Last year, Ubisoft Montreal released For Honor, a bold new action fighting game set within a medieval, post-apocalyptic world in which players can wage war on each other as one of three unique factions including Knights, Samurai, and Vikings. While I had every intention of checking this intriguing title out, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Nier: Automata and several other major releases prevented me from doing so.
At Ubisoft’s E3 2018 press conference, Ubisoft Montreal Creative Director Roman Campos-Oriola took the stage to reveal For Honor: Marching Fire, a major expansion update that includes new heroes in the Wu Lin faction, an endless PVE mode, graphical enhancements, and a new 4v4 castle siege mode titled Breach. Below are a few of my thoughts on the new expansion after playing it briefly during E3 2018.
My demo session opened with a brief description of Breach by the developers before being thrown headfirst into battle alongside my teammates. The Wu Lin Faction consists of four distinct classes including the Shaolin Monks, Tiandi Protectors, Jiang Jun Generals, and Nuxia Assassins. Each class has their own set of strengths and weaknesses and it’s very important to know this before choosing a class and playing with others. I went with the Shaolin warriors for my preferred class as I value their athletic abilities to engage in heated close quarters combat situations.
Once the siege got underway, things got hectic very quickly and complete anarchy ensued throughout all the stages of the Breach. For Honor is already known for its hack and slash refined melee combat but the inclusion of skilled martial artists really makes thing even more dynamic. If I could make a comparison, I would describe this mode as similar in certain ways to the Fortress Assaults found in Middle-Earth: Shadow of War but with a roster of Dynasty Warriors being optional to join the fray. Even though our team perished in defeat, the experience was nothing short of exhilarating. This is a mode that players demanded and I’m happy to say that they won’t be disappointed once they finally get their hands on it.
In terms of graphical improvements, Marching Fire includes updated textures, a new user interface to speed up activity and dynamic sky and cloud technology. I personally think that the core game already looked fantastic when it launched last year but playing it on a 4K monitor during my appointment really elevated the overall experience for me. Ubisoft has built up an excellent track record over the years of continuing to support all of their titles with post-launch content and the future of For Honor certainly looks bright provided that demand is high and fans keep coming back for more.
Having only received a short sampling of what For Honor: Marching Fire has to offer, I can at the very least confirm that Ubisoft Montreal definitely has me intrigued to check out the rest of the upcoming content. There’s still a new storyline and endless PVE mode to explore in addition to mastering the Breach mode with friends. If you’re a fan of For Honor or have avoided the series up to this point, then now is definitely the perfect time to give it a try. For more visuals from For Honor: Marching Fire, please feel free to check out the additional screenshots provided below.
For Honor: Marching Fire launches worldwide on October 16th for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Are any of you planning on checking out the new expansion? Please feel free to let us know your thoughts on For Honor and more in the comments section below.
