Mordhau is about alternately bashing at other players with swords, axes and polearms, and teaming up with other players for playful buffoonery with lutes, emotes, and spontaneous roleplay. It was one of our favourite games of 2019 and it's currently free to keep from the Epic Games Store.
]]>Valheim, which is Old Norse for "Valerie is home", came out in early access last month to the roars of Viking-likers everywhere. It is a survival game about building a hut in the woods and then protecting that hut from friends who want to erect a gaudy temple next door, totally ruining the rustic ambience of the whole glade. I guess there's some monsters to fight too. But will any of this matter if you do not make it through cold nights full of dangers, and lean days without food? Just where does your Valheim viking fall on the bar chart of survivability? Here are the 8 toughest Vikings in PC games, a healthy exercise in comparison and shame.
]]>With its latest update, Mordhau has opened up a whole new castle for us to run around sticking swords into people. It's good, based on the ten minutes I've spent being cut to pieces so far, but that's not all that's new. The Mountain's Peak map has been expanded, ranked duels have left beta, there are new cosmetics, and the combat's been tightened up in a bunch of ways I don't understand. I think I'm feeling the impact of them, though. The swordplay's never been sharper.
]]>You never know what you're going to see on a Mordhau duel server. People dress as Shreks and gnomes. Others hold up their arms in eternal 'come at me' gestures, constantly braying rather than fighting. I once joined a server where everyone wielded lightsabers and force-jumps. It's a weird frontier.
Sadly, I have never hopped into a server full of people playing cricket using shields as balls and staffs as bats. Happily, someone else has, and there is video.
]]>I have no doubt that "Toss A Coin To Your Witcher", the hit song from the Netflix Witcher series, is destined for greatness. It's got 11 million views on YouTube. Children are chanting it in the street. The music industry is reeling. Before I came along, though, nobody had grabbed a lute and played the song at impoverished Mordhau players. I expected adoration, and that I might inspire songs of my own. Legends about the brave vanguard of pop culture.
Turns out my audience was a little more hostile.
]]>2019 was a great year for PC games - aren't they all? - but you might not yet know what the very best PC games of 2019 were. Let us help you.
]]>There is drama within every Mordhau battle, but most of them don't feature betrayal, family, and boisterous pub goers. All are prominent in the latest work from "Frost The Canadian", a film maker dedicated to creating in-game epics with stupid sword boys. It's machinima, except better than usual because you know everyone you see is a real person making use of Mordhau's daft voice lines and emotes.
Come and watch this tale of sad blue people chopping up sadder red people. May it distract from modern times.
]]>For as long as Mordhau's had lutes, its had people willing to play them in the midst of war. Bards are a common site on battlefields, uniting friend and foe through instruments that can play proper notes and everything. It's taboo to touch them.
With a lute equipped, you can mangle out a tune by waggling your mouse up and down - but you can also use a mod called LuteBot to automatically play actual songs. A new version called LuteMod is in the works, which will let aspiring minstrels whack other aspiring minstrels with their lutes in order to form bands. It's all appropriately medieval.
]]>I've always been drawn to competitive videogames. It's not hard to see why. They're the best kind. Competition can be exciting, rich, varied. It gets you interacting with people, pitting your abilities against thinking, improvising, engaged and pivotally human opponents. A competitive context can be both a wonderful generator of interesting decisions, and a platform for genuine connection. I believe in and value these things wholeheartedly, because I've extensive experience with both.
I also believe competition has a dark side. It can be the kindling to incendiary ego, stoking a way of looking at the world that leads to, or is at least bound up with, insecurity and distress. I've experienced this, too.
Let's start with me thrashing my Dad at Need For Speed 2.
]]>I still play Mordhau almost every night. People are far too good at it nowadays, but thanks to Tuesday night's update I can now take refuge in a pub. Full modding support is still a ways out, say developers Triternion, but you can now automatically download the maps people have managed to make just by jumping into a server that's running them. I'm delighted to report that at least some of them involve roleplaying as bartenders.
There's also a new asymmetrical mode called Invasion, which I've only played for a tiny bit. I mentioned there are pubs now, right?
]]>War often changes, as slapstick peasant-bothering stabfest Mordhau proves. Developers Triternion have announced details about what players can expect in the near future of the (mostly) melee fighting simulator, including ranked play, new maps, and a reduction in the undeserved powers of horse-riding cowards. The much-requested mod support is still only a maybe.
]]>An astonishing figure has entered the turmoil of Medieval Europe. Striding through the sparks and the screams of Mordhau’s eternal battlefield is Lord Humungusse: a man with a vast body and a tiny soul, and a lack of fear matched only by his lack of combat abilities.
