majority of players want a change, so be it. Many competitive games (MOBAs in particular) already have a built-in ban system to adjust for situations like this anyway.

The Shadow [MLG]

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Best savings is Deluxe Edition in UK/EU

For Honor's weekend open beta ended in the late afternoon on Sunday and the initial wave of purchases are pouring in (at least, that's what we're seeing anyways). Gamers that enjoyed Ubisoft's latest are giving the game a vote with their wallets??, as the title has shot up to the top-selling spot on Steam, the Uplay Shop, and various other digital retailers.

While you were able to do an update from the closed beta to the open beta, for tomorrow's full release you'll need to re-download it all. The full game download clocks in at 29GB for the PC, but thankfully pre-loading has started since last Friday. If you have a slow connection, we'd suggest getting started tonight to get yourself ready in time for? tomorrow's release.

The game is currently at a 20% off discount for gamers in NA, with Standard at $47.99 via GMG and Gold Edition at $79.99. Both are the Uplay digital key, while the Gold ??Edition comes bundled with the Season Pass.

Interestingly, in the UK/EU, we're spotting more aggressive discounts on For Honor's Deluxe Edition at select digital retailers. For example, GamersGate is currently only selling the Deluxe and Gold Edition in the UK, giving the Deluxe a 32% off discount while the Gold Edition of For Honor only receives a 21%?? ??off discount. (When Standard was available, it was being sold at 15% off only.)

The same story is occurring at GamesPlanet, where you'll find For Honor Deluxe Edition at 25% off and the Standard and Gold Edition at only 20% off. In our opinion, this is probably a smart move from the two digital retailers given Deluxe includes cosmetic items at best, and without the the? bigger discount, they are much harder to justify picking up (whereas Gold Edition will include the Season Pass).

We've rounded up all the relevant PC deals below, from NA to UK to EU. If you spot some price discrepancies on release day tomorro?w, let us know and we'll update accordingly.

Update 2/15: Now that the game is released, prices have been updated yet again.

For Honor PC North America Deals

GMG

• For Honor Standard Edition (Uplay) — $50.99 (15% off)
• For Honor Deluxe Edition (Uplay) — $59.49 (15% off)
• For Honor Gold Edition (Uplay) — $84.99 (15% off)

GamersGate

• For Honor Standard Edition (Uplay) — $46.79&nbs?p;(22% off)
• Fo??r Honor Deluxe Edition (Uplay) — $54.59 (22% off)
• For Honor Gol??d Edition (Uplay) — $77.99&nb??sp;(22% off))

For Honor PC UK/EU Deals

GamesPlanet - ROW Only

• For Honor Standard Edition (Uplay) — £31.99 (20% off) / 47.99€ (20% off)
• For Honor Deluxe Edition (Uplay) — £37.49 (25% off) / 47.99€ (31% off)
• For Honor Gold Edition (Uplay) — £55.99 (20% off) / 69.99€ (30% off)

GamersGate ROW Only

• For Honor Deluxe Edition (Uplay) — £??33.99 (32% off) /  50.99€ (27% off)
• For Honor Gold Edition (Uplay) ??— £51.99 (21% off) /  76.49€ (24% off)

Note that for the UK/EU deals at GamersGate and GamesPlanet, the Uplay?? keys are "rest of the world" and are region locked to Europe, Africa, Middle-East, Oceania, Japan, and South Korea. If you want the North American key, make sure you grab from the GMG or GamersGate (NA) links above.

Looking above, if you're a gamer in Europe, you really should just pick up the game in GBP and pay accordingly for the conversion. As of writing, the priciest copy of For Honor are the ones bought with Euro. Note that for the Deluxe pricing, that is NOT a typo for Standard Edition at G?amesPlanet in Euro, they are indeed both priced at €47.99 - so uh, if you must pay in Euro and buy at GamesPlanet, you might as well get the Deluxe Edition.

The post For Honor PC deals up to 32% off before tomorrow’s launch appeared first on Destructoid.

Death by a thousand cuts

I spent a lot of time dueling other players in Dark Souls. I'd care??lessly wander into the Darkroot forest and willfully invite the protectors of those shaded woods to come and try to force me out of them. I'd painfully claw my way through the game with a sub-optimal build for taking on the monsters of the land with gear designed to give me a slight edge in the one-on-one combat with other players I craved, regardless of how it compromised me in other areas.

