Historical inaccuracies aside, there’s some something about watching samurai soldiers, medieval knights and burly vikings go toe-to-toe that I can’t seem to get bored of. For Honor—Ubisoft Montreal’s upcoming hack and slasher that Tom said “feels like a proper current-gen Dynasty Warriors”—does exactly that and is now heading for closed alpha, set to run from September 15-18.
There’s little information on what that'll entail, however allocation is limited. If you’re interested in signing up, you’ll want to head in this direction. In the meantime, we do know For Honor will offer 12 playable heroes, each of which is grouped into four different fighting styles.
“Each of For Honor’s three factions—Knights, Vikings, and Samurai—gets four types of elite champions capable of storming the field and turning the tide of battle: Vanguards, Assassins, Heavies, and Hybrids,” reads a post on the Ubi Blog. “Each one comes with distinct advantages, weapons, and fighting styles; Vanguards, for example, include the Warden Knights we’ve seen in earlier previews, and are balanced, rounded fighters with good defense and attack capabilities.
“Assassins are fast and deliver rapid attacks that can dominate one-on-one duels, but aren’t as capable at defense and won’t automatically stay in a blocking stance. Heavies are slow, well-defended, and powerful, making them a perfect choice for engaging enemy soldiers on the battlefield; and Hybrids mix characteristics from the other types, creating unique opportunities for players who understand how to use them.”
Further to its story-led single-player campaign, For Honor also offers five multiplayer modes: Dominion, which is a four-versus-four turf war-styled encounter; Brawl, a two-on-two battle to the death affair; Duel, which, as it sounds, pits single players against one another; Skirmish, a four-against-four deathmatch-like mode; and Elimination- “a four-on-four match in which nobody respawns and the last player standing wins the round for their team.”
As for its PC port, For Honor is being developed by Blue Byte—the 300-strong studio behind Settlers and the Anno series, which also had a hand in Rainbow Six Siege post-launch. The port will expectedly have mouse and keyboard support, added graphics options, and multi-monitor and 4K support.
“It needs to have a PC look and feel, but it is also a balancing act,” says the PC port’s associate producer Philipp Sonnefeld. “PC is the most powerful and diverse platform to develop for, so it’s about pushing the game to the limits of new hardware, while still keeping it accessible to a broad audience of PC gamers.”
If any of that piques your interest be sure to sign up to For Honor’s closed alpha which kicks off September 15. Otherwise, its full release is due February 14, 2017.
