2.4.2009

Stumbled across this one by total accident. Played to level 7 for free about a week ago after downloading it, and I am now hooked!I am now level 32. The more I play it the more in depth it seems to get. Which is why it also reminds me of Elite back in the day. My comments are based on what I have achieved so far in game, and I have a LONG way to go in it yet.So...what's it all about? Well, you're a medieval knight type starting out on your own as an independent, in the middle of a (quite large) continent. Several Kings, who have their own lands and are usually at war with each other, control the continent. There are many villages,castles and towns spread over the continent and these are what the Kings fight each other over - land and control of these places. Each king has many Lords under his command, and each Lord will be in control of a number of troops, and possibly towns, castles or villages. The 2nd in command to the King is the Marshall and he can give orders out to the other Lords.You don't have a certain task to do it's open ended. What you do is up to you. The general gist of it though is to gather as many people to your banner as possible to fight for you, get as much wealth as possible, as much land as possible etc. I'm assuming long term it will be possible to "win" by taking over everything - but at this stage I do not know, it might not end even then. How you go about that is up to you. You can do it yourself alone, or help out a king. Doing it alone is much harder a path to take. You can start off helping a king then go alone then go back to a king, change to helping a different king, all sorts of combinations.When you get villages of your own, castles and towns, they all generate income, and can also be upgraded. The population also decides based on your actions or that of the King whether they like you or not, same goes for other Lords and Kings both on your side and against you. You can improve the relationships by helping them out in battle, doing quests for them, looking after them well, acting honourably when victorious and so on.The game is combat heavy, great fun, and has many other elements to it as well, such as levelling up your char and troops, putting those points you get from levelling up into skills of your choice, trading, diplomacy combat skills, riding archery...and much more.The battles themselves are very well done, terrain plays a part, and you can order your troops around while your fighting yourself. The mounted combat is amazingly well done, and the castle sieges/defence are great as well.The graphics are not state of the art, but when on max detail they are very good. I love the blood that gathers on your weapon and horse. Certainly good enough for me, and I would think good enough for your average Joe just like me as well.Sound effects are very well done (again in combat very well done) screams of the dying, cheers of the victorious, satisfying thwacks of swords on armour and shields, grunts of pain, battle roars - it's just great. Music is of a typical theme and again never seems to get in the way and seems appropriate. It all just seems to go together very well.It is not all good news though. It is not perfect. Some problems that annoy me are that some of the quests you do can be annoying and repetitive. I particularly hate the one to get cattle for a village. Managing and upgrading your troops, especially when you have a lot of heroes with you, to go through their skills and gear could be done better. When you make Marshall or go the rebel route and issue orders to your fellow Lords they seem incredibly slow to respond at times, and seems random whether or not they do as they are ordered to. I suppose this could be seen as them doing their own thing as Lords, or it might even have a bearing on how fast they respond to you given if they like you or not or distance. It's still very annoying and needs to be done better. Itemisation and loot from battles could be better. After just a short time the gear that drops from battles is useless as you already have a lot better.However, these are really very minor niggles with what is a great game, one I am still discovering more things to do with as I go along, and even has a vibrant modding community going. This is probably the best game purchase I have made for a very long time, and would urge you all to give it a try - it's free until level 7, which is enough to give you an idea of what is what. As an added bonus it is made by a small independent, and is miles better than many of the "blockbuster" releases we have seen of late, and at this price you simply cannot go wrong.EDIT : On the modding section of the website/forums there are add ons (free) that increase the graphical quality of the game by quite a lot.

