PAX Report: Chivalry is Not Dead

Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is the first title being released from Torn Banner Studios. The game features realistic first-person combat, so you beat the baddies silly with swords and the like. Chivalry immerses players in a realistic (meaning no elves and magic,) but fictional world of Agatha. As the guys at Torn Banner call it, it's Hollywood Medieval, so the peasants have nice teeth and the countries don't exist.

The game's visuals are impressive, especially considering the in-game footage is still in alpha stage development. The illusion of first-person is pulled off well and believable, you can see your arms, they are moving purposely and with believable speed. The characters looked as amazing and detailed as the world around them. Players can choose from four character classes which control their appearance and skills. The classes include Knight, Archer, Man-at Arms and Vanguards. Character choice influences how players approach battles and what sort of armor they will be able to use.

Players will be able to unlock new items of clothing and weapons as they progress through epic battles allowing them to upgrade and customize their character. Real-time controls and an advanced battle melee system puts the player right in the battle. So players can hack and dodge their way through enemy strongholds to further their character's abilities. When completed Torn Banner expects that the game will hold between 32 and 64 players in multi-player battle.

But what is most interesting about Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is Torn Banner Studios. The studio was formed by friends and fellow gamers who met making mods for Half-Life 2. Their first group effort was a popular Half-Life 2 mod called Age of Chivalry which is still very popular. It was that mod that spawned the studio. Members put in money themselves and had friends invest to create Chivalry: Medieval Warfare.

According to the studio's founding members the game is a labor of love. They have a passion for this title because it is all theirs. They learned from player feedback on their mod, and from each mistake made along the way. But their passion to make their game a reality has kept them going. They started developing Chivalry: Medieval Warfare in May of 2010 and expect to work on it for another year. With the promise of lots of free DLC hinted at for the future it looks like Torn Banner will be around for along time to come. For now we can just eagerly await a firm release date for Chivalry: Medieval Warfare.