It's safe to say that perhaps no one was a harsher critic of For Honor than I leading up to its release. While its peer-to-peer nature ate up the majority of negative press (as it should've), there were laundry list of warning signs that made me question whether or not Ubisoft's new fighter was...

Rewarding difficulty curve; Character varitey; Well balanced; In-depth hero choices; Unique game modes

Subtle peer-to-peer issues; Erratic matchmaking

It's an interesting game. It has so much potential. But after a few hours, you quickly realize that this is really a "half-assed" game. It appears the idea was developed without ever even considering the possibility for a single player campaign. There is literally no story here.

At around the 5 hour mark something finally clicked and I stopped treating For Honor like a glorified Dynasty Warriors game. Throwing out flurries of heavy attacks and easily telegraphed rolls wasn't working and, until then, I couldn't easily grasp why.

Looks stunning; Offers a wide range of heroes; Deep combat system; Intense PvP combat

Occasional network issues; Story mode is tedious; Steep learning curve

has some dents in its shiny armor, such as the mediocre campaign, the frugal economy, and the snowballing victories in team modes. But it's hard to be mad too long when I consider that the melee combat system is second to none and a joy to learn, take your licks, and then learn some more.

For Honor is a terrific, brutal mix of Ubisoft-brand third-person game design and proven fighting game principles.

Once upon a time, a bunch of Vikings, knights and samurai got into a war with each other. If that statement makes you cringe because of its historical impossibility, quit reading right now. If, on the other hand, you're dying to know how this war turned out, then Ubisoft has just the game for you.

For Honor is a fast-paced, competitive experience mixing skill, strategy, and team play with visceral melee combat.

When I first heard about For Honor, I was ready to dismiss it as a pointless hack and slash attempting to cash in on the Dark Souls hype. It's embarrassing to admit this given how wrong I was, and given how little I knew about the game, but having spent some serious time with For Honor, it's obvious...

It's time to rejoice as FOR HONOR has finally arrived that for the majority of the experience, hits the right place when it comes to a carefully balanced game with plenty of replay value.

For Honor is a fighting game. I had to keep repeating that to myself every time I got frustrated. The third-person camera, the medieval settings and the melee weapons had caught me off guard, thinking this was an action-adventure, or a hack-and-slash somewhat like Ryse .