For Honor is punishing. Jump into a one-on-one duel online or against an AI bot set above the normal level and you’re going to get beaten. If you’re lucky you’ll just get perhaps pummelled until you hit the ground, but face a particularly brutal foe and you might end up with your back being broken in two under the weight of an enormous club. You’ll desperately want to become the one doing the damage.
Go into Ubisoft’s medieval weapon-based brawler thinking you’re getting a kind of God of War with Knights, Vikings and Samurai warriors and you’ll swiftly be on the end of a battle axe to the face. Ubisoft Montreal has created a nuanced, patient and rewarding fighting game that will take a lot of learning. Accept For Honor for what it is (and going on Beta test numbers a lot of people have) and you may find a new multiplayer obsession.