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For Honor: Creative Director Jason VandenBerghe on its changing meta

Stevivor was able to get hands-on with For Honor when it was first publicly announced two years ago at E3. With new playthroughs at Gamescom and this weekend’s EB Expo, it seems like its 4v4 Dominion mode has remained largely the same. We asked Jason VandenBerghe, Creative Director, if there were changes that we’ve missed, or if he’s noticed changes to the game’s meta after this period of time.

“At this point there are a couple of subtleties that have really dramatically changed the meta,” VandenBerghe explained. “One is that you get more points for solo kills [in Dominion]. If you group up and kill someone, you are getting a lot less points than you would otherwise.

“Since people have noticed that, people start breaking up quickly and start looking for good matchups, which is cool. The [double] point thing [by standing on captured points] changes the game pretty dramatically because if you want to just defend you can just win the match that way.”

Of course, as players get more comfortable with the game, skills and strategies ramp up equally.

“What I see players doing is… reading the other team and then countering. There is no dominant strategy, at this point, in Dominion mode,” VandenBerghe continued.

“What we see is we see teams that are communicating and then when they see what the other team is trying to do, then they are coming for the counter. Their strategy is constantly shifting based on where they are in the match. I think that is awesome. It’s exactly where we want to be.”

There are also changes that VandenBerghe says have been made “under the hood”.

“The revenge feature is a totally new one that we’ve added in the last nine months,” he said. “There’s stuff that’s been ongoing, but I think that it’s more of a testament [to the game’s core]. My vision was just I wanted to fight with swords, right? I’ll go on a controller and now I get to do it. I think it’s a testament to the success of the team.

“We’ve been playing Dominion in that basic form for four years now. We put down much refinements but the game is really fun, like its core mechanics work really well. I think it’s more a testament to that early team and then the teams who recommended to me the game work. It stands up right? If we can play that mode for that long and still be having a good time, I guess let’s hope that you guys will like it.”

EB Expo will give Australians the chance to play new 1v1 and 2v2 Duel modes, both of which require a sound understanding of For Honor’s block and counter systems. Differing from Dominion, there are no NPCs on the ground – it’s just you and the enemy.

“Oh, 2v2 is one of my favourite modes,” VandenBerghe asserted. “It is super intense because you need to both stay aware. One of the things I love about For Honor, is that it not only recreates that duelling experience but the experience of fighting on the battlefield.”

Offered up as a best of five rounds matchup both 1v1 and 2v2 Duels also provide the chance to assess your enemy and adapt accordingly.

“I have to stay aware of what is happening to my left, and that is a really weird set of mind, right? That is exactly what 2v2 does, right? You have to know what buddy is doing. You have to kind of intuitively be generating synergy together,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun. It can be brutal, it can be fast or it can go on for quite a while. It’s super intense. It usually comes down to a 2v1 and then a 1v1 matchup.”

For Honor makes an appearance at Sydney’s EB Expo this weekend. It’ll be available from 14 February on Xbox One, PS4 and Windows PC.

We’ve also previewed the game’s single-player here.


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Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.