Steam Game Review: Bursting with Brain Juice! MORDHAU, a hand-holding PVP sword fighting action game

In this series, Mina Tsujimura, aka SteamMania, a core gamer on Steam, reviews in detail the recommended games available on Steam, a PC game platform that is currently enjoying a lot of popularity. She will introduce the fun of the games.

This time, I would like to introduce "MORDHAU," a close FPS game set in the Middle Ages. The response was so strong that there were problems with the servers on the first day of release, and the game sold 500,000 copies within a week of its release, reaching 1 million copies in the following month. At its peak, the game had approximately 60,000 simultaneous connections. This was an astounding number for an independent game.

Born from the desire to "create the next generation of medieval FPS by our own hands

MORDHAU" is a game created by veteran players of famous FPS games such as "Mount and Blade" and "Chivalry". Funding was raised through Kickstarter, with over 30 million yen raised. The game was released on April 30 of this year, a year behind schedule, due to a strong desire to release the game in full production rather than early access.

Quote from Steam store page

Weak but fun! The wacky war of up to 64 players is fun!

Currently implemented are a total of three game rules: Battle Royale (PVP mode), Frontline (up to 64 players divided into two camps, taking positions and digesting the opponent's tickets), and HORDE (AI enemies come at you in waves) in COOP mode.

Among these, I recommend Frontline! Battrois are the most popular games these days. However, since Battlova is a game of survival among many players without respawning, the number of winners is small compared to the number of participants, and it is difficult to enjoy the game if you are not a strong player. However, in a game like Frontline, where the players are divided into two camps and battle for the strongholds, it is possible to have fun even if you are not very strong by cooperating with a large number of friends.

The basic fighting style! The fascination of the game is in the hand-to-hand combat!

The main attraction of this game is still the sword fighting action. To fight, left-click for normal attacks and scroll the mouse for thrusting attacks. This technique seems to be indispensable not only in COOP mode but also in PVP mode. There are two perspectives, FPS and TPS, so even those who are not good at the FPS perspective can enjoy the game.

To defend yourself, right-click on the enemy's attack timing. If you do not have a shield, you can parry with your weapon. However, be careful not to parry too many times or you will lose your weapon. You have to defend yourself while waiting for your attack timing + some enemies will try to feint at you, so it can be very intimidating.

You can create your own unique army!

In "MORDHAU," you can choose either a preset character with predetermined weapons and armor, or a custom character that you can customize yourself. Preset characters include an engineer who can use a toolbox to build walls and ballistas, and a knight who is heavily armed and carries a sword. The recommended way to play is to start with a preset character and then create a custom character with the weapon of your choice when you have one you like.

Customization has a fixed limit of 16 skill points that can be used, and each weapon, armor, perk, etc. consumes its own skill points. Naturally, stronger weapons, armor, and perks cost more skill points, so you need to find the right balance and combine them. This is very interesting for me personally!　Armor can be changed in color and markings, so you can create your own unique character.

Being a melee FPS, the weapons are predominantly melee weapons. Throwing axes, bows, and crossbows are also available, but their long reload times make them difficult to fight on the front lines, and teams with more remote weapons tend to lose. In addition, the Peasant perk disables the use of normal weapons, but instead allows the use of frying pans and a musical instrument called the root. The root can be played to heal the battlefield, but it is extremely weak and is a complete joke perk.

I actually played with it.

First, select "FIGHT" on the TOP page. If you want to choose by matchmaking, select the mode as it is, then select an area and search. If you want to play by selecting a server, select "server browser" at the top and choose the server you want to enter. This time, I played on Frontline, a PVP server.

This time I will use my custom character "yarikun". The weapon is a strong spear called Spear, which can be held short or long by changing the way you hold it with the R key.

There are supply boxes placed throughout the MAP. Pressing the E key in front of these boxes allows you to replenish ammunition or lost weapons.

If you die, you can watch the survivors until they respawn. In other words, you can watch your enemies. It's amazing, isn't it? Spend some time watching your rivals to get an idea of where they are and study the combat skills of the better players for the next battle.

In fact, it is very difficult to get behind the enemy's back in this game. As mentioned above, if you are surrounded by a large number of people, you tend to be killed instantly. In other words, even if you get behind the enemy, it is like a duck coming with a leek on its back. If, like the author, you are not confident in combat, be careful.

The best part of being a spearman is, after all, the prickly attack. Know which allies are nearby and join them as soon as they start fighting. If you can avoid being surrounded by enemies, your survival rate will increase!

Even if you can't fight, you can still contribute to the team!

After actually playing for 100 hours, my impression is that the spear and axe are very strong!　The spear has a long reach, so you can attack safely and prickly, and the axe has a very high killing power, so you can kill multiple people at once. So, as long as you can hit them, you can turn the tables. On the other hand, I found rapiers difficult to use. Rapier has a fast attack speed, but its attack power is weak. You have to hit it many times, and if you are surrounded by several people, you are doomed. The person who can use it well will be the one with high reflexes who can hit the attacker many times.

Recommended for beginners is the "First Aid Kit Gachi-Stacking Soldier. The concept is to take three first-aid kits to the battlefield, spread the first-aid kits around the MAP, and fight by receiving weapons from the corpses. You get 50 score points for each first aid kit that your friends use. Even if you can't fight, you can contribute to the team, and you can be the top scorer with these points alone. One thing to keep in mind is that the first aid kit can also be used by the enemy. Therefore, it is best to place it one step behind the front line of your team.

Once you play, you will be hooked! Headshots feel great in melee FPS as well!

This was my first time playing a melee FPS, and I was so hooked that I played for 20 hours straight on the first day. Of course, if you are a beginner in melee FPS, it is difficult at first, but the sound effect of a headshot and the feeling of your brain juices flowing out of your body when you land a headshot will surely make you addicted to the game once you have tasted it. On the other hand, when an enemy lands a headshot, your head flies up in the air and the screen spins around, which is extremely uncomfortable. ......

Customizing your army is one of the best parts of "MORDHAU". It is a deep game that you can definitely play for more than 100 hours if you buy it once. If you have never played a FPS game in close quarters, I highly recommend this game.

The game is also available in Japanese.

Title Information

MORDHAU (Triternion)
Released on April 29, 2019
Price: 3,090 yen (as of September 4, 2019)
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Author：Suchimu Mana (Mina Tsujimura)

Writer and gamer at Office Mica. Her favorite game genres include sandbox survival games and horror games. Her style of game playing is a text-chatting game player who is afraid of VC players.

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