By Nathan Grayson on February 15th, 2013 at 2:00 pm.
It is Friday. Very little is happening, because that’s how Fridays work. But there’s a reason for that: everyone’s exhausted. It’s been a long week of whatever it is you actually do, and while you’re normally some grand mover-and-shaker or titan of industry, today you’re almost out of steam. You need something to help you make it through the next few hours. Just a little something. Let’s call it a pick-me-up. Yes, actually, let’s definitely call it that, because this Chivalry video involves armored men being plucked from terra firma’s loamy embrace and rocketed screaming into the sky against their wills. Literally screaming. If you don’t laugh yourself to the point of wheezing purple pain, you’re a better person than me.
So yes, if you hadn’t figured it out, Chivalry’s underlying systems seem to think a lack of ground beneath soldiers’ feet is equivalent to impending horrible death, so everyone freaks out accordingly. It’s a magical thing, no? Kind of like medieval Tribes, except, er, a lot louder.
This whole episode’s a wonderful byproduct of a server-side mod, too, so you should be able to find a match like this for yourself with a little digging. And honestly, why wouldn’t you? Chivalry’s already quite strong (and ever-expanding) on its own two legs, but with air jousts punctuated by unfiltered, unending terror? That’s the stuff legends are made of. Well, you know, if anyone’s able to get down from the stratosphere and actually tell them.
Thank you for making me shoot milk out of my nose, GameSpy. I’m not really sure where the milk came from, but it’s Friday and I’m too tired to question whatever strange lactation-based superpower I’ve suddenly acquired.
15/02/2013 at 14:02 AshRolls says:
I remember setting a map to low gravity and jousting with axes in Quake. /me waves walking stick.
15/02/2013 at 23:32 Doreen_Young says:
before I looked at the paycheck for $8649, I be certain …that…my neighbour woz like they say actually bringing in money parttime from there computar.. there uncles cousin has been doing this for less than 23 months and a short time ago paid for the morgage on their mini mansion and got a gorgeous Toyota. we looked here, http://www.snag4.com
15/02/2013 at 14:08 Core says:
Video games are amazing!
15/02/2013 at 14:16 Randomer says:
Now the only thing this game needs before it can achieve gaming nirvana would be to swap the swordz and axes for scoutz and knives.
16/02/2013 at 10:59 mda says:
<3 scoutzknives
16/02/2013 at 13:19 UmmonTL says:
What this needs is an icreased impact force on all weapons so enemies you hit fly off into space.
15/02/2013 at 14:16 Low Life says:
That shouting will likely come back and haunt me in my dreams. But I’ll have forgotten all of that when I wake up, just like any other dreams.
15/02/2013 at 20:58 Farsearcher says:
I found your comment strangely poignant. Probably because I hardly ever remember my dreams either.
18/02/2013 at 04:03 Ricochet64 says:
You remember only, like, 5% of your dreams.
15/02/2013 at 14:17 Iskariot says:
So this is how it is played.
It has a Monty Python feel to it.
15/02/2013 at 14:45 Hoaxfish says:
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
15/02/2013 at 14:55 Siresly says:
You can literally stand on top of a castle wall and taunt kniggits below.
“Your brain is as dry as a biscuit after a long voyage!”
I royally suck at the game, but Chivalry may be my favorite game of 2012.
16/02/2013 at 05:01 Geen says:
Taunting is the best part of the game. Also…
TO ME
16/02/2013 at 05:17 Nick says:
I enjoy spamming HELP whilst charging into battle.
16/02/2013 at 12:54 MurderFish says:
Personally I like to run archer and spam FOLLOW ME while running through crowds. I’m surprisingly good at attracting huge trains without dying.
15/02/2013 at 14:19 Archipelagos says:
Welp…that’s my new ringtone sorted. Thanks.
15/02/2013 at 17:59 DonJefe says:
Haha. That made me laugh.
18/02/2013 at 04:04 Ricochet64 says:
Perfect.
15/02/2013 at 14:20 zachforrest says:
i’m wondering if human history would be less bloody than as depicted here if we had the ability to float in magestic, predictable arcs. What possible troubles couldn’t be overcome by leaping high into the air, screaming?
15/02/2013 at 14:32 Harlander says:
I don’t think it’d do a headache much good.
16/02/2013 at 05:18 Nick says:
or arcophobia..
15/02/2013 at 14:27 elhreno says:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! NONONONONOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
15/02/2013 at 14:28 Sinomatic says:
It is always interesting to see the rise and fall in quality of mods available. Perhaps we could all get together and float some ideas on interesting new game modes.
15/02/2013 at 14:33 Low Life says:
Well we could share some ideas, but take it easy. No point jumping the gun.
15/02/2013 at 14:42 The white guar says:
Yeah, lighten up.
15/02/2013 at 14:46 jt29 says:
Lets try not to get too soar about this, chaps.
15/02/2013 at 15:00 deadly.by.design says:
Many (severed) hands make the load lighter.
15/02/2013 at 17:23 cawt says:
This pun thread almost took off :’(
15/02/2013 at 17:26 Sinomatic says:
I’m sure we could find a way to give it a bit of lift.
15/02/2013 at 18:00 DonJefe says:
It makes me wish I was high.
15/02/2013 at 14:28 Simon Hawthorne says:
I imagine my own battle cry would also sound like I was terrified.
Really though, I’m commenting to point out that RPS served me an advert for a consultant company offering to help me achieve recognition through the Queen’s Honours List (i.e. how to get an MBE, OBE, Knighthood, etc).
It knows me so well…
15/02/2013 at 14:48 fearghaill says:
Crouching Tiger, Screaming Dragoon
15/02/2013 at 14:50 fearghaill says:
The Queen’s Light Infantry
15/02/2013 at 15:04 deadly.by.design says:
House of Flying Dragoons?
15/02/2013 at 17:53 Velko says:
Charge of the Lighter-than-air Brigade
15/02/2013 at 14:49 Haplo says:
It looks like a wire-fu flick combined with the middle ages.
Incredible.
15/02/2013 at 14:55 phelix says:
Alternate title: What would’ve happened if terraforming and interplanetary travel had been invented in the 1300th century.
16/02/2013 at 05:08 David Bliff says:
Hey we’ve got thousands of years before the 1300th century so odds are there will be terraforming by then!
15/02/2013 at 15:01 pupsikaso says:
Lol, this makes the game 100x better
15/02/2013 at 15:09 Martel says:
That was great, made for a good way to end my work week.
15/02/2013 at 15:10 smeaa mario says:
I don’t understand the false hype with this game.
I picked up and gave it a try. It’s true that as an indie game it is a successful work and has got some polish too. However, this game does not even come close to being a decent competitor to its inpiration, Warband. The combat system is clunky and out of place as hell. The skill and mastery building needed to be a pro is just too damn low.
I don’t think the devs of this game understand this new genre adequately. And people praising the hell out of this game… They just drive me nuts. I mean I am not a fanboy. Not really. If you people are impressed with this, just go on and give Warband a try. Assuming you won’t be put off by the outdated graphics, you will see what a huge accomplishment Warband is compared to this here game.
15/02/2013 at 15:22 Tei says:
Maybe different tastes? I have not played chilvalry, but seems a type of MP with scripted events, and different phases. Warband is more like a team deathmatch. Perhaps people enjoy the differents in pace betwen tryiing to push a warmachine to a door, to killing peasants. A more arcadey combat is something maybe people would enjoy?.
Can you do this in Warband? set the gravity very low, and have people using voice commands to laught or say AAAAAA? this video is very fun, so Chivalry seems successful in giving players the tools.
15/02/2013 at 16:00 Veeskers says:
It’s unlikely to be inspired by warband. It’s based on a hl2 mod that has been around for a long time, and controls very differently. Be glad there are alternatives.
