'Mount & Blade: Warband' Review

     So, buying Mount & Blade was quite possibly one of the best purchases I've made this year. I have been having a blast just messing around with it. "But what are some of the finer points?" Well, I'm glad you asked...

Finding box art for a downloadable PC game?  The definition of "difficult"...

     Story: If there is an actual story I have yet to find it. This game is the definition of sandbox, you do what you want to do. Attack an enemy army? You bet. Siege a castle? Yeah, sure. Defend against a siege? Yeah, that too. Raid a peaceful village? Yeah, you can do that... jerk. You travel to villages and cities recruiting anyone willing (or anyone you can afford) to be a part of your army. Although there isn't any traditional story, I suppose you could say that the main goal of the game is to become king of all the land. Which would take a very, very, very long time. I'm thinking months of constant playing. But, I'm pretty sure it's possible.

Sweet cuppin' cakes!

     Instead, let me tell you one of my stories about an event that happened in game. So there I was, I had lost the battle and had been taken prisoner by the enemy. They dragged me all over the kingdom until, one night, I was lucky enough to escape. I traveled to the nearest village and, seeing as how I was still behind enemy lines, demanded that they give me provisions. I was by myself and, although heavily armed and armored, the villagers didn't care much for my demands. They instead took up arms against me.
     The game plopped me down on the outskirts of town. As I rode through the village I was puzzled at the lack of villagers. As I exited the opposite side of town, I noticed a villager coming over the crest of a nearby hill. Then a few more followed. Then some more. Then more. My eyes grew wide at the army of fifty angry peasants bearing down upon me. I jerked the reigns and galloped off in the opposite direction. When I came to the middle of town, I stopped. Come now, Goongala, they're peasants! Mindless and armed with naught but clubs! You can take 'em! So, reinvigorated, I turned around and charged into the angry mob.
     For twenty minutes I rode around the mob and picked off anyone who strayed from the group. Out of the fifty, I was only able to take out fifteen or so. The whole time I was circling them, they were throwing rocks at me. While the rocks merely bounced harmlessly off my heavy armor, my horse did not fare so well. Time after time the rocks slowly shaved off life from my horse's HP bar. Then I foolishly got too close to one of the peasants and he got a lucky hit. The horse toppled over, and I fell to the ground with a clang and thud.
     I felt the end coming closer. The only thing left to do was try to delay the inevitable. I pulled out my two-handed claymore and raised it above my head. The peasants charged and... I cut them down like grass. Their numbers meant nothing to the cold steel of my massive sword. A few got lucky hits, but their clubs were as effective as their rocks had been. Within two minutes I had killed the remaining peasants. I had seized victory from the jaws of defeat. It was incredible... and somewhat shameful. I had single-handedly murdered the entire population of this little town. In shame, I returned to my allies...

On the bright side, my armor got a free coat of paint...

     Gameplay: As I said above, you travel to villages and cities to recruit men (and women) into your army. Then you use said army to raid villages, sack towns, and siege castles. Most of these recruits have to be trained up, but occasionally you can find mercenaries at the local tavern. These come at a higher cost but are  a lot stronger and have better weapons and armor. You can also occasionally find companions in the taverns. These are named NPCs who level up the same way you do. They can also be outfitted with special armor and weapons. 

     But these NPCs must be appeased constantly. Most of the things you say and do to people effects your relationship with them. This goes for NPCs, towns, and whole nations. The people in one town love me because I've helped them out with a bandit problem, while another village hates my guts because I pillaged their goods and burned the town. Yeah, I'd hate me for that too...

      As you gain favor with different NPCs they may eventually start to like you. When that happens, they may start to give you things. Like castles. BEST. PRESENT. EVER. Then you have to garrison it with troops and upgrade the fortifications. They sometimes give you towns as well, which are a pain in the butt to keep defended. But these towns and castles make you money, and that's always a good thing.
     The questing in this game is a pain. The NPCs you get the quests from don't always stay in the same place, which means when it comes time to join one of them in battle or turn in a quest you have to hunt them down. This often results in failed quests. I really don't like this. Sure, it makes the game a bit more realistic; normal people wouldn't just stand in the same place for weeks on end until you've finished the quest. But it really makes questing a pain, and I try to avoid it if at all possible.



     Graphics: The graphics are a bit dated, but this is one of the instances where the gameplay makes up for it. The textures are pretty bad and the animations are a bit stiff. But this game is unlike anything I've ever seen before, so I'm willing to let a few things slide. I mean, look at The Ocarina of Time. That looks horrible, and yet we consider it one of the greatest games of all time.

