Despite selling well and receiving generally positive reviews, For Honor did not reach the same heights of popularity as other Ubisoft franchises. One thing that I can always say about Ubisoft though, they rarely abandon or give up on a game. Doubling down with a huge expansion including more single player content, For Honor: Marching Fire Edition is available now.
For Honor: Marching Fire Edition Details
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Developer:Â Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher:Â Ubisoft
Genre:Â Action, fighting
Modes:Â Single player, multiplayer
ESRB Rating:Â M (Mature)
Welcome to parry-dise
For anyone not familiar with the core game, For Honor is a medieval melee combat action game. Players select from a set of classes with unique abilities and engage in hand-to-hand combat with powerful opponents.
It abandons the power fantasy of similar hack-and-slash type games where the player is overly powerful. Rather than a large volume of weaker enemies providing a cumulative challenge, gamers instead participate most frequently in one-one-one battles with opponents of equal strength. This heightens the focus on combat mechanics, and really prompts player to dig into its deep system of parrying, dodging, and attacking.
Naturally this setup lends easily to multiplayer gameplay, which is the core focus of For Honor. Outside of a brief story campaign, the original game is generally meant to be a multiplayer experience. However, this is something that Ubisoft deliberately expands upon with For Honor: Marching Fire Edition.
Flying solo
I’ll admit that at my core I am most certainly a single-player gamer. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy the right multiplayer game when it comes along. Yet most often I find myself leaning toward experiences that don’t involve competitive online play.
It’s a big reason why For Honor was under the radar for me during its initial launch. Knowing that the focus of the game was multiplayer PVP combat was enough for me to give the game a pass. However, For Honor: Marching Fire Edition includes a large single player update that may give players like me a reason to take another look.
Arcade mode action
The largest update to For Honor: Marching Fire Edition is “Arcade” mode. In Arcade mode players can participate either solo or in co-op with friends in endless PVE combat scenarios. Completing these scenarios will earn you the same kind of upgrades and rewards as those in multiplayer gameplay.
You’ll choose from a number of different scenarios which will suggest difficulty and combat rating. The higher the difficulty and rating suggestion, the better the rewards. This means that even new players who haven’t yet spent a lot of time developing their classes can easily participate simply by selecting the lowest level challenge.
Improving at your own pace
As a generally single-player gamer, I appreciate Arcade mode for two reasons. Firstly it gives solo players a way to enjoy the game without ever having to participate in multiplayer PVP. You could easily spend many hours enjoying the combat and progression of For Honor: Marching Fire Edition without ever having to step outside of its now more robust single-player content.
Secondly, it gives players who may be new to the game a much better way to improve their skills and loadouts prior to jumping in to multiplayer, if they ultimately wish to. There’s nothing worse than being late to a multiplayer game and finding that most of the population significantly outpacing you. It’s no fun trying to learn a new game when the veteran competition has such a big leg up.
Though it can become repetitive, with Arcade mode you can hone your skills and level up your gear at your own pace. This will allow players to gain some confidence and get on par with the general PVP competition prior to entering the fray. In my opinion it’s a great way to make a long-running game more accessible to new players.
The new kids
Solo gameplay isn’t the only major update that makes up For Honor: Marching Fire Edition however. There are plenty of new features across the entire scope of the game. First off, there is an entire new faction for players to master and enjoy.
The “Wu-Lin” faction are warriors with roots in ancient China. They offer more variety on top of the current Knight, Viking, and Samurai classes. The Wu-Lin faction are particularly adept at dodging techniques.
The Wu-Lin bring with them four new classes, such as the Tiandi—a vanguard class who are masters of the dao blade. Second is the Jiang Jun, a heavy class of generals who favour the guandao weapon. Rounding out the Wu-Lin are the Nuxia—a class of assassins, and the Shaolin, whose hybrid style includes a mastery of the staff on top of their athletic fighting style.
A new PVP mode
For Honor: Marching Fire Edition also brings with it a brand new mode to multiplayer PVP gameplay. In “Breach” players will compete on teams in a new objective-based scenario.
The attacking team will attempt to breach the walls of a castle using a battering ram. Completing their objectives along the way will allow the attack to progress. Conversely the defending team attempts to block their opponents from completing these objectives.
Breach mode features four v. four PVP competition. It also brings with it new maps for multiplayer gameplay.
For Honor: Marching Fire Edition brings more solo action to the competent fighting game
If you’ve previously been avoiding the game for its lack of single player content, now is a great time to jump into For Honor: Marching Fire Edition. The addition of Arcade mode gives a huge boost to its playability as a solo experience. You can improve your class loadout and gather confidence before jumping into the multiplayer community, or even avoid it entirely and still experience much of what the game has to offer.
Along with the addition of a new class and new PVP mode, its clear that Ubisoft intends to continue to support the franchise. The Marching Fire expansion certainly does nothing but improve the appeal of the game for old and new players alike.
+ Huge boost to solo content
+ A new faction and new PVP mode
+ Continuing developer support
– Solo play, although welcome, can be repetitive
OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF FOR HONOR: MARCHING FIRE EDITION
Gameplay:Â 4/5
Graphics:Â 4/5
Sound:Â 4/5
Lasting Appeal/Replayability:Â 4.5/5
Overall Rating 4.1/5 (83%)
Get For Honor: Marching Fire Edition for PlayStation 4
Get For Honor: Marching Fire Edition for Xbox OneÂ
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