And through it all, PvP in Dark Souls was always a secondary feature. An interesting sub-game tucked away in a much richer and varied w?orld. It's alw?ays been the domain of ad hoc fight clubs, risky invasions, and inevitable ganks. But, I stuck with it, the thrill of patient one-on-one combat too irresistible to ignore.

That's why I was so looking forward to For Honor. A game that promised to take the tense beauty of staring down the edge of a blade and trying to get inside the mind of your enemy. Waiting for the slightest dip of the blade, the most innocuous shuffling of the feet??, that micro-second moment of vulnerability to make your move.

When For Honor is at its best, it is that game. As beautiful and brutal as one could hope. Sadly, those moments are few and far between. While For Honor was supposed to bring the thrill of the duel to the surface, it feels more tucked away and obscured by poorly conceived game modes, obnoxious grinding, and technical glitches than it ever did in?? the deepest recesses of the Darkroot? Garden.

For Honor [PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, PC]
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Released: February 14, 2017
MSRP: $59.99

Aspiring warlords need to approach For Honor like a fighting game. If you're expecting a Dynasty Warrior-like power-fantasy, or a breezy hack-'n'-slash experience?, this is not the game you're looking for. This is a game all about granular mechanics and very specific match-ups – you can still feel like a bad-ass, but you'll need to work for it.

The heart of For Honor lies in the deceptively deep "art of battle" system that governs one-on-one fighting. The idea starts with a simple rock-paper-scissors setup of left-right-and-top attacks and guards, but quickly layers in additional levels of complexity until it feels like a video game equivalent of fencing’s tactical wheel. The right stick governs the position of your blade and direction of your attack. Press right on the stick and tap the attack button and your swordsman will hack or swing to that s??ide. Similarly, you can block an attack by positioning your blade in the right direction to intercept.

But then things get trickier. Light attacks are fast and hard to block, but they're weak and only peck away at the enemy. Heavy attacks take off chunks of a health bar, but can be seen coming a mile away. That's why it's handy to "feint" a heavy a?ttack, canceling the blow with a button press while still winding up. Parrying, a more aggressive block that will throw the enemy off balance, can be accomplished by launching a heavy attack at the precise moment and direction of an incoming blow, but if they feint,?? you're left wide open. Guard breaks work similar to throws in fighting games, opening up defensive players to attack, but can be countered with a quick attack or defensive guard break of their own.

Then you have environmental hazards to watch out for. Treacherous ledges, ruined ramparts, wall-mounted spikes, and good old fashioned castle moats ca??n all spell quick death t??o any warrior unfortunate enough to be knocked into one. Staying aware of your surroundings and anticipating how your opponent might use them against you is key to staying on your feet, and not broken at the bottom of a pit.

While everyone shares the same basic attack op??tions, each of the 12 characters possess unique traits, abilities, and rules that put a personal spin on them and further crinkles into the mind-games of a duel. The Shugoki can shrug off a single flesh wound with his super-armor. Wardens can punish vertical attacks with a devastating counter-blow and shoulder charge careless fighters into obstacles. The Peacekeeper can inflict a damage-over-time bleed effect with her knife. Berserkers can chain their attacks together in an endless flurry under the right conditions, and so on. Much like any modern fighter, you'll likely want to focus on one or two characters to master playing as, while also studying up on? each other fighter's bag of tricks to prepare yourself for them.

This is where For Honor is at its strongest. One-on-one fights. Two fighters each pulling out every tactic, move, and dirty trick they can to get an advantage over the other guy. At its?? best, it's very close to perfection.

That's why it's baffling that so many of the game's modes and mechanics seem dead set on under??mining this purity at every turn.

The more warriors added to the battlefield, the more frustrating and less satisfying For Honor becomes. 2 vs. 2 Duels often boil down to a race between who can kill their opponent and help their partner pile on the remainder faster. The skirmish and brawl modes, and 4 vs. 4 deathmatch variants, become similarly chaotic. The more I played those modes, the more I noticed some players were picking the fast-sprinting assassin class for the express purpose of dashing away fro??m their original dueling partner, ganging up on another fighter, and then using the number advantage to snowball over the rest. What a joy.