     Combat: The combat is fantastic. I love Skyrim and all, but Mount & Blade has made me realize just how bad the combat is in Skyrim. Not only is it fantastic, it's extremely challenging. You decide the angle of your attack. If you move the mouse right and then left click, you strike from the right. If you move the mouse up then click, you strike from above, and so on and so forth. The same can be said for blocking, and this is where the game gets interesting. If your opponent is attacking from the top you have to block at the top, unless you have a shield. Shields can block most any attack, but will brake after some abuse. Then you have to block with a sword or pole-arm, which can be exhilarating. Adrenaline starts flowing, then you make mistakes. It's fun and intense, and I love it.
     When you take your army into combat you can give them orders, like "stand ground" or "follow me". The default order is "charge" which means that at the beginning of every battle, your army rushes forward like an angry mob. Those on horseback reach the battle first and are usually horribly outnumbered, rewarding their enthusiasm with a swift and painful death. I would have made the default order "stand ground", that way you could work out some strategy once you see what the battlefield's terrain is. Maybe there is a way to change the default and I just haven't found it yet, but the game doesn't really explain all the features of combat.

Jurgen, maybe you should hide behind a crenelation next time instead of standing in between them... 

    Weapons: There are so many weapons to choose from. You have dozens of types of swords from single handed, hand-and-a-half, and two handed. Then you have axes and maces, also single and two handed. Then you have pole-arms and lances; some you can use with a shield and some you can't. Then there are throwable weapons: javelins, knives, and axes. Then you can use bows and crossbows. Then there's ammo choice. There are so many to choose from it's mind boggling. I personally have gotten pretty good with a lance on horseback... sort of.

     Environment:  It's not historically accurate, if that's what you're wondering. The people that live on the island you're dropped off on are based off of historical races, such as Mongols (the "Khergits") or Vikings (the "Nords"). The map is huge, and plays a little bit like a real-time strategy game, somewhat like the Total War games. In fact, this whole game reminds me of the Total War series, except that it's not turn based and you actually get to fight your enemies face to face. The towns and villages are probably one of the weak points of this game. When you enter a town they are extremely bland, unlike the varied and diverse towns and cities of Skyrim. Each race has a different style of castle and town, but there are 20 of these per kingdom and they all look mostly the same. The castles are pretty bland too, but they are a ton of fun to siege and defend. Several of the taverns are the same on the inside, and there's not much variation in anything else either. But the single player experience is said to be of secondary importance. The main draw for this game is supposedly it's multiplayer...

You all right there, Ymira? Maybe you should wipe your face off...

     Multiplayer: ... which I am terrible at. Now, I consider myself an above-average gamer. When I'm playing Halo or Battlefield I usually have a pretty good kill/death ratio, usually in the positive. My first game of Mount & Blade? Two kills and thirty deaths. But, this game has an insanely steep learning curve. You have to know what your doing and have some skill with the weapons you're using. This is not a game where just anyone can pick up a gun and kill someone with a few shots. The enemies in the single player campaign are usually predictable, whereas human players can be infinitely random. They can change their strategy on the fly. This can lead to long, drawn out sword fights between two opponents. But this makes the thrill of victory all the more exciting. It's extremely satisfying to kill an enemy after fighting with them for a few long, agonizing minutes. I've still got a way to go before I fully understand the ins and outs of the combat system, but my skills are improving. It does take some getting used to and you will want to mess around with the single player a bit just to get your bearings, or try out the training instead. But nothing can prepare you for the real thing, and eventually you'll have to get out there and bash some skulls.

     Edit: Mods: This game has some of the coolest mods I've ever seen... and I've played Minecraft, so that's saying something. There are official mods and unofficial ones. A good example of an unofficial one would be Mount & Gladius: (Warning: Language)



     An example of an unofficial mod that went official (so to speak) is Mount & Musket, which was the predecessor to the new Napoleonic Wars DLC:



     I just bought this expansion, and I don't know if I've ever had so much fun playing a video game. Videos will most certainly be soon to come.

     So, what do I rate it? ZOMG! of course.

- The story is non-existent, but for a sandbox game of this kind you don't necessarily need one.
- The gameplay is innovative, complex, and a whole lot of fun to play. The same can be said of the combat, and I hope to see more medieval and fantasy games take this combat style and run with it.
- The diversity in the weapons and armor give the game thousands of possibilities. You play how you want to play, with what tools you wish to play it with.
- The environment, while fictional, is extensive, if a tad bit bland and repetitive.
- The multiplayer is fantastic, although it does take a bit of getting used to. It's like Call of Duty: Medieval Warfare.
   






     I'm loving this game. I'm not even trying to do any quests or anything like that, I'm just trying to build an army and fight other armies. I have such a good time with the sieges, both attacking and defending. For $19.99, I'm pretty sure I've gotten my money's worth already. There's also an expansion for it called Napoleonic Wars, which looks like it's as much, if not more, fun than the original. I definitely recommend it. Then there's another game called War of the Roses in development (by another company) that takes the multiplayer medieval combat idea behind Mount & Blade even further. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

     Speaking of War of the Roses, here's a look at the pre-alpha gameplay by the cynical Brit, Totalbiscuit:

(Thanks to Google Images for the box art, and Totalbiscuit for being so entertaining.)