For Honor has always been that one, richly entertaining fighting game that, underneath a myriad of network and performance problems that have plagued the game since launch, provides an in-depth gameplay experience with the potential for a thriving eSports scene. Thanks to the efforts of a dedicated team of developers, For Honor has been steadily improving in quality as frequent updates and content patches have for the most part addressed the most major of issues.
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Unfortunately, the game is still far from perfect, as is evidenced by Ubisoft's recent tournament. The event, which ran this past weekend, was launched to herald the upcoming arrival of two new heroes to For Honor: the Centurion and the Ninja. Rather than celebrating the two and stirring up enthusiasm, however, the tournament served more as an embarrassment; a number of issues plagued the event, ranging from the abuse of unfair exploits and gameplay bugs that, in at least one example, cost a contestant the match.
You can still see the entire livestream on Ubisoft's gameplay channel, or, alternatively, view the last few matches between the PC finalists below:
If you don't feel like skimming through hours of awkwardly commented gameplay, a recent post on reddit.com/r/Games summarized the shenanigans adequately. One of the most outrageous examples of lunacy during the event featured one "Clutchmeister" abusing the Raider hero's charge mechanic to break through his opponent's guard and score an easy blow - repeatedly and to great effect, turning around a seemingly hopeless situation and "clutching" a rather undeserved victory.
Another example is showcased in this highlight. Apparently, the outcome of this match was decided more from a well-documented gameplay bug than from the contestant's skill. The victor of the match managed to knock down his opponent at a key moment, the result of a bug in For Honor in which a player can be knocked down for standing on inclined terrain. The unfortunate player was immediately defeated and, as you can see below, reactions weren't great.
SypherPK reactions to the match outcome. Via Twitch.tv.
Really, the only good thing to come out of Ubisoft's tournament was a reminder for the developers that, although For Honor has certainly come a long way, it's far from where it needs to be. This is indicated best in this final clip, which occurred shortly after the tournament victor revealed that he'd been abusing a similarly well-known "unlock tech" exploit to prevent his character from suffering from recoil mechanics.
"Good job buddy. Soon, you might have to change your playstyle, but honestly that's a good f***ing job."
If nothing else, we can expect For Honor to undergo some rigorous bug testing in light of the community's reaction to this tournament. Our only hope is that Ubisoft manages to make the best of such an unfortunate spectacle and turn the game's previously awkwardly-handled development around for the better.