]]>Summer. The heat age. Scorch season. Spring's hangover. It's the mid-point of the year and you know what that means. No, not "mojito time", Geoff, put those away. It's time we told you what the best games of the year are so far. There are quite a lot of them. Just look how many videogames have escaped from their developers in the past six months and are now running amok through the blistering streets, getting stuck in the melting tarmac, like ants in jam. It's unsanitary. So allow us to round up these unruly games and trap them in a handy list. Here are our favourite sword swingers and space 'splorers so far this year (and a couple of DLCs for good measure).
Okay, Geoff, now bring the mojitos.
]]>Mordhau developers Triternion have released an official statement responding to the claims they planned to introduce a toggle to hide women and non-white characters from their medieval murderfest. Those claims, I should say, were made by Triternion themselves, in an interview between two of the company's artists and PC Gamer. The official statement says that they never had plans for a toggle on non-white characters, that they discussed but dismissed the idea of a toggle to hide women characters, and that the two artists were "were ill-informed of this decision."
]]>Mordhau's developers Triternion have denied on Twitter that they ever "had plans to add a toggle to hide other ethnicities or 'disable characters that aren’t white'" in their hacky-stabby medieval multiplayer game. This is bold, given that they previously told PC Gamer explicitly that a plan to add such a toggle was their "current thinking." Let's unpick this mess.
]]>If you've ever watched a professional fencing match, you'll know they kind of suck. People move too thin swords too quickly, becoming blurs that only a few can parse. You expect duels to look like sword fights in movies, forgetting that movies don't largely consist of downtime and headaches over who's even winning. Pretend swordsmen have the edge. Pretend swordsmen get to take on five foes at once, prowess unambiguous as bodies hit floors.
You should watch "Trix", below. He's a Mordhau fighter worth beholding.
]]>So Mordhau has a Battle Royale mode, because of course it does. I've only recently come round to trying it out, because the servers (at least in Europe) were always pretty janky. But in the last few weeks I've been playing it rather religiously, and y'know what? If you haven't given BR as much thought as the other modes like Frontline or Skirmish up until now, consider this an open invitation to start now. The below Mordhau Battle Royale guide is packed with practical tips and tricks for dominating this mode, frequented by some of the finest warriors the game's playerbase has to offer.
]]>Hello friendly people! Welcome to the always-lovely, always-cheerful soft-play-of-fun-and-hyphens that is Steam Charts!
Today we're going to laugh together, learn together, and maybe, just maybe, if we're lucky, laugh and learn a little. Please, pull up a trouser, take a seat (take as many seats as you need - we have too many seats), and prepare to enjoy, laugh, and maybe even learn.
]]>I spent a great many dozens of hours figuring out how to play Mordhau before I first tried Horde Mode. I'd got to the point where I would consistently rank at the top of the leaderboards on Frontline, Team Deathmatch, Duel servers... but when I first played Horde, I was completely lost. I died on Wave 4, after being pinned against a stone wall with a dozen hairy bare-chested peasants kicking me over and over until I fell.
I say all this as a warning: don't expect to be able to use the same style of play in every one of Mordhau's game modes. Instead, why not take a look online at some sort of guide to describe every different game mode, or something... Oh, you've done that part already? That's why you're here? Well then! This Mordhau game modes guide will walk you through each different mode available in this beautiful medieval decapitate-'em-up, with tips on how to adjust your style of play to ensure you play each one to the best of your ability.
]]>I'm declaring it: this is the Worst Week Ever for Steam Charts. And let's face it - this is entirely your fault. If you were a better person, you'd buy better games. But instead you buy the same eight bloody games every bloody week, and then buy a game that isn't even out for over a year. A YEAR! You are awful, and you do not deserve me. This is your punishment.
]]>Oh dear god, I've got so much work to do updating this Mordhau weapons guide. For those unaware, Patch #7 of Mordhau has released, bringing with it not only two entirely new weapons (the Javelin and the Heavy Handaxe) but also a huge amount of minor stat changes and balance tweaks to Mordhau's expansive weapons arsenal. Some damage values have literally been increased or decreased by 1. I swear, they're doing this just to screw with me.
Below I've done my very, very best to condense the massive amounts of information on every single weapon in Mordhau so that it's easy to understand and identify the strengths and weaknesses of each one. I'll walk you through each weapon in order of its point cost, with my own personal opinions on how to succeed with them. So if you want to know your Arming Swords from your Heavy Handaxes, your Short Spears from your Javelins, your Zweihanders from your Greatswords - well, you're in the right place.
