Humble Bundle has released a new collection featuring melee-oriented games like Chivalry II, Mortal Kombat 11, and Mordhau. Medieval and up-close combat has been a staple of gaming for years and in that way, it's been a staple of modding too - so here's our picks for five melee mods to take a crack at if you're feeling up to it!
ZEQ2-Lite Revolution Gold Edition
By RemainsOfNL
When it comes to epic interpersonal battles between high-powered fighters, Dragonball Z is basically one of the top contenders. There's plenty of DBZ official games for fans to get invested in, but some community creators have made their own fangames designed for modular content creation and that's where this mod comes in. The original fangame being based on Quake 3 makes it pretty accessible for additions, and this remains one of the more popular forks of the game for DBZ fans.
Nova Aetas
By Quintillus
Nova Aetas is set in the world of Calradia, but in a later period. The Old Medieval World is vanishing. A New Era is coming and you, the player, will experience it. Emphasising realism is a solid goal in Warband, which is already a tightly made medieval sandbox, but this mod expands the scope with a new era to explore. The signature many-on-many melee combat is still here, though, and remains are brutal as ever.
Bannerlord Online
By Storm54
Bannerlord, as the follow-up to Warband, has already received its own bustling modding community. One of the more incredible results of this community action is Bannerlord Online, which transforms the world of Calradia into a fully-fledged MMO. Updates are inbound, but this is a wicked example of mods done right. Bannerlord Online not only provides a multiplayer experience but provides a complete sandbox experience that is as close to the original as possible.
Gothic 2 NOTR: Nature's Fury
By TrojakEW
Gothic II is an oldie but a goodie, a somewhat clunky but very in-depth fantasy RPG with plenty of slashing and fighting against critters and men alike. Gothic II also has a vibrant modding scene full of passionate creators and one of the creations by this community is Nature's Fury, which started off as a texture mod and then blossomed into a larger project with new areas and quests, as well as additional mechanics that'll be tons of new fun even for experienced Gothic II aficionados.
Imperium Graecorum
By Imperium Graecorum Developments
The lands of the Romaioi or 'Romans' have suffered greatly from the ravages of war with the Persians to the east; prominent ancient cities such as Jerusalem and Antioch and Alexandria have succumbed to capture. A Barbarian horde of Scyths who claim the prestigious name of 'Avaroi' grow stronger and more demanding with the passing of each new year, and the Greeks have formed a new alliance to grow their strategic strength. This is the setting for an era conversion mod for Warband, transplanting you once again into some tight combat, and this time with an ancient historical focus.
Close And Personal
Humble Bundle's newest, er, bundle, features some heavy-hitting modern melee games, like Chivalry 2 (we've covered that game in a few editorials in the past given its modding roots), Mortal Kombat 11, and Mordhau all providing entertainment value to more mature audiences. Younger players, though, can get in on the action with Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, which is sort of Nick's take on a Super Smash Bros. game with the top characters in their franchises.
The Melee Mayhem bundle features a few obvious candidates as well as
a few lesser known titles for a decent spread of fighting games
Fists Of Fury
The bundle starts off at £20.80 GBP/$23.00 USD and runs until October 27th. We'd expect to see some kind of spooky Humble Bundle around when this one concludes for the Halloween season, but that remains to be seen. For now - gratuitous violence for all!
