Chivalry 2 throws 64 players onto a medieval battlefield and hands them a battle axe. Torn Banner Studios built the sequel to Chivalry: Medieval Warfare around that idea, and it works. The game came out on June 8, 2021, for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S, published by Tripwire Interactive. It scores 8.2 out of 10 on Metacritic.
Trailer, via TornBannerStudios.
Two Armies, One Castle
The setup is simple. All team-based modes put the Agatha Knights, in blue and white, against the Mason Order, in red and black. A later update added a third faction, the Tenosian Empire. Team objective mode supports up to 64 players and gives each side a job: one group breaks into the other’s castle and destroys an ultimate objective, escorts a player-controlled duke to safety, eliminates the enemy duke, or kills every remaining defender. The other group holds the castle.
That structure is where Chivalry 2 earns its keep. A match is not a scoreboard ticking upward. It is a siege with a beginning and an end, and the objectives give 64 people a reason to move in the same direction. It is chaos with a spine.
Slash, Overhand, Stab
Combat runs on three melee attack patterns: slash, overhand slash and stab, which chain together. Charging an attack produces a heavy swing — slower, but it deals higher damage. Blocking matters, and timing it right lets a player stagger an opponent, counter, or parry. Friendly fire is on, so a careless swing can cut down a teammate.
The arsenal is medieval and specific:
- War hammers, maces, long swords, battle axes: melee weapons
- Bows and arrows, crossbows, javelins: ranged weapons
- New weapons: found in caches on the map
- Thrown melee weapons: leave the player defenseless
- Severed heads and limbs: usable as weapons
On Foot, and Now on Horseback
Chivalry 2 plays from either first-person or third-person perspective. For the first time in the series, players can fight on horseback as well as on foot. Modes include team deathmatch, team objective and free-for-all deathmatch.
The horse is the addition that changes the most. A mounted player covers ground fast and hits from a height, which turns open terrain into something other than a sprint toward the next objective. It is not a separate game bolted on. It is a new way to arrive at the same fight.
The comedy is deliberate and it is everywhere. A player winds up a heavy attack, misses, and takes a javelin to the chest. Someone else is running at a castle gate holding a severed arm. The game knows exactly how ridiculous this is, and it never breaks character to wink at the player.
Where It Stands
Chivalry 2 scores 8.2 out of 10 on Metacritic. That number is fair, and the reasons are worth naming.
The combat has weight. Three attack patterns sound thin until you account for charging, blocking, staggering, countering and parrying, all of it running at once across 64 players. The friendly fire rule is the smartest decision in the game. It punishes the player who swings first and looks second, and it makes a crowded castle courtyard genuinely dangerous in a way a damage number cannot.
What holds it back is what holds back most multiplayer-only games. There is no campaign, and the source material describes no single-player mode. Everything here depends on other people showing up and playing the objectives rather than farming kills in a corner. When a lobby cooperates, Chivalry 2 is one of the better action games of its year. When it does not, the castle stands there and nobody takes it.
The Tenosian Empire arrived through a later update, which tells you Torn Banner kept working on the game after launch rather than shipping it and walking away. That matters for a game whose entire value sits in its multiplayer.
If you want a medieval combat game that treats a 64-player siege as a set piece rather than a deathmatch with castle wallpaper, this is the one. The learning curve is real, the friendly fire will kill you, and the severed limbs are a legitimate tactical option. Chivalry 2 is loud, funny and mean in the right proportions.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
