➤ For Honor: Marching Fire, the DLC review 🎮

For Honor it didn't have an easy time. Since the day of the launch, some development-related choices have led the community to fall apart and abandon the servers rather quickly, only to return occasionally to check the situation with the various updates. Unfortunately, unlike the powerful Rainbow Six: Siege, the recovery work by Ubisoft did not have the desired effect and not even the arrival of the new fighters or the long-awaited dedicated servers was able to restore a particularly complex situation. For our part, however, we have never stopped holding the title under our arm, partly because the combat system has always been lively and exciting and partly because, let's face it, it would be crazy not to love a production where knights, Vikings and samurai if the sound of holy reason. In a market therefore used to having everything immediately, being able to keep the reins of such a courageous project is not something for everyone and Ubisoft is really trying in every way by spending resources and energy where others would have already raised the white flag. The results are there for all to see and today, with the arrival of the new expansion Marching fire the players have an excellent, new, reason to give the title a second chance.

The Chinese are coming!

In case you haven't had enough of ninjas, knights with flails or huge bare-chested men armed with two-handed swords, here is the Chinese Wu Lin troops added to the brawl of For Honor. A move that is not easy to digest for the Western public - also because even more charismatic fighting breeds could have been fished from the basket - but perhaps, with a view to relaunching the project, also relying on the Eastern market could be the move to save goat and cabbage. So it is not surprising to see four new fighters for this faction on the servers, sold in a single package or purchasable, as always, with the classic steel currency. What struck us most could only be the Shaolin monk, armed with a stick and equipped with equipment that makes him look impressively like the legend of Son Goku, the king of the monkeys. With the ability to teleport in leaps and abruptly interrupt his combos he is one of the most fascinating and unpredictable new warriors and in the right hands we can assure you that he is a terrible death machine.

For Honor: Marching Fire, the DLC review

Nuxia, on the other hand, is the killer of the group: fast and ruthless, vaguely reminiscent of the peacemaker in her movements but, not a small thing, Ubisoft she was decidedly skilled in always knowing how to give a style and soul of her own to all twenty-two warriors on the roster, and once again things did not go differently. Tiandi and Jiang Jun instead seem to have come directly from any Dynasty Warriors, catapulted by the tales of the Three Kingdoms and now embroiled in a battle without epoch and without end. Needless to go into specifics, of course, on the moves, styles and new special abilities of these four warriors, it is enough to know that their purchase, for those who love the oriental tradition, is obviously recommended. Obviously, the differentiation from other armies is not bad, with Chinese warriors who base their styles on mobility and dodging, also capable of great damage in counterattack and a very particular energy management. In short, excellent introductions that show how much space there is still for experimentation on For Honor and how much, if desired, the game can be further expanded in the coming years.

Complete changes to all equipment

The thing that left us most puzzled about this update, however, was the complete redesign of the equipment. Features have been eliminated altogether, similarly replaced by Privileges: instead of increasing attack, damage or penetration each piece of equipment will now grant a specific amount of score for individual Privileges and leave the player complete freedom to what concerns the customization of the builds of the various heroes. Privileges basically work like Call of Duty perks, grafting passive abilities onto characters. Some will receive a speed bonus, others will allow you to absorb an additional amount of damage if you are close to death, revive teammates faster, or even receive health shields after exiting Revenge mode. It will be interesting to see how these combinations affect balance over the next few months, especially with the addition of new pieces or even new Privileges, which could revolutionize builds from time to time. With Marching fire Obviously dozens of new equipments arrive, even for the old characters, as well as for the Chinese faction, as well as the aesthetic customization with objects to be obtained also through the completion of the new training sessions now completely revised and much, much more in-depth. In short, an excellent job in many respects, including the war between factions with a clearer and more readable interface for sending troops and reinforcements.

A huge amount of content

The arrival of Marching fire it also marks the appearance of two new game modes, very interesting and particularly successful. So let's start with that PvP that represents the quintessence of For Honor. Two four-player squads will have to clash on a decent-sized map and complete a siege. One team will be defending while one will attack, having to escort a ram through several checkpoints by breaking through the defensive gates. It works pretty much like Overwatch's Payload mode with a hint of strategy stolen from the MOBA genre. Waves of minions from the two factions will in fact try to damage or protect the ram and players will have to thin out the warriors controlled by artificial intelligence to allow their faction to gain an advantage.

There is also no shortage of bosses to defeat to get temporary bonuses and a final fight against the commander of the fortress who basically represents the Core of the opposing base. Crossbows and archers are also placed on the course so as not to turn the games into a mere confusing battle, a choice that we appreciate since it adds that extra bit of strategy that never hurts. The attackers will then have a series of return tickets to protect, so as to avoid ignorant charges with their heads down until the goal is reached. The only drawback of this mode is probably the duration, with the most balanced games that can last even for half an hour of play. We should also applaud the new matcmaking system which now not only matches the players before the game but which mixes the teams automatically even during the various rounds, so as to find a perfect balance between the teams and give matches that are the most exciting. possible. The second mode, on the other hand, is trivially called Arcade and is an interesting content but with particular accessibility. Let's start by saying that this specific option is only available to those who have purchased the entire expansion and for now there are no plans to separate it from the package. This is a shame because Arcade is simple but interesting and, in its own way, virtually infinite: in this mode you can choose your favorite fighter and launch yourself in a series of five randomly generated fights of increasing difficulty with different buffs and debuffs to make you more interesting the matches. Fun and above all useful since the progress and experience accumulated will be shared with the PvP profile allowing you to experiment with tactics and strategies in peace and then throw yourself online with the already higher level character. Finally, there are improvements to the graphic engine, which now features improved lighting effects and even more defined textures.

Comment

Tested version PlayStation 4 27.10 Price 29.99 € Resources4Gaming.com

8.0

Readers (10)

8.3

Your vote

If you want to give For Honor a second chance, now is the right time. Marching Fire is an excellent expansion wherever you look at it - the four new fighters are iconic and well-featured, two compelling new modes have been added, and even matchmaking has improved. Ubisoft fighting game is a game not to be underestimated, extremely difficult to master but able to give enormous satisfaction to those who will be able to tame it. Our advice is to visit the servers to taste all the news, you will certainly not be disappointed.