4.11.2008

This is an impressive game from an independent developer. My initial impressions of a slightly rough-edged game rapidly gave way to a growing addiction.Graphically the game is okay without being stunning. Characters look slightly clumsy and faces are pretty ugly. This probably accounts for the first impression. However, once you start on the combat you realise that this is not so important and the gameplay is a whole different ball game. On the plus side graphically the environments all look good, and combat is generally rendered quite well.Fighting a single opponent one on one it rapidly becomes apparent that this is not just a click-fest combat so readily presented by most RPGs.When you decide to strike is important. The left-click attack, right-click parry or block combination works really well. Attack at the wrong moment and you may open yourself up to take a hit or your opponent may block. Get it right and your blow will hit home. There are no healing potions here and you don't automatically gain hit-points by leveling - so blocking and good armour become increasingly important.The game has two main views. The rendered 3D world which is used to explore towns and castles and for combat, and an abstracted map which is used for travelling. The latter shows your party and other parties within your line of sight. It helps to improve your spotting ability so you can see and assess bandit parties before they spot you and make a decision as to whether to engage or avoid.The game makes no concessions for the beginner. Travel alone at your peril. Bandit parties of varying size and quality roam freely and will not hesitate to attack, rob and carry you off. Horse archers are particularly frustrating to engage, if you don't have sufficient cavalry in your party. The fact that the world is so dangerous for the beginner helps create a feeling of realism - but it can be frustrating at times.Quests may be picked up from NPCs and can be a good way of earning cash. You do need to be careful what you take on as the quests appear to take little account of your abilities and may send you across very dangerous terrain with goods to carry which slow you down and make it difficult to escape from pursuing villains.To aid you on your way you can recruit heroes, mercenaries or peasants. The latter can be trained relatively rapidly to become useful assets on the battlefield. It is very satisfying to train up a party and then watch them grow in skills to successfully take on tougher foes in larger numbers. As your party grows in numbers and experience your wage bill will also grows - but so does the potential for profit. The game gives you the ability to issue commands to your troops during the fight (whole party at once or by type). Good tactics can carry the day - but unsurprisingly battles can get pretty messy. The battles generally are immense fun once you get the hang of them.The open-ended nature of the game allows you to forge you own path. Swear allegiance to one lord and fight his wars for him. Act as mercenary and sell your sword to the highest bidder, or just head out to pillage or protect as it takes your fancy.There are a lot of positives to this game. It is well thought out, generally well executed and very, very different to the mass of RPGs. But there are frustrations too. The hand-to-hand combat system is intuitive but once mounted it seems harder to predict when a blow will land or fail. The archery targeting is very hard to get used to, particularly at longer ranges. There are a number of display bugs and the usual issues of path-finding and getting blocked by terrain features which are all too common in 3D games. On the large map bandit parties may be obscured by town symbols and appear without warning ruining a carefully plotted approach. The method of managing your troops inventories and skills is not intuitive and results in a lot of unnecessary clicking. But all of these are minor niggles for a game which has so much potential and so much charm. Definitely worth a look, not least because you can play it (with full features) to level 7 before you buy it by downloading it from the Taleworlds website!I fear my evenings will be spent riding the plains of Calradia for months to come!

27.9.2008

Now I've been playing Mount&Blade from back in the beta stage (as have many) and bought it a good while back, and in all honesty it is a bit.. rough. I will address the problems first, because, in all honesty, when you get to the meat of it you utterly forget them.The first problem is the economy (or lack of); making money is as simple as it gets. You run from one place to another buying and selling, no skill involved, and easy money (a lot of it).The second problem is the graphics.. well this isn't too much of a problem really, after you get over the shock of a character that's poligonated beyond belief you begin to forget them. The shader effects are very nice, good tree shadows,and the water reflections aren't bad either - it's not crysis, but nothing is.The third problem is a rather big one actually; getting captured, released, captured, released etc. in an endless cycle due to overwhelming enemy force. This (pretty much) only happens if you align yourself with a kingdom all rival kingdoms will attack you - and if you get captured by an army of a couple hundred you aren't going to get much good out of it. But the problem doesn't end there, you get released, and then a few seconds later the army has captured you again. This doesn't happen all the time but still it's annoying.The fourth (and final) problem is to do with finding out about your troop's morