Chivalry Is Unrealistic

Armour has been polished, swords have been sharpened. Three-year-old Half-Life 2 mod Age of Chivalry has leaped into the shiny arms of the Unreal 3 engine as part of a plan to become a standalone commercial release, and jolly impressive it looks too. With this oil change comes a new name, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, which should give you a pretty good sense of what this game has in mind. The Sims: Medieval this really is not.

Do watch the trailer below for some crazy, crazy knights.

Kicking men in the testicles so hard that they fall off the edge of a cliff is alright by me. And in the game.

Chivalry is a class-based affair with a strong emphasis on melee combat (a particularly precise control system is promised), which should make a refreshing change from being repeatedly shot by a guy hiding behind a small wall 400 metres away. Better yet, siege weaponry such as ballistas and catapults is promised. And boiling oil too. Erk.

It's more or less entirely a multiplayer game, which means it's immediately facing an uphill commercial journey, but there are plans afoot for some manner of offline mode. More details on the official site.

Oh, there's also a lore trailer if you fancy it. Worth a watch if only for the astonishing gravitas-wobble in the narrator's voice:

For more of an introduction to the source mod, allow me to point you at John's quick nose at one of its earlier builds.