As for the high skill ceiling in warband, so much of it seems to be the result of (skill-intensive) exploits like the reverse twirling attack- or of the ridiculous feinting spam that seems to have no risk attached to it, the lack of a stamina limit, etc. There’s a point where it stops having any resemblance to swordfighting and is just a contest of pure mouse dexterity. Is that what you’re playing a medieval combat game for? Chivalry does not have this problem.
Warband with the napoleonic expansion is lovely though. Commander mode really brings out the potential in that game- huge battles with strategic maneuvering.
15/02/2013 at 16:08 darkChozo says:
Well, probably the biggest thing that Chivalry offers is its more dynamic combat system. I’d argue that, to anyone who plays a lot of action-y games and particularly FPSs, M&B’s combat is far more clunky than Chivalry’s. The whole directional system is a bit awkward unless you’re really used to it, and it’s not really something that a lot of other games do. By comparison, Chivalry’s combat is basically a natural extension of basic FPS gameplay; it’s all timing and aiming based. Having played both, Chivalry feels better to me, though it does have a lot of annoying issues.
Chivalry is also faster, and doesn’t have a lot of the awkward animation issues that M&B has. It also is significantly more visceral; dismemberment and proper ragdolling, while mostly immaterial to gameplay, feel good. Also, there’s lot of yelling. Yelling is super important.
Not saying that Chivalry is necessarily straight-up better, of course. M&B handles large scale warfare and strategy much better than Chivalry does (and that’s a big part of the appeal for the general public, and may well have a higher skill ceiling (not entirely convinced by this, while it certainly has a steeper skill curve I’m not sure if the ceiling is actually higher). Chivalry also has a lot of weird bug-ish things that can make the combat feel worse than it is; it really sucks for someone to hit you when you’re sure you blocked, or to get stuck on terrain in a heavily positional game.
Also, Chivalry was (probably) not “inspired” by Warband. Age of Chivalry is a HL2 mod released in 2007; the original M&B was released in 2008 (though had been in development significantly earlier), and neither exactly invented sword-fighting in video games (that was clearly Jedi Academy :D).
15/02/2013 at 16:19 smeaa mario says:
Ok, it was ignorant of me to describe Warband as the inspiration then. But my entire point stands. Tei wrote that it is about taste and I cannot argue about that either.
Still, I definitely think that Warband requires a higher skill level, a lot higher indeed. While Veeskers believes it’s simply mouse dexterity, what you mean by ‘skill’ in any game out there is all about mouse, keyboard, controller or arcade stick dexterity after all.
As for you Chozo, maybe you have already tried yourself but I advise you to go for the crpg mod of Warband. In my opinion, the mod uncovers the true potential of Warband to the extent that game engine allows.
15/02/2013 at 17:57 Rimesmoker says:
Although I feel to state that M&B has a deeper, more skill-oriented combat than Chivalry is ludicrous, I can understand how someone who might’ve only spent a few hours on Chivalry could arrive at that conclusion.
It’s a wrong one, however. Chivalry is easier to learn than M&B, true, but Chivalry also has a lot more potential for playergrowth and depth. I have 240 hours in Chivalry and I often meet people who teach me new things, mostly minutiae like the precise reach of a weapon, or the exact moment when one can pounce as a knight with bearded axe. I have fewer hours on M&B, granted, but c’mon:
The comparison isn’t even valid, imo.
15/02/2013 at 21:19 Rognik says:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llnRxtazljg#t=7m22s
Yup, Chivalry takes no skill whatsoever. (sarcasm)
Chivalry gets a lot of hate from people who fail to realize how much depth the game has from combining simple mechanics like mouse-dragging, ducking, feinting, and comboing. The fact that the game actually looks and sounds decent while allowing noobs minor victories through button-mashing also turns off the competitive gaming crowd for some reason.
The only problem I have with Chivalry is that the devs are pretty incompetent when it comes to fixing minor bugs and gameplay hitches. The biggest, but far from only, example of this is how servers continue to report inaccurate player counts after months of patches claiming to have fixed the problem. The game also has a clunky feeling due to things like sprinting not activating if you start holding shift right before you complete an action instead of right after. All of these issues have workarounds, but they’re very inconvenient.
