I Really Hate Chivalry 2’s Battlecry Button
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Iron Banner Studios’ Chivalry 2 opened the floodgates last weekend with their open beta event going live with crossplay enabled, allowing players to play the 64-player medieval online game focused on melee combat on different platforms. Either in first-person or third-person, players can swing their swords or battle axes wildly in the hopes of chopping another player’s heads off while defending to keep theirs. It’s a chaotic war between two factions. A space soon to be filled with blood and death. It can also be a space where people spam their battlecry button to scream endlessly just because they can and how I wished this could just go away.
Last weekend I jumped into Chivalry to be part of the scream patrol - pressing my battlecry button along with other players doing the same as we collectively charge towards the opposing enemy. It was fun during the first 30 minutes but it then became a nuisance to the ears and it overwhelms all other audio in the game. It’s a shame because everything else seems to be in check for this melee-focused multiplayer game.
The sprint towards enemy lines felt epic, but when swords clashed, it felt like a bunch of recently drafted peasants swinging frantically all over the place, damaging foe and friends nearby. I can’t blame them as it’s anarchy in the battlefield and most of the people are still learning how the game’s melee system works. But It did remind of Battlefield due to it’s map scale and player count as the large battles have it’s charms, and felt like a great medieval counterpart.
But I just can’t stop thinking of how much I hate the battlecry button in Chivalry 2. The fun was slowly being sucked away due to this one feature to a point that it felt better to play the game without my headset on. You can’t spam the battlecry button, but with so many players it doesn’t matter as it sounds like a never-ending stream of unnecessary screaming.
AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Chat was also filled with insults and profanity, further proving that being able to chat with opposing teams in a competitive game is never a good thing, especially if you’re trying to keep the usual gaming toxicity on the down low. It felt like a negative experience, thanks to these types of player interactions. So hopefully there’s improvement in this area as there’s a solid foundation that can rival other games that provide the same experience.
Chivalry 2 seems to slowly shape into another good option in this medieval space where melee is king. The open beta gives you a clear idea of what you’ll mostly get out of the game as there was enough content to unlock during the session to experience different loadouts. After 6 hours with the beta, so far it was fun seeing the difference between each weapon and what you can do in order to get the upper hand when going one-on-one against another player, or fend off more than 2 enemies long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Tactics will change over time as more players get attuned to how the melee system works in this game, but right now it is mostly people pressing one button and hoping something connects.
On the technical side, with crossplay enabled, it was impressive to see Chivalry 2 working smoothly in my end of the world. Even with each match being able to host up to 64-players, the matchmaking was quick and flawless, at least on PC. Lobbies fill up instantly with no hiccups and the latency is close to being felt like i’m participating in an offline skirmish. Once a match is over, it quickly goes to the next game seamlessly, giving me the impression that Chivalry 2servers are ready for the game’s launch next week.
It’s looking good despite having a battlecry button and the beta does a good job at painting a clear picture if this game is worth the investment, which is priced at PHP 777.99 for the full game. The open beta is still available until June 1st and I suggest you give it a try. Chivalry 2 is set to launch on June 9, 2021 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC (via Epic Games Store).
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