Best Multiplayer Game of 2021: Knight 2
Medieval slash-’em-up Chivalry 2 is the winner of our best multiplayer game award.For more awards, please go to our GOTY 2021 hub, We will update throughout December.
Morgan Park, contributing writer: In the multiplayer world of fierce competition or beautifying the list, “Grand Theft Auto 2” is a rare game that just wants to make you jump into the game and go crazy. The goal is nothing more than its impressive set of 64 player battles. You can push the battering ram to the castle with your team, but no one will be upset because you ignore it and continue to play crazy. Once I decided that I was allergic to swords and only killed people with dismembered arms and heads (the results were surprisingly good).
I also like the adjustments Torn Banner made to its career system. The sub-categories and weapons are distributed at an easy speed, seemingly arranged in a weird order. The standard vanguard class is your basic “big axe man” setting, which is easy to get started, but the later ambusher subclass provides you with the tools of an assassin and the passive ability to cause extra damage when attacking from behind. Similarly, the unlock tree for infantry begins with a simple bayonet and ends with the role of a field engineer specializing in traps and sledgehammer destruction.
By simply not adopting the default service game model in multiplayer games, Grand Theft Auto 2 finally feels generous in its diversity. It does not have a $20 shortcut, which “proves” the hard work to unlock armor or other courses sealed after the season pass is justified. You won’t find a serious meta or obsessive person who desires the most powerful load. “Grand Theft Auto 2”, which is really interesting now, will still be interesting and familiar when I come back to it every few months.
Evan Lahti, Global Editor: If you have ever practiced martial arts (Taylor, tell us your boxing moves), you will know how important it is to manage and manipulate distance to defeat your opponent. Chivalry 2 managed to include this aspect of authenticity without going all out to pursue critical medieval realism. The feeling of surviving in 3v1 by avoiding at the right time or forcing enemies to smash each other with unexpected footwork is incredible.
This is a rare multiplayer competitive game, understand the value of messy. Sometimes, a catapult fell from the sky and instantly killed me and my five teams. Over-enthusiastic teammates will hit the back of your head with their knife. Archers are absolutely annoying and timid archers who can kill people unscrupulously. But Grand Theft Auto 2 treats these distorted aspects of the game as fascinating textures. It has a dedicated button to let everyone around you know that you want to “kill the archer”. I often press.
Tyler Wilde, Executive Editor: I like how Chivalry 2 balances negativity and positivity. When you are dead, you can tap a key to praise the knight who beheaded you, if they are worth it. Several times I searched for the key in Battlefield 2042, but I was disappointed not to find it. As Evan said, the fight is more subtle than it looks. You have to use footwork to find vacancies and find the rhythm without being able to predict. So it’s a bit like boxing. But with a sword.
Wes Fenlon, Senior Editor: I also want to nominate the best short film of the year “Grand Theft Auto 2”. I’ve only experienced it through Tyler’s videos, and each one made me laugh.
Fraser Brown, online editor: Chivalry 2’s sword-wielding antics have many nuances, and when you face a skilled player who has just chopped off your five allies in a row and is about to separate your head from your body, this will quickly become obvious. I? I am more like a screaming, charging warrior who plunged into danger and died within 10 seconds. It needs rubbish, reckless players like me to add texture to bloody battles, but it never feels like my head is put on a plate for better players; there is always a chance to get some glory, or at least laugh Sound, because I tried to murder someone with roast chicken or win a duel without losing an arm.