Holdfast: Nations At War by Anvil Game Studios has finally arrived to consoles. The popular multiplayer game has been on PC for some years now and console players can finally join in on the action. And it is a time for console players to rejoice.
Ready Your Muskets Men!
Holdfast: Nations At War is a unique game in the multiplayer market. While other shooters out there are fast-paced first-person shooters like Call of Duty, Nations At War is completely different. The game takes us back hundreds of years to Napoleonic warfare and can be played in third-person and first-person mode. We’re talking musket rifles, bayonets and cannons destroying the battlefield and Army forts. Muskets are the main rifles in the game and are fun to use but come with a bit of difficulty. For one, players need to be extremely accurate when firing at enemy players. If you miss your shot, it takes over ten seconds to reload another ball in your musket. Yep, welcome back to the old times of putting black powder into a musket and forcing it down until you can finally fire again.
You miss a shot, your opponents are going to take advantage. This is where the bayonet comes in handy. Bayonet gameplay is tons of fun but also very frustrating. While it is fun to charge with your team over a hill against a full team and start cutting them down, the bayonet gameplay is very clunky. Sometimes it feels very inconsistent. I was getting kills sometimes and I swear I didn’t hit them.
Some bayonet fights can last a whole minute with just the two players swinging in hopes of actually hitting them. While this can be annoying, you will get used to it the more you play. Graphics wise, the game looks great and the map design is very strong too. The audio is also fantastic, as you can hear men shouting in the distance, war cries and the sound of bayonets clashing as well. The sound of rifles firing is amazing and cannon balls are terrifying as they blow up around you. A truly immersive game for the time period.
Get The Bagpipes Out Lads
Now while muskets are the main weapon in Holdfast: Nations At War, there are other weapons that can be used and some are locked to specific classes. For example, the Officer class and his main weapon is a pistol and his trusty sword. Musicians can also be picked. They have a pistol but their biggest strength is their drums and bagpipes, which increase their teammates accuracy. The bagpipes are the best, hands down. Nothing better than going into battle with your musicians playing the bagpipes as kill your enemies with your bayonet. Adds to the fun of this game and world.
There are many other classes like medic and line infantry so you can mess around with a lot. The only issues with weapons, however, is you can unlock multiple weapons with shillings. Shillings can be earned by completing missions and daily challenges. All the muskets and weapons feel the same though. It’s not really clear if some weapons are better than the previous ones. May make unlocking the weapons feel pointless but it is content and something to spend your shillings on.
World War One And Trench Warfare
Napoleonic warfare isn’t the only game mode available. World War One is also available if you get bored of the normal game mode. There is some trench warfare battles here and the game does a good job of being immersive in a world war one setting. Despite this, there aren’t many players flocking to this game mode and sometimes the servers can be very low in player counts. But it does do things differently. Instead of musket rifles we get world war one rifles and they do have more ammo, allowing players to make mistakes. You miss your shot, go again. There is also naval combat modes as well but this seems to be the lowest in player counts, so it can be difficult to find a full server at times.
Best Community Ever
Holdfast: Nations At War and its community are brilliant. Definitely one of the best multiplayer communities ever. Hearing players screaming for everybody to charge is truly one of the best things ever. Everybody in every server talks and take their roles seriously. Some players that are officers will give orders like they are a real British officer and really immerses you in the combat. The proximity chat in the game is the game’s strongest feature and you will find yourself laughing all night long at the hilarious role-playing players.
Verdict
Holdfast: Nations At War is a brilliant and fun multiplayer game. The Napoleonic game mode is the best and the musket gameplay is very fun. The game is unique and stands out amongst other multiplayer shooters. While the combat can be clunky at times, it is still a fun time and something that you can get used to. And the community is amazing, you will have a blast with them in every game.
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