Went ahead and got it.
First impression is good in some ways. I haven't played enough to really get a feel for it, but it's fun, and there's plenty of opportunities for a good laugh. It's very high action, and pretty dang intense. It is in no wise a realistic medieval combat simulator, but the most ridiculous thing you'll see is fully armored men jumping around. You and others can die quickly and brutally, and a little caution can get you very far. There is something incredibly fun about the first person perspective in a melee. It runs like a dream on my two-year-old PC at max settings, too, and looks great while doing it.
On the down sides, weapon selection is rather pathetic, and there's not much to do as far as customization goes. I mean, the weapons are really, really pathetic. You unlock new weapons that are worse than the first tier ones, both in description and stats. It's mind boggling. Being outnumbered in any way is a death sentence, which is fine for realism's sake, but it can get pretty disheartening when teams get stacked. There is no auto balance, and you can even join the side that has significantly more people on it.
The level selection is extremely limited, too. They all have the staged mission system that I love, and all of the missions make sense (Sort of), but there's only so much enjoyment you can get over playing the same four maps over and over again, as detailed and lovingly crafted as they are.
There's also a lot of wonky physics. Arrows seem to crawl whenever you shoot them, and it's impossible to hit anyone who has half a mind to avoid them. They also have an incredibly ridiculous arc. You'll be getting stuck on scenery if you're not fighting in an open space, and sometimes movement keys don't work in combination during certain actions (You can't strafe and move backwards while using a bow, for instance). Both of these can get you killed very frequently.
In actual combat, an enormous amount of skill is required to defend yourself. You actually have to aim at the incoming weapon while blocking, and while it's slightly forgiving, it's not always. You can parry huge weapons with daggers, though. It's pretty fun going out and defeating heavily armored guys with nothing but a knife and some skill.
Speaking of skill, it seems that everyone else in the game forgoes it in favor of mashing the primary attack button. You'll notice, because it's the attack that swings in a wide arc, and you'll probably be lucky enough to be decapitated by the attack as you're standing next to him trying to help. The other two attacks are pretty weird, since you use the mouse wheel, but it's annoying the tenth time a friendly kills you just because he was just berserking. And, on the subject, there's absolutely no penalty for TK'ing that I can see, so don't be surprised to see griefers running around killing teammates.
I'll have to wait and see, but so far it doesn't look like I'll be getting my money's worth out of it. I've got three hours in and I'm already kind of tired of it. It's novel, sure, but it doesn't feel like a strong, long lasting game to me. Again, this is just a first impression, but I can typically play games for hours on end before I get tired. When I've only played three and talking about the game sounds more fun than playing it, it sets off a few warning bells. I think a lot of what will make this game great is whether or not the devs keep on adding stuff to it.
So: Fun for a while, gorgeous graphics, questionable replayability, poor progression scheme, and wonky physics. My first impression advice? Wait for a good sale. It feels like a lot of money was invested in it, but gameplay and enjoyability wise, it doesn't feel worth $25. $10 would be a fairer price point, but that may change as more things are added/I get a better look at the game.
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Topic: Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. A FPS Medieval combat game (Read 12565 times)