Recent reviews by Regor Gickle

Mordhau: Chivalry’s Hot but Empty-Headed Sister

This is a review of Mordhau by way of comparison between it and its close rival, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. This is not an in-depth review of Mordhau.

I do not at all claim to be a good or very experienced player in Mordhau - I only have about 10 hours on the game. However, I have somewhat gotten the hang of the combat, I have 112 hours of experience in Chivalry, and I believe I have enough experience thus far in Mordhau and in games in general to judge Mordhau about its aspects that will be discussed in this review.

Mordhau is a very enjoyable hack and slash game that brings an intricate and nuanced melee combat system to a wide variety of play styles. It does this quite well and in a much more fun way than Chivalry does. The melee combat system, itself which we will discuss in a bit, fits all of the play styles that I have seen and played thus far. There is a balance in almost all manners of fighting styles and armor types when people are pitted against each other. For example, a light armored player with a rapier stands a very good chance against even a heavily armored player. An archer can wear multiple kinds of armor types, helping him to fight stronger opponents up close. Of course there is skill involved, but I have personally defeated many a foe with heavy armor and have been defeated by such players. Any player can fight any player and win fairly.

I have come to the conclusion that there is more of a balance in this regard than there is in Chivalry. In Chivalry, there are 4 classes to select (unlike Mordhau where you can customize each character how you want to), and the play style changes depending on the weapons within each class that you select. In some ways, it may be easier to balance that game because there are fewer play styles to take into account. However, I would say the classes in Chivalry are really only balanced when fighting in large groups or when two of the same classes are fighting. In other words, Chivalry is based more on countering each other. For example, an archer who is too close to a knight is most likely going to do pretty poorly when fighting with their sword. The more heavily armored knight will often cleave through the archer and kill them in one hit. Unless there is a big gap in skill, the knight really ought to win that fight. In a large battle, so many things are going on at once that the focus for each player matches their class better, making a more balanced experience. Having said this, it's not necessarily that Mordhau's system of balancing combat is better than Chivalry's - it's just more balanced overall and offers a more pleasant experience in my opinion.

As for Morhau's actual melee combat system, and we won't discuss it in too much detail, I believe it is leaps and bounds beyond Chivalry's basic one. Mordhau includes sword clashing (often back and forth that follow up with strikes), the ability to block thrown weapons and arrows, riposting, and it has better hit boxes than Chivalry, no spinning nonsense as you see in Chivalry, and better feinting. Timing is extremely important - more important than in Chivalry, I would say - and it takes a while to become proficient at these mechanics. Yet, it is certainly far from impossible. There is a nice balance here of having to take your time to become good without it being too hard. In my opinion, Chivalry's melee combat pales in comparison to Mordhau's - it lacks complexity, is very limited and sluggish, and is too easy to gain proficiency.

So, when it comes to what makes a good hack and slash game, I believe Mordhau is a major improvement over Chivalry when it comes to the heart of a hack and slasher. However, Chivalry is still a fun game worth your time, and it does some things better than Mordhau.

Mordhau has two major shortcomings: objective-based maps and world-building. I do understand that Mordhau is a new game, but frankly I think the objectives in the Frontline game mode are uncreative and mostly tedious. I won't fault the developers too much for the uncreative aspects of this because I do not know what their business is like, and it can be difficult to innovate for something like this. However, having capture-the-area as practically your one and only game mode is very lackluster. The objectives themselves are not fun at all. The maps designs are not very good for encouraging objectives either. They are widespread and it is too easy to navigate and get behind enemy lines. Still it seems more balanced than Chivalry's many ultra-one-sided maps.

Chivalry's objectives are designed around each map, offering something different every time. The maps are split into sections with different objectives throughout. You must complete one objective before moving onto the next, giving Chivalry a sense of forward motion. Mordhau just feels stagnant and more like a deathmatch than anything else.

When talking about world-building, I mean the universe in which the game takes place. In Mordhau, I don't get a sense of why I'm on the battlefield - why are the reds and blues fighting each other? I haven't run into anything like the rivalry seen between Agatha and the Mason Order in Chivalry. Perhaps I do not have enough experience to really say so, but there doesn't seem to be any characterization of the two sides in Mordhau - just red and blue. In Chivalry, you get a sense of the hatred the sides have for each other by way of voice lines and the attacks they are carrying out (the attacks YOU carry out). Leaders of the Agathian Knights and the Mason Order constantly yell at you from the distance to carry out your often brutal yet fun objectives. Why does this matter though? Well, it can lead to a sense of fulfillment and tribalism when playing on one side or the other, and that adds to the enjoyment of a game. It feels good to feel that you can support or at least almost support a certain side in winning. It gives you a sense of purpose.

In conclusion, I believe that Mordhau is the better game. Its major improvements over Chivalry are the melee combat system and the class selection as well as customization (we did not discuss it here much, but you can create a very nice assortment of different armors and weapons without getting too ridiculous because of well-placed restrictions). Mordhau is a lot more fun in short periods of time. However, Mordhau's faults hold it back at least for me from being something I can play for long sessions. Because of those faults, I would rather play Chivalry when playing for long periods of time.