15/02/2013 at 23:36 Warskull says:
Chivalry has such a good combat system. The problem with M&B and War of the Roses is that the game leans too heavily towards attacking. Your opponent has to guess which direction you picked and it can be much more difficult to defend than to attack. Combine this with no penalty for spamming attacks.
Chivalry on the other hand has a very intuitive, natural parry system. Aim the center of your screen at their weapon and hit the block button. Time it wrong and you are left with your defenses down. Aim wrong and the hit gets through. Failed attacks cost stamina and running out of stamina will leave you in a vulnerable position.
Chivalry is the very definition of an easy to learn, hard to master combat system.
Then there is the issue of maps. M&B maps are fairly generic as are their game types. Chivalry has the phenomenal team objective mode. It plays like a proper game.
15/02/2013 at 19:59 iucounu says:
I bought Warband quite recently, and, man! It looks like crap. It’s really hard to play in between bouts of FC3 and the like.
15/02/2013 at 23:31 Christo4 says:
I have played both Warband and Chivalry. I’m not sure whichever has the most skill requirement or ceiling whatever, but when i played the MP of Warband it was pretty frustrating because it was mostly based on knowing the exploits or glitches. In comparison Chivalry is annoying at times because most of the “bugs” are caused from lag and it being not optimized very good, but for multiplayer, it trumps Warband mostly because it doesn’t really rely on glitches and it’s just fun. Warband has a very good single-player but i really wouldn’t say that it has a better multiplayer. Also Chivalry is easier to get into because you can just play Knight or Vanguard and have a blast, or you can play man-at-arms if you want to get more tactical (i recommend puttin dodge on a third/fourth mouse button, to me it’s easier).
16/02/2013 at 05:19 Nick says:
I find this a hell of a lot more fun than Warband.
14/03/2013 at 18:12 BigTeddy says:
I would really not call it an Indie Game tbh…noone calls Counter Strike an indie game,and it went literally the same path.
I don’t think you can really compare Warband and Chivalry,they feel completely different to me.
15/02/2013 at 15:29 SelfEsteemFund says:
I think I may have to look past the clunky movement & lack of optimisation just to play this, so glorious.
15/02/2013 at 15:50 BockoPower says:
It’s cool but nowhere near as awesome as the instagib+low gravity in UT2004.. For the ones of you who played it, you know what I am talking about. For the others I found this video which kinda sucks but just to get the idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_84cSSwcGE
15/02/2013 at 15:57 Christo4 says:
Just what i was thinking, it looked like UT2004 with low gravity but medieval style. I miss UT2004…
15/02/2013 at 18:29 identiti_crisis says:
Yeah, I pretty much only play UT99 with the instagib, low grav and jumpmatch mutators on. Not sure why, I’ve just always liked it!
15/02/2013 at 18:47 BockoPower says:
Me and my friends used to play it about 90% of the time after we found out about these mutators. This was In the good old glorious days of the internet cafes. It just doesn’t feel right now when we play from home with skype, vent, ts etc… :’(
15/02/2013 at 16:00 mollemannen says:
john carter of medieval warfare.
15/02/2013 at 16:24 Veeskers says:
I certainly hope that anyone running this in the future has the good sense to disable archers (as seems to be the case in the video). The low gravity sadly makes it easier for them to be an irredeemable pest to people trying to have a bit of melee fun.
15/02/2013 at 17:15 Zarunil says:
Time to get Medieval, again.
15/02/2013 at 21:33 laddyman says:
I swear the screams get subtly more ridiculous the longer the video goes on.
15/02/2013 at 21:58 Phantoon says:
I didn’t notice any difference in the amount of screaming, honestly.
15/02/2013 at 23:44 beekay says:
I don’t think I’ve ever giggled so long or so embarrassingly in my life.