The Best Game of February 2017

The Best Games of February 2017

Honorable Mention: For Honor

Read the Review!

Starting with a couple of honorable mentions, check out the Twinfinite’s Staff picks for our best games for February 2017 which includes of course, our Game of the Month!

Assistant Editor Hayes Madsen:  For Honor isn’t something you see too often, a brand new IP from a big-name publisher that tries something bold and new, and luckily it succeeds much more than it fails. Visceral close-quarters combat is the name of the game in For Honor, letting players pick from a handful of classes, who each have specific skills, advantages, and weaknesses.

The game is set in a sort of pseudo-Earth where three factions of ancient warriors are locked in war; Knights, Vikings, and Samurai. This “Faction War” sets the stage for the multiplayer of the game, while a single-player mode tells the story of how the nations came to be at war. The story mode is surprisingly robust with some fun characters, and an action movie vibe. Of course, multiplayer is where For Honor’s core combat really shines.

The title is easy enough to start playing, but quickly shows the dedication you’ll need to master it. For Honor mixes the complexity and combo system of a fighting game, with a third person hack-and-slash brawler. Battles are visceral and require every bit of concentration and skill you have to beat another player. There are four different multiplayer modes with some that support up to eight players total. Although, one-on-one duels are where the systems of For Honor work the best.

Balancing and connectivity issues hold it back a bit at the moment, but nonetheless For Honor is a surprisingly brutal, engaging, and varied experience. It’s a game that requires effort from the player, challenging you at every turn to master a character or learn how to counter another. You’ll need to sink some time in to truly grasp all of the systems at play, but once you do, it can be incredibly satisfying.

The Best Games of February 2017

Honorable Mention: Halo Wars 2

Read the Review!

Managing Editor Ed McGlone: The traditional RTS is a dying breed as of late. Other than StarCraft 2, RTS games have come and gone in recent years with very few being able to hang onto an audience fitting of the genre’s former popularity before MOBAs took over. Halo Wars 2 however has the niche of being the only major traditional RTS on a home console. Making a RTS game work on the Xbox One is an extremely tall task, but 343i and Creative Assembly admirably got the job done.

Players are, more or less, able to do a lot of what they would expect to do in a RTS game on PC. You can easily assign control groups, flip between production and your army, and quickly scroll around the map. Once you get used to the controls, old school fans of the genre like myself won’t really be missing too much from a mouse and keyboard layout, which is quite an impressive feat to pull off.

What’s also impressive is that Halo Wars 2 has multiple well developed game modes that are designed to appeal to not only RTS experts but also newcomers enticed by the Halo branding. The campaign can be adjusted to be as easy and challenging as the player wants, and was well received in our review. Finally, the multiplayer, which is the bread and butter of a game like Halo Wars 2 that wants to stay relevant for the long haul, has a great foundation. The RTS staple modes like 1v1 and team death match are there. Blitz though is quick and simple enough to appeal to anyone, and still retains its depth in terms of strategy.

There’s still some work to be done in balancing the game, and eventually adding a competitive ranked ladder, but Halo Wars 2 has the key elements of success already in order.

The Best Games of February 2017

Honorable Mention: Nioh

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Reviews Editor ZhiQing Wan:  While Nioh does draw a lot of inspirations from the Soulsborne games, ultimately, it’s still very much its own game. Putting a spin on the story of historical sailor William Adams, Nioh takes us on a bloody romp through feudal Japan’s Sengoku era.

While the game’s story and characterization feel pretty weak, the game delivers big time on the gameplay front. Nioh’s combat is insanely deep, with three different weapon stances that help to add variety to your fighting style. The game’s weapon types may be limited, but the number of skills you can unlock with each one, coupled with the three stances, make for some truly compelling combat encounters. Nioh also puts a lot of emphasis on its crafting system, where literally every piece of equipment you own can be enhanced with unique perks. The gear customization is so varied that you’ll be hard pressed to find another player who has the same sword perks that you do.

Nioh also offers hours upon hours of optional content and bosses. If you’re looking for an action RPG with a complex combat system that you can sink hours into, you can’t go wrong with this one.

The Best Game of February 2017: Horizon Zero Dawn

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Senior Editor Chris Jecks: Horizon Zero Dawn is a masterpiece from start to finish. Set in a sprawling and stunning open world, players assume the role of Aloy as she searches for the answers to the origins of the world she lives in, as well as some more pressing questions close to home. What unfolds is an engrossing story that’ll never skip a beat and keep you hooked until the credits roll.

On her adventure, Aloy will face a lot of machines, so it’s a good thing they’re such a joy to fight against. Each and every weapon in Horizon Zero Dawn can be lethal when used correctly, and it’s working out what the best strategies and combinations are for each machine that makes it all the more satisfying when one falls. Luring a machine into a tripwire, then lighting its Blaze (a flammable liquid) canister with a flame arrow and watching it explode from a distance feels rewarding, because it was your idea. There’s no one way you must defeat a machine. As long as you can think it up, you can do it. What you’re left with is a great-feeling combat system that won’t get boring throughout its 30-hour duration.

Give it a chance and Horizon Zero Dawn will consume every second of your free time. Whether it’s hunting the machines out in the wild, or seeing to that errand an NPC asked for your help with, there’s always something to be doing. Thanks to its beautifully detailed world, spending hours on end simply exploring will feel like minutes and there are few open world games that feel quite as realized as Horizon’s. If you’ve got a PS4, you owe it to yourself to give Horizon Zero Dawn a try. Oh, and if you’re a PS4 Pro owner, this is most definitely the game to showcase your system’s true potential.

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That does it for our February 2017 Game of the Month. Congratulations to Horizon Zero Dawn! What do you think were the best games from last month? Let us know in the comments.