]]>Archery in Mordhau is a bit of a polarizing topic. At times a skilled Longbowman laying waste to their enemy from afar can be just about the most frustrating thing imaginable. Other times, you might go what feels like 5 whole minutes without ever landing a shot - except on your own teammates. If you're looking to improve your game from the latter to the former, it's a good time to start: Patch #7 has buffed ranged weapons to make them, for the most part, faster and easier to handle without dying. Our Mordhau archery & ranged combat guide will walk you through each of the three ranged weapons in turn, alongside practical tips relating to perks, positioning, timing, and all sorts of other useful tidbits to help you rack up eight or more kills for every death.
]]>One of the most important divergences that Mordhau takes from the path set by the previous best-in-class medieval brawler (Chivalry, for those wondering) is its Perks system. Mordhau's perks allow you to invest your character's "points" into something other than your equipment and weaponry, adding little - or large - bonus traits and moves to your death-dealing repertoire. Our Mordhau perks guide, now updated for Patch #7, will walk you through which perks are worth taking and which aren't worth your hard-earned points.
]]>Hopefully by now you'll have a decent understanding of combat, weaponry, and perks in Mordhau (and if you haven't, what are you doing here? Go read one of my other guides!). Now it's time to combine all this knowledge and discuss where to invest your 16 points in our Mordhau builds and loadouts guide, recently updated for Patch #7. Below I've created nine diverse and powerful builds, all of which can be used to great effect in a variety of different situations. I'll also provide a few tips to ensure that when you create your own character build from scratch, you'll have a couple of extra tricks up your sleeve.
]]>Mordhau's selection of shields is remarkably diverse both in size and in terms of their potential for completely shaking up Mordhau's magnificently elaborate combat system. And now, Patch #7 has released, giving shield-users some added mobility and quality of life tweaks, so it's a good time to get started on learning this side of Mordhau's combat. This Mordhau shields guide is, I think, a necessary addition to our Mordhau series, because not only have I seen many players asking what the point of shields is as they appear far too weak and cumbersome, but I've also heard the outcries of many a player who have come up against a seasoned shield-user and don't know what they could possibly have done to beat them.
This guide will walk you through each type of shield on offer in Mordhau and how they all operate, before moving onto some in-depth tips and techniques both for using shields to the best of your ability, and for countering shield-users and abusers.
]]>Mordhau's colourful array of maps and environments has recently been bolstered with Patch #7, and the release of the brand new Crossroads map. Which I hate. But it gave me the opportunity to go back over this Mordhau maps and locations guide and repopulate it with all the latest tips and details, so at least there's that! Below I'll go over every map currently in Mordhau (with little tips and quirks as well as explanations of their available game modes and variants), as well as two upcoming maps - Castello and Feitoria - and everything we know so far about them.
]]>Sharpen your Billhooks everybody, because the largest content update for Mordhau since the game's release is now out, bringing with it two entirely new weapons and one entirely new map alongside a huge variety of balance tweaks and fixes. We'll walk through it all in our Mordhau patch notes and future content guide - and we'll also give you a glimpse of everything that's coming soon to this marvellous medieval brawler.
]]>This week: Rude swears! Writing about more interesting games than the ones you boring people keep buying! And battle advice to people who've been dead 1,800 years! It's some Steam Charts.
]]>The great peaks of videogames have been scaled with endless instruments of war. Dark Souls has been beaten with a guitar hero controller. Skyrim with a potato. Someone beat Super Mario World by blowing their nose into a recorder.
The latest feat comes from "Rudeism", a Twitch streamer who has rigged up an actual frying pan with motion controls so he can clobber people with a pretend frying pan in Mordhau.
]]>Good hello. Please, grab hold and sit, for this is some Steam Charts.
]]>You may have heard - from a friend, from a colleague, from us here in the office - that medieval decapitate-'em-up Mordhau is pretty damn good. But if you're a newer player struggling to get to grips with Mordhau's intricate combat system and you're constantly encountering Alpha players who block everything you've got and never seem to miss, then that fun can be tinged with periods of quite intense frustration. But now you've found our Mordhau guide and tips series, and we're going to give you every trick in the gory, bloodsoaked book of how to win fights and increase your personal skill as quickly as possible in Mordhau.
]]>Hello person. This is the Steam Charts, the weekly round-up of the top-grossing PC games on the online store Steam. We write it cynically to collect your clicks, and then we take those clicks and we use them to poke innocent orphans in their stupid orphan eyes.
]]>Our former John (RPS in peace) has vanished in odd circumstances, last heard claiming he'll be flying through the sky in a big metal snake, so I'm taking over this week. Not even an employee anymore and he's still making work for me.
Join me for a stroll down the hit parade to inspect last week's top-selling games on Steam.
