I love melee games. It shouldn’t be a secret by now, but who knows, most of you guys thought that every article on the site was written by Zeus for years, so who knows if the byline means anything to you. Regardless of that, melee games own and have been a popular sub-genre on the PC for years now. You can probably credit the Mount & Blade series for a lot of that popularity, in fact you should, it is still the premier melee combat game in the world.
If there ever was a #2, though, it would easily be Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. As the name coyly alludes to, it is closer to a Call of Duty of melee games with a bit of a more arcadey approach. Hardcore melee combat fans will turn their noses up at Chivalry, but Chivalry is a very, very fun game and has honestly belonged on consoles for a very long time. It began as a Half-Life 2 mod inspired by Mount & Blade called “Age of Chivalry” before taking the plunge into being a standalone title that has moved a surprising amount of copies since late 2012.
In agreement with Activision, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare will be coming to PS3 and Xbox 360 this fall, albeit in a bit of a pared down manner. The game launching for Xbox 360 and PS3 will have a player cap of 12, meaning you’ll have 6 vs. 6. Considering most of the time I would hunt for 64-player servers, or at least settle for 32, this is a bit of a downgrade. It’s interesting that they are only doing last generation consoles and not next gen ones. It should still be loads of fun dismembering your friends in this multiplayer-only gorefest, though.
Oh, and for those wondering, I’ve played Chivalry a bit with a controller and it works really, really well.
