Warhaven is a frustrating free-to-play take on For Honor’s medieval PvP

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SHOULD I PLAY WARHAVEN?

Skip it for now until we see how the full release turns out. Warhaven’s medieval-fantasy PVP reminded me a lot of For Honor—a game I like a fair bit—but what’s here so far is less complex and more frustrating. The poor combat system and lack of dedicated servers in some regions are major issues that need shaping up before I’d want to continue playing Warhaven.

TIME PLAYED

I played Warhaven for four hours. I hit level 11 on my account and completed nearly two dozen matches across the game’s five game modes: dominion, onslaught, arms race, reclamation, and team deathmatch. Each match lasted ten to twenty minutes.

WHAT’S AWESOME ABOUT WARHAVEN?

• Gameplay...kind of. Marching forward to victory and helping teammates felt fun. While the combat was disappointing, the overall multiplayer mechanics of retaking capture points, pushing payloads to win matches, and just unleashing havoc across a barren and broken battlefield provided some entertainment.

• Medieval look. Warhaven’s visuals remind me a lot of Black Desert Online’s realistic, polished presentation. Characters and cosmetics are highly detailed, and the magical buildings and enchanted meadows that make up the environments were very imaginative.

WHAT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT IN WARHAVEN?

• No dedicated server for Oceania. Since I’m from Australia, I was stuck playing on Warhaven’s Asia server, which led to lag, matchmaking delays, and a constant 170 ping. Hopefully Warhaven launches a dedicated server for Oceania players in the future.

• Combat that’s too simplistic. Warhaven provides a streamlined, simplified take on the kind of medieval combat found in games like For Honor. I never felt like fights came down to strategy or even skill; it was just a matter of which player attacked first and who could click the fastest. I found no advantage in blocking or parrying, because enemies could stagger me and pull off an instant-kill slash. Most players usually just spammed their main attack to win the match, which led to extremely frustrating and boring battles.

• The game’s coolest ability is way too limited. Incarnations are basically Warhaven’s version of ultimate abilities, but instead of a powerful skill, I got to transform into a legendary character. Incarnation characters have their own play style and abilities, allowing them to pull off huge reversals by reviving multiple players or quickly retaking capture points. Sounds fun, right? The issue is that I could only transform into an incarnation once per match. According to some Steam reviews, previous beta versions of the game allowed players to use the incarnation ability multiple times per game, and I’m not sure why it was changed for early access. Having incarnation available on a cooldown would increase the intensity of matches and give players more opportunities to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

• Sluggish movement. The power to reincarnate as a mythical warrior aside, Warhaven has a semi-realistic approach to medieval warfare. That’s fine, but I couldn’t get past how slow movement is in the game. It felt like my character was lugging around boulders every time they walked, jumped, or attacked.

💬 Will you play Warhaven or you planning to skip it? Tell me in the comments below!