]]>I skipped over so much of what makes Mordhau great in my Mordhau review. Yes, it's a multiplayer medieval melee where 64 swordboys duke it out in hectic battles, then retire to duel servers for more sophisticated brawling. Yes, there's a cool customisation system. Yes, it's hilarious. But I don't think I properly stressed how silly it all is.
This video of two men running around a battlefield as shirtless boxers does though.
]]>Horses and horseback riders are the bane of many players' existence in the larger maps of Mordhau, Triternion's terrific medieval brawler. True to life, these deadly warhorses are extremely powerful and valuable assets to your team, and with a skilled rider they can be very difficult to handle. That is, unless you read through all the tips located in this here Mordhau horseback combat guide. Below I've detailed not only where to find and how to use horses to the best of your ability, but all the best strategies when it comes to countering mounted enemies.
]]>You’re a good person, reader, and I will always believe in you, no matter what. No, not you. The person behind you. No, to the left of... No, the other person. The one in the green-- No, you, with the... NO. The person BEHIND you, I said. The person with-- Oh great they’ve walked off now. This whole thing has been a waste of time. My only friend among you is gone because we’re several sentences into this intro and none of you can understand how pointing works. I hope you’re all happy. Here’s your god damned podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show.
Honestly.
]]>Oh look, one of the best games in existence has changed a bit. Yesterday's patch to Mordhau's swords and vandals hasn't brought any major changes, but it has brought a few that made me go 'oh cool'. The headlines: kicking is better, stab attacks are a bit slower, and it's slightly easier to get past some of the most annoying shields. Oh, and the AI in Horde mode now throws less poo at you if you try to cheat.
]]>Okay, this is the really important part of our Mordhau guide series - and how in the world could it not be? Combat is the beating heart of these sorts of games, and Mordhau's system of attacks and parries and feints and drags and chambers and ripostes and morphs is so intricate and hard to master that you'll need all the help you can get if you want to learn how to fight like a pro. This Mordhau combat and fighting guide focuses on simple and advanced melee combat techniques which you can use to build an ironclad defence around yourself and ensure all your strikes land true.
We'll be getting quite in-depth here, so grab a drink and your weapon of choice, and prepare for a read that will hopefully open your eyes just as you'll open up your enemies' torsos.
]]>WARNING: If you're reading this, there is a very strong chance you're looking at news on your favourite game. Please, it's imperative you click on to discover crucial information.
]]>I'm in love with Mordhau.
If I described it as “Chivalry, but there's a button to hold your sword wrong”, I would be both accurate and unjustly reductive. I'd also be giving it a huge compliment, because before last Monday Chivalry was the best multiplayer sword ‘em up in existence. Now Mordhau isn't just that. It's one of the best games in existence, full stop.
]]>OK, two things on the agenda. Firstly, I'm heading off on my expedition to attempt to break the Curse Of Steam Charts for the next couple of weeks. I'm returning to Ursidae, Caniformia, to find that ancient temple once more and attempt to appease the enraged spirit of Horace. Hopefully we'll never speak again!
Secondly, Toby's back! This week's Steam Charts are brought to you through the filter of a four year old who was really excited about doing this again, but then got into a right grump about it as soon as we started. But his naming skills remain as excellent as ever.
]]>All has not been well with war. From the few hours I've played so far, Mordhau might be one of the best multiplayer sword 'em ups since Chivalry - but its Monday release went about as smoothly as a charge under hot pitch. Developers Triternion have apologised for the problems, fixed some issues that stopped XP and gold rewards from being distributed, and made it so you can actually unlock stuff in the Armory now. They also say they're "looking into ways to compensate players for their troubles".
The near non-functioning matchmaking queue remains bothersome, and both official and custom servers seem prone to intermittent stuttering.
]]>Medieval multiplayer melee game Mordhau is out today, looking to split the difference between Mount & Blade: Warband, For Honor and Chivalry: Medieval Warfare with its blend of pseudo-realistic first-person brawling. Developed by Triternion, it's a big-team multiplayer game (with an optional battle royale mode) for up to 64 players, with a focus on lethal, heavily armoured and messy close combat. While the game itself looks fine, the first wave of players are reporting some launch-day server troubles. Triternion have temporarily cut matches down to 48 players until this is fixed. Below, a stab-happy trailer.
]]>Oh sure, For Honor is some fun arcade action but what about the serious Internet swordsman left sharpening his blades in front of Netflix? You, O pal o' mine, might fancy a look at the upcoming Mordhau [official site]. Mordhau is a first-person medieval melee multiplayer murderfest boasting a deep combat system with some swish sword simulation. That's the plan, at least. Mordhau is on Kickstarter but has already hit its goal so, if you'd like, you can sit back and watch this swish trailer content in the knowledge that it's going ahead:
]]>
