Holdfast: Nations at War

I sent the Gaming Nexus group chat a message during my first match of Holdfast: Nations at War that read, “Guys, Holdfast is a GAME!” I knew what the game was, thanks to a couple of viral videos, and because I bought it on a deep Steam sale but never played it. Isn’t that how it always goes? But I never thought I would enjoy the game as much as I have. In fact, I like it so much that I spent $40 of my own money to upgrade to the Collector’s Edition. The PvP (player vs. player) historical military shooter is a little rough around the edges, but it’s buttressed by a player community that has fully bought in to its shtick, making it one of the most enjoyable social gaming experiences around.

Holdfast: Nations at War is a competitive multiplayer historical military shooter for up to 150 players. It reminds me a lot of Chivalry 2 (a game I adore) in that there’s some mechanical jank, a historical motif, player roleplaying, and copious amounts of humor. This new console version includes both the base game, set during the Napoleonic Wars, and the Frontlines expansion, set during World War I. The Nations at War mode includes battlefields and countries from the period, including the French Empire, British Empire, Prussia, Italy, Austria, and Russia. And, of course, Frontlines includes the Allied and Central powers factions.

What Holdfast does best isn’t necessarily the military sim, but rather the fact that it embraces and fosters a community that is just trying to have fun. A lot of stuff that is not socially acceptable in other shooters is totally welcome, if not essential, in Holdfast. There is always someone blasting music through their microphone, someone shouting incessantly, and someone barking orders.

Those things might not fly in other shooters, but they’re absolutely critical to the experience in Holdfast. During a match of the Frontlines mode, my team’s commander played a hard rock playlist the entire time. For 20 or 30 minutes, me and the lads were treated to a cacophony of Metallica, System of a Down, ZZ Top, and plenty more. Thanks to proximity chat for both friendlies and enemies, I would pass by the commander occasionally and his character would be holding a megaphone to his mouth, but no orders were being relayed—just "Enter Sandman," "Toxicity," and "Sharp Dressed Man." I loved every minute of it. So much so that I made the effort to compliment his DJ skills using the in-game text chat.

And here’s the thing: I have yet to hear anyone complaining about the relentless in-game shenanigans. On the contrary, the player community of around 10,000 people has fully embraced what Holdfast is, perhaps even better than the Helldivers 2 community has clung to that game’s comedic trappings. This is supported by a framework of 27 classes to choose from, leaning heavily into the roleplaying elements of the game. You can be a commander, a linesman, a cannoneer, a musician, a flag bearer, or a surgeon, just to name a few.

Each class has an important role to play, not only on the battlefield, but for the social role playing as well. Some roles are more laborious than others. For instance, the cannoneer must move the canon around the battlefield, carry the ammo crate to its position, pick-up ammo from the box, load it, pack the canon with a ram rod, aim, fire, and then do it all over again. On the other hand, musicians march around the battlefield playing one of several instruments, from the bagpipes to the drums, providing buffs like increased reload speed to teammates within range of their sweet music. I’ve probably spent the most time as a musician, if that tells you anything about me.

Playing to their chosen role, you’ll regularly hear commanders giving orders (if they’re not rocking out) in fake accents that fluctuate depending on what nation they’re representing. The rest of the team oftentimes follows suit, and even I found myself shouting, “Vive la France!” by my second match. It’s the type of game and community that rubs off on you almost instantly. Everyone is there to have fun, no matter what.

Most matches are total chaos, endlessly comedic, and yet tactically and cooperatively satisfying because most everyone is bought in to the roleplay. To that end, I think anyone can enjoy Holdfast, even solo players. In most matches that I’ve played, everyone is playing the objective, playing their role, cooperating with the general direction of the team, but still never taking it too seriously. It’s a pitch perfect game, and that’s largely due to the community, that, while small, has been well established on PC over the years.

With that said, I do submit a major caveat to your individual enjoyment of Holdfast: If you are the type of player who mutes everyone in the lobby, or doesn’t like being on comms, I don’t see how you can have anywhere close to the experience that I’ve been having. You need proximity chat enabled to appreciate this game. The shared social experience is paramount to what Holdfast is, so if you can’t even just mute yourself and listen to all the nonsense happening around you, then I don’t think it is going to be for you.

That’s because the moment-to-moment combat is decent but not all that thrilling when examined on its own. You’re shooting musket rifles and pistols that take a long time to reload and so there are extended breaks in your personal involvement in the action after every shot. Gunplay is stiff and intentionally laborious, and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. That’s the way it should be when shooting musket rifles during the Napoleonic Wars, but it does take some getting used to. In other words, if you normally play shooters like Call of Duty, Fortnite, or The Finals, you’re going to feel stuck in the mud playing Holdfast. It is more akin to the Isonzo game, or Hell Let Loose, to a lesser extent. 

And you’re going to miss most shots that you take in Holdfast, particularly at longer distances. Even so, the translation from PC to console has been well done, with Holdfast feeling just fine to play on a console controller, utilizing radial menus and familiar shooter controls. You can also freely switch between first and third-person perspectives, which is a huge plus.

But truthfully, if I didn’t have a fake French commander shouting at me, or System of a Down coming through the megaphone between firing shots, I could see myself getting bored rather quickly while waiting nearly 10 seconds to reload a musket. It gets better in the WWI-based Frontlines mode, obviously, since you’re fast forwarding a century, but I still recommend experiencing the total Holdfast package as it was designed to be played, with social features and all.

In terms of game modes, there are a few different types on offer. Sometimes you’ll just be fighting to deplete enemy reinforcements as a win condition, or you may need to capture (or defend) objectives on the map like a fort or garrison. There are also naval battles, which completely surprised me in how fun they are. You and your teammates operate one of several ships, trying to sink the enemy team’s ships by firing your canons. But you can also board other ships and fight or hop on a rowboat when your main ship sinks and join up with another friendly crew, or perhaps even commandeer an enemy vessel. It’s an absolute hoot.

Ultimately, Holdfast: Nations at War is neither the best-looking nor best-handling military shooter you’ll ever play, but it knows exactly what it wants to be and doubles down on it. As a social shooter, it is a top-shelf experience, embraced by a small yet dedicated community of players that make the game an absolute joy to play. I was laughing until I cried in game one, and shouting, “Vive la France!” by game two. It’ll totally suck you in if you let it, and for a mere $20, I’d recommend that you do. That said, Holdfast is heavily reliant on its roleplaying elements for maximum enjoyment, so if you’re someone who mutes the entire lobby in your multiplayer games, steer clear of this one. But man, you’d be missing one hell of a time if you did.