‘For Honor’ Is The Best Video Game for Klingons

Ok. I know I'm a giant nerd, but in playing Ubisoft's rad, ridiculous sword combat fantasy For Honor, I can't help but think what, say, Worf would think of the game. Worf, of course is the Klingon security chief from Star Trek: The Next Generation (and possible secret best Trek Deep Space Nine). The dude is a badass sword fighter (excuse me, bat'leth fighter), a martial artist with superhuman strength and everlasting dignity, who fights, works, lives and dies by a strict, proud honor code.

Klingon martial arts clip from Star Trek: The Next Generation uploaded by YouTube user Chaîne de kenpostory. The show is even better in French. His entire culture is based on honor. Everything Klingons do is for honor. Honor is the concept that they hold in the highest regard in all things in life. Even the shittiest klingons, like the murderous Duras clan, purport to backstab and hide nasty secrets to save face for their honor.

You might point out that much of the Klingon lore is actually based on a blend of warrior cultures from earth, as is For Honor: the familial pride and dignity of the Samurai. The boisterous nature and joy of combat (and drinking) of the Vikings. The strict code and devotion to a life of service that speaks to the knights of the middle ages. Like Klingons, For Honor is a mashup of these things, all factions of the game brought together into a story that makes less sense than the classically terrible "Evolution" episode of Star Trek: Voyager, but it's a hell of a lot of fun.

I actually love that For Honor's story is such bullshit. I think the klingons would too. They really just want to fight and conquer and kick ass and get a whole lot of honor at the end of the day, so the tale that holds it all together doesn't have to be terribly nuanced. Most stories in klingon history focus more on who was a tougher hardass or bigger badass, or the last warrior standing on the battlefield than the complex histories and complications that led to the battle in the first place.

Despite some weird lines in the series to the contrary, I think the Klingons would appreciate for Honor's gender parity as well. You can play as any manner of knight, samurai or viking warrior, from any gender representation you choose. The main story quest has a woman knight (sparking plenty of Brienne of Tarth vibes), and there are tough, badass women warriors in every clan.

Klingon women are notoriously strong fighters, who live by the same honor code (and show the same lust for life) as the men.

For Honor is a lot of fun: I enjoy the combat, which gets lateral movement "right" far better than any other brawler I've played, and there's a wonderful heft to the duels. It knows exactly where it wants to evoke realism (in those duels, and the stance), and where it doesn't give a shit about what's real (the entire world and story, the fact that you run around battlefields towering over scrubby enemy soldiers), it just wants to fling blood around.

Most of all, I love how it embodies that Klingon spirit: that fighting is not only necessary to gain honor and respect, but it's fun. It's essential. It's the only damned thing. It's enjoyable to dive into that mindset for a bit, even if it's (sadly) lacking in any actual Klingons. Maybe next time, Ubisoft?