This trend reaches its zenith in the 4 vs. 4 Dominion mode which places player characters alongside NPC foot soldiers in a territory ??control battle. Each map is broken into two separate control points to lay claim to (you get more points per second by leaving a player to defend rather than abandoning it to rove the map in a giant pack) with a middle battlefield that must be held by pushing back waves of enemies to allow your (peculiarly tiny) soldiers to advance.

Or at least that's the theory. Most games of Dominion I played boiled down to raiding squads of three or four Renaissance fair rejects trying to catch isolated targets. All of the carefully balanced mechanics and finesse of the dueling system goes straight out the window when engaging multiple targets. The "art of battle" is reduced to a clumsy race to escape (which is when it becomes most evident how clunky and a??wkward the controls and characters are outside of the locked-combat style of a duel) or a frantic attempt to block enough attacks to trigger the "revenge" mode, a kind of Super-Saiyan power-up state ancient warriors apparently achieve once they've deflected enough blows. It quickly becomes tiresome, on both ends of the sword.

This muddled chaos is compounded by a poorly explained feat system that allows players to start flinging crossbow bolts and medieval grenades in the middle of a fight??, or power up their attacks and defensive stats once they achieve enough points. While it might seem like a cool idea to add more tricks and upsets in the multiplayer, the actual effect is getting smacked by arrows from off-?screen, or having a bomb land at your feet while in the middle of fighting some other guy. More random chaos distracting from the game's strengths.

The laughably imbalanced gear progression sys??tem further makes certain that confusion and frustration reign supreme. Gear, such as shoulder pads, axe heads, and fancy pommels, can raise certain stats and abilities for characters. Depending on the level and type of gear, this can range to a slight, near-imperceptible increase in your sprint speed, or a terrifying increase in damage. Who knows? This makes the bigger multiplayer modes (gear effects are mercifully disabled in one-on-one duels and serve only to make your Viking look pretty) a frequent source of sudden and violent surprises.

In the 4 vs. 4 modes, you're never quite sure who has what or what they can do. Often, the only way to find out a Warden has an upgraded blade that can damn near two-shot you, or a v??iking Raider has a bonus that allows him to chuck you halfway across the map, is the hard way. Particularly problematic are gear options that decrease the time it takes to revive downed comrades, or ones that increase the power of the already devastating revenge state, leading to fights where it feels like you can't meaningfully hamper the enemy team unless you can land a fatality-like execution (tricky) and have to deal with Sa??murai Goku raging out on you every few minutes.

While the unlocking system is not quite as bad as I thought in my original review in progress post (all characters are available to play off the start, you only need to pay to customize them and equip gear on them, mea culpa), the microtransaction hooks are still greasy enough to be off-putting. Feats can be earned through experience, or bypassed with cold hard cash (giving you access to a direct in-game advantage over people working their way up naturally). Gear accumulates slowly as occasional post-battle rewards, or can b?e bought in random loot packs with in-game currency.

Of course, the in-game currency is painfully slow to amass. Yes, completing daily tasks and special conditions can help you gain more, but that crutches on your desire to play five matches of AI Dominion, or complete ten executions a?s a class you don't like. Otherwise, you can always buy some currency and spin the wheel on some random loot packs that may or may not give you what you need. Spend, spend, spend.

There is a Season Pass for sale to automatically unlock an additional six new? characters as they become available, as well as a flat-out XP and gear booster.?? Supposedly, players will be able to buy these characters with in-game currency when they roll out, but Ubisoft wouldn't be trying to sell them in a $39.99 pack if they were going to be affordable enough to grab without serious grinding.

It's all the same free-to-play tactics we've seen again and again, only in a game you already paid full price for. There are enough ways to gain For Honor's currency to deflect accusations of cash-grabbing, but everything has been carefully tuned and tweaked to make it just annoying enough to push players to dig into their pockets. You could get everything with patience and g??rinding out daily tasks that may or may not be fun – or you could just throw some cash at the game.

