Rating: 9/10
Chivalry 2 is one of those multiplayer games that doesn't take itself too seriously. While many competitive games focus heavily on winning, ranking and perfecting your mechanics, Chivalry 2 is more interested in creating ridiculous, memorable battles. It combines large-scale medieval warfare with surprisingly deep combat, brutal violence and a huge amount of humour.
Gameplay
At its core, Chivalry 2 is a first-person medieval slasher where players fight across huge battlefields. Its main Team Objective mode can feature up to 64 players, with teams attacking or defending objectives across large maps.
These battles feel much more like actual medieval wars than traditional multiplayer matches. You might begin by storming a beach, push through a village, destroy a gate and eventually fight your way into a castle. The objectives give every battle a sense of progression and make matches feel like their own little stories.
The combat is easily the game's strongest feature. Players can use slashes, overhead attacks, stabs, kicks, blocks, dodges, counters and feints. At first, the system is easy to understand, but mastering it takes considerably more skill.
Experienced players can predict attacks, manipulate their swings, manage stamina and use counters to turn an enemy's attack against them. This creates some incredibly satisfying moments, especially when you survive while being surrounded by several opponents.
The downside is that the skill gap can sometimes be intimidating. New players may find themselves being destroyed by experienced players who seem to know exactly what they're doing. However, the basic mechanics are easy enough to learn, and improving gradually makes the combat much more rewarding.
Classes and Weapons
There are four main classes: **Knight, Vanguard, Footman and Archer**, with three subclasses for each.
Knights are heavily armoured and designed to survive prolonged fights. Vanguard focuses more on aggressive and mobile combat, while Footman provides a mixture of offensive and supportive abilities. Archer provides ranged attacks and can be extremely useful, although they are probably the most hated class among many players.
The game has a large selection of weapons, each with different strengths and weaknesses. Swords, axes, spears, maces and other weapons all feel different, giving players plenty of reasons to experiment.
This variety also helps keep the combat interesting. Fighting with a fast sword feels completely different from using a huge two-handed axe or a long-range polearm.
Maps and Atmosphere
The maps are one of Chivalry 2's biggest strengths.
Instead of simply placing players in an arena, the game creates huge battles with multiple objectives and changing environments. Some maps involve attacking castles, escorting objectives, destroying buildings or defending important locations.
The scale makes battles feel cinematic. Seeing dozens of players charging towards each other while arrows fly overhead and catapults destroy buildings is genuinely impressive.
The sound design adds even more to this. Swords clash, armour breaks, players scream and weapons hit with satisfying impact.
Despite the violence, the game never feels overly serious. Ridiculous voice lines, absurd situations and interactive objects give Chivalry 2 its unique personality.
You can fight someone with a sword one second and then throw a random object at them the next. Sometimes the funniest moments happen completely by accident.
Teamwork
Teamwork is important, particularly in objective-based modes. Protecting teammates, pushing objectives and defending important areas can make a huge difference.
However, coordination can sometimes be difficult. With dozens of players running around and fighting, teams can easily become disorganised. You might have your entire team attacking one area while another objective is completely undefended.
This can make matches frustrating, but it also contributes to the game's chaotic atmosphere. Chivalry 2 isn't trying to be a perfectly organised military simulator. It's trying to make you feel like you've been thrown into a medieval battlefield where everything has gone wrong.
Progression
Progression is fairly simple. Playing matches earns experience and allows you to unlock weapons, subclasses and cosmetic items.
This is actually refreshing compared with many modern multiplayer games. You don't constantly feel pressured to complete challenges or grind for rewards. The main reason to keep playing is simply that the gameplay is fun.
There is still enough progression to encourage experimentation, without making the game feel like a second job.
Mounted Combat
Horses add another layer to the battlefield. Riding into an enemy group and charging through them can make you feel like an actual medieval knight.
Mounted combat can be extremely satisfying, although controlling horses can sometimes feel awkward compared with the much more polished infantry combat.
Still, it adds variety and creates some memorable moments.
Problems
Chivalry 2 isn't perfect.
Team balancing can sometimes be poor, resulting in extremely one-sided matches where one team gets overwhelmed.
Archers can also be frustrating. Being killed by a skilled melee player can feel fair because you understand what happened, while being shot from across the map without warning can be irritating.
The game's chaos can also work against it. You might be winning a duel only to get hit by a teammate, shot by an archer or crushed by a random projectile. It isn't always fair, but that unpredictability is also part of what makes Chivalry 2 entertaining.
Finally, the game can become repetitive if you play for extremely long sessions. Once you've learned the maps and objectives, some battles can start to feel familiar.
What Makes It Special?
The biggest strength of Chivalry 2 is that it creates **stories rather than just matches**.
In a normal multiplayer game, you might remember getting 20 kills.
In Chivalry 2, you're more likely to remember something like:
"I was fighting three guys on a bridge, killed one with a shovel, threw my sword at an archer, stole another guy's axe and then got crushed by a catapult."
That is exactly what makes the game special.
It constantly creates ridiculous situations without needing to force them. You aren't always chasing a highlight clip; the game simply puts you into chaotic situations and lets you see what happens.
Final Verdict
Chivalry 2 is **chaotic, funny, brutal and surprisingly deep.
Its combat system is excellent, offering a low barrier to entry while still rewarding players who take the time to master it. The large-scale maps are cinematic, the variety of weapons and classes keeps things interesting, and the ridiculous humour gives the game a personality that most multiplayer games don't have.
Its biggest weaknesses are inconsistent team balancing, occasional frustration caused by the chaos and some repetition after extended play.
However, these issues don't take away from the overall experience.
Chivalry 2 doesn't try to be the most realistic medieval simulator ever made. Instead, it feels like playing through a ridiculous medieval action movie where anything can happen.
If you enjoy multiplayer games, medieval combat or simply want something where you can have fun with friends while causing absolute chaos, Chivalry 2 is absolutely worth playing.
Final Score: 9/10
