The effect is to create moments of gameplay that feel quite real. It’s a giant geometry puzzle, one that’s constantly shifting and moving in real time. Weapons collide with other weapons, and weapons also collide with the scenery laid out on the battlefield. Every object in the game is able to collide with every other object. Mordhau gets the little things about melee combat right, and the secret is in the physics. This is a game about timing and patience, one that makes fighting with a sword and shield feel more like dancing than chopping wood or playing a quick time event. Stepping out onto the battlefield, surrounded by allies and faced with deadly adversaries, every round feels meaningful because the combat feels authentic. The multiplayer title from Triternion has been a lock on the Steam best-sellers list for nearly two full weeks now, and for good reason. Mordhau is different, and it just might be the best medieval combat game I’ve ever played. Most have failed in one way or another, piling compromise atop workaround until the act of clashing swords with another armed opponent looks more like two butterflies mating than a deadly duel.
Countless developers - and at least one famous author - have tried to make it work. Simulated melee combat has been part of video gaming since the first game consoles rolled off the assembly line.
