Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
Multiplayer hack and slash with medieval melee combat.
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is a multiplayer hack-and-slash game from Torn Banner Studios, their first commercial release, published by Activision. It came out for Windows on October 16, 2012, and takes place in a made-up world. The developers initially said it would only be on PC, but in October 2014 they announced versions for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, which arrived in December of that year. Critics gave it generally positive reviews. A standalone expansion, Chivalry: Deadliest Warrior, launched on November 14, 2013, tying into the TV show *Deadliest Warrior*. A sequel, Chivalry 2, followed in 2021.
The gameplay builds on Age of Chivalry, a Half-Life 2 mod made by some of the same people. Combat is mostly melee, viewed from first or third person, using medieval weapons like swords, maces, and longbows to hack, smash, or shoot enemies. Ballistae, catapults, and boiling oil can also be used against foes and their fortifications. Online matches are objective-based—for example, breaking down a castle gate with a battering ram or looting an enemy camp. There is no single-player campaign, though an offline mode was planned. The story involves a civil war in the fictional nation of Agatha, where the Agatha Knights and the Mason Order fight for control. Players pick a side and choose from four classes, each with different skills and weapons. The game includes a lot of over-the-top gore.
Game modes include Free For All, where everyone fights alone and the highest score wins; Duel, a tournament of 1v1 matches happening simultaneously, with the most victories winning; Team Deathmatch, where two teams start with equal resources and the game ends when one side runs out and its remaining players are killed; Last Team Standing, where each player has one life in an arena with hazards like wall spikes and fire towers; King of the Hill, where teams hold a central area for a set time; Capture the Flag, where teams capture the enemy flag and return it to their base, first to three captures wins; and Team Objective, where attackers complete tasks like pillaging a village, pushing a ram to the gates, or killing the king, while defenders try to stop them.
The four classes are the same for both factions, differing only in armor color and style.
Quick Facts
- Title
- Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
- Developer
- Torn Banner StudiosPorted to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 by Mercenary Technology, ported to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One by Hardsuit Labs
- Publisher
- Torn Banner Studios · Activision (consoles)
- Director
- Steve Piggott
- Designer
- Justin Pappas · Steve Piggott · Andrew Seyko
- Programmer
- Michael Bao
- Artist
- Tyler Brenot · Lucas Annunziata · Richard Yang · Rickard Drakborn · Yan Le Gall
- Composer
- Ryan Patrick Buckley
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 3
- Platforms
- Windows · Xbox 360 · PlayStation 3 · OS X · Linux · PlayStation 4 · Xbox One
- Genre
- Hack and slash
- Modes
- Multiplayer
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is based on the free Age of Chivalry mod for Half-Life 2, created by some of the same developers. The game was first announced under the title Chivalry: Battle For Agatha on May 20, 2010, but later changed to its current title. On September 15, 2012, the game was successfully funded on Kickstarter. The developers revamped the combat system from the mod, making changes to both melee and ranged combat, and introduced interactive environments, a more intuitive movement system, and new graphics and animations. While the original mod used Half-Life 2's Source engine, Chivalry was developed with Unreal Engine. The game was initially confirmed as a PC exclusive, but in October 2014, the developers confirmed it would come to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in December 2014. A standalone expansion pack, Chivalry: Deadliest Warrior, was released on November 14, 2013, as a tie-in for the television series Deadliest Warrior.
Reader's Guide
Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is notable for its fast-paced, bloody multiplayer combat that emphasizes melee weaponry and objective-based gameplay. The game features four character classes—Archer, Man-at-Arms, Vanguard, and Knight—each with distinct weapons and abilities, and two factions: the Agatha Knights and the Mason Order. Game modes include Free For All, Duel, Team Deathmatch, Last Team Standing, King of the Hill, Capture the Flag, and Team Objective. The game sold 1.2 million copies by August 2013 and 2 million copies by October 2014. Critics praised its medieval-style ultra-violent multiplayer gameplay, though some noted a limited number of classes and a few bugs. PC Gamer compared it favorably to other medieval combat games, stating 'Chivalry is Quake to War of the Roses' Battlefield.' A sequel, Chivalry 2, was announced on June 10, 2019, and released on June 8, 2021, for multiple platforms with cross-platform play.
Did You Know?
- The game was successfully funded on Kickstarter on September 15, 2012.
- A standalone expansion, Chivalry: Deadliest Warrior, was released as a tie-in for the television series Deadliest Warrior.
- The game sold 2 million copies as of October 2014.
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