All of this is especially galling since the matchmaking system doesn't seem to particularly care about tossing low-leveled players with minimal equipment up against players who have achieved their second or third renown level (prestiging by another name) and have blinged out their warriors with high-level baubles. On multiple occasions, I was stuck on teams wearing the equivalent of potato sacks, facing off against warriors decked out in a particularly generous D&D treasure haul worth of booty. If you don't think this was an intentional design choice to encourag?e loot-envy, you're kidding yourself.

Of course, matchmaking is only the start of the online issues. The real question is whether you'll be able to actually complete a match once you've found one. When For Honor isn't stacking horribly mismatched teams against each other, or saddling teams with AI bots (especially curious when playing "h??igh activity" game modes), it's crashing mid-match or s?uffering from crippling lag. It's a mess.

The peer-to-peer networking For Honor is built on just doesn't support what the game demands. In a title all about split-second reactions, deft parries, and skillful feints, the added ?wonkiness of sub-optimal connections make combat unreliable and seemingly luck-based. I'm playing on the PS4 (poking around message boards, the situation seems even worse for PC players), and even a week after release, matches are still dropping on a regular basis.

You don't know fun until you inve?st 10-15 minutes into a pitched-battle or nail-biting duel that's come down to the last round, only to hit the brick wall of the "CONNECTION ERROR" screen yet again. It's unforgivable. The game never should have made it out the door in this kind of state.

These problems even bleed over to the single-player experience which, unfortunately, requires a connection to play. While I never got dropped out of a mission midway due to a connection error, I did have trouble starting the game one night when the Ubisoft servers failed to connect? on the title screen.

Speaking of, the single-player campaign is nothing to write home about. It provides a functional introduction to most of the cast and provides some unique set-pieces and the occasional entertaining boss, but it's nothing y??ou can't miss. Enemies are lifeless and fight with a scripted, mechanical gait, often launching the same attack pattern or requiring the player to defeat them in a specific way (most notable with shield-bearing enemies who will deflect any and all attacks, no matter how clever, until you guard break them). The stages are littered with breakable clay pots and observation points (audio logs) to be found, presumably for "replay value."

The plot t??hat explains why three distinct anachronistic warrior groups are fighting is predictably thin. Spurred on by a war-crazed overlord who reminds me of nothing more than a medieval Jigsaw (lots of pseudo-philosophical posturing to justify sadism), the three factions are reluctantly drawn into perpetual battle where the real enemy is man's inability to trust man or some similarly yawn-inducing moral. The dialog and plot beats are so generic I wouldn't be surprised if they had been written by an algorithm that recycles B-level action-movie scripts.

Aside from the flat narrative, For Honor attempts to inspire the player to care about the fictional military groups by providing an on-going faction war.?? Players choose an alignment off the start and their deeds in battle are collated, crunched, and spit into an ongoing tug-of-war of numbers determining territory control and factional dominance. It's one of those broad online hooks where your individual efforts seem meaningl?ess and the results are arbitrarily stacked towards the most popular group. Just like life.

Hon??estly, I'm not sure why anyone would care. I choose my faction based on which shield emblem I thought was coolest at the start of the game. I have no stakes, no investment in my "side." It seems like victory changes the banners or crests on some levels – a detail nobody will ever possibly notice while trying to avoid decapitation. Maybe the faction war ??would have more meaning if players had to invest some skin in the game, like if choosing a faction locked you out of the opposing factions' characters. As it is, it's just a jumble of numbers the game likes to assault me with when I just want to join a freaking duel.

I've seen chatter saying this game is going to be another Rainbow Six Siege: A great game that comes out in a somewhat compromised state. A game that is a little too greedy with the microtransactions off the start, but with discounts, ?balance patches, and a slew of freebies later, becomes a decent value. A game that finds a core audience a few months after release, after the zeitgeist has written it off.

I hope so. I hope in six months I'm excited about For Honor again. I hope people will throw this review back at me later and say For Honor just needed a few tweaks to achieve greatness. As i??t is, this is a game with a disposable single-player campaign, multiplayer matches that crash or disconnect as ?often as they complete, and a slew of fantastic mechanics that only rise to the surface in a single game mode out of a half-dozen.

If there was ever a game to take a "wait and see" approach to, it's For Honor.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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