I love the medieval era. ‘A Knight’s Tale’ was my favourite movie as a teen, and while it wasn’t historically accurate, the vibe and whimsical enjoyment it portrayed had me hooked, and I think I finally found a game that matches that era but puts an energetic and quirky touch on that time in history.

Mordhau, developed and published by Triternion, is the next interaction of the medieval multiplayer hack-and-slash experience. With Mordhau being a predominately online game, you can enter fights with up to 64 players cooperatively, or in offline play against bots. There is also no real story attached, again, focusing more on quickly jumping into the action to test out your offensive and defensive tactics.

Mordhau has 3 modes; Invasion and Frontline, Horde, and Brawl. The Invasion and Frontline mode throws you into a massive 64-player objective-based game that’s made easier through server browsing; you can filter through matches to find a game filled with people. Your objectives might be slaying villages, capturing a point, or laying siege to a village burning it to the ground. This is interesting as you are thrown in with a vast amount of online players ranging in skill depending on their play-time, but it can also be difficult because you may be slayed by that one sweaty player over and over again.

Nothing is more frustrating and challenging than one-v-one-ing someone and then being third-partied in the back. This is definitely a mode to brush up on your skills due to the sheer mass of players you encounter.

Horde mode is kind of like your knight in shining armour – start with nothing as a bare peasant and fight off waves of enemies that grow in difficulty as waves progress. As you kill these intruders, you earn gold to buy more advanced weapons and defenses to protect the Nobleman. This was actually where I had the most fun, and being a cooperative game mode, communicating with friends while we ran around, hacking and slashing at anyone that came near us, and reviving each other when we finally went down made for some wholesome fun.

Brawl Mode will pit you against other players in a more tight-knit Free-for-All with each death respawning you with a new weapon. This can turn into some hectic fights.

Mordhau has a surprisingly vast customisation system, with multiple classes of mercenaries, each having their own sets of armour and perks, and you are even given the opportunity to customise your own Horde character by using gold earned from playing matches. The weaponry is nice and extensive, ranging from axes, swords, and clubs for up close and personal combat, bows for pot shots from afar, and plenty more exotic weapons – turn the tide with catapults and ballista. You are even able to ride horses and lance enemies in a GTA-like drive-by if that is your style. It really allows for many types of gameplay experiences.

Environmentally, the game is absolutely beautiful. Each map will take time to render on an Xbox Series X, but once the muddiness clears, the environments are beautiful to look at. The blood and gore are very visceral as well, with limbs and even heads flying in a splash of red. The realism of the gameplay with the visual displays of battle motivates you into battle, shouting out your own battlecry.

Surprisingly, the game also has a great sense of humour to boot. During the tutorial, your teacher will drop some classic one-liners. The grunts, moans, and battle cries ring out across the battlefield too, drawing you in and amping you up for the slog that approaches. Arrows will wizz past and rocks will ding off your helmet, directing you to your next victim. The soundscape paints such a great picture of a war-torn land needing you to be their own true protector of the realm.

What I would like to see is cross-play between PC and console as it would open the community to even more fun. At the moment, it is console only. The PC version has been out for so long that there could be a skill mismatch.

Overall, Mordhau is an amazing hack and slack across the era of knights, archers, and battle-born heroes. With exhilarating gameplay and in-depth customisation, this is one title I am struggling to put down.

Written by: Stacey