As part of its press conference today at E3 2015, Ubisoft revealed For Honor, a multiplayer action game featuring sweeping battlegrounds filled with dozens of combatants.
Developed by Watch Dogs and Far Cry 4 creator Ubisoft Montreal, For Honor equips players with bladed weapons and unleashes them into battlefields teeming with enemy warriors. The approach is reminiscent of Tecmo Koei’s Dynasty Warriors series with its focus on crowded battlegrounds, but distances itself from the competition with its unique combat system.
During battle, players can assume multiple stances and wield an arsenal of varied attacks as they brawl with AI opponents and human-controlled rivals. Today’s live demo showed one combatant squaring off against a human opponent, dodging incoming attacks while countering with carefully timed strikes using the right analog stick.
“The key component to the Art of Battle [control scheme] is giving you, the fighter, control over both your attack and defense by tying it directly to the right stick,” production manager Jeff Spicer stated.
Gameplay in For Honor spans multiple generations, and features playable Viking, Knight, and Samurai factions. Factions each boast their own unique capabilities and special moves. The Samurai class, for instance, can call down volleys of arrows on approaching enemies.
Battles in the Dominion mode featured in the trailer above begin with the storming of an enemy stronghold, and focus on controlling strategic zones within each map. Additional gameplay modes and features are in the works, but were not announced.
Ubisoft did not announce its target platforms, but notes that a playable build of For Honor is up and running “on consoles” on E3’s show floor. A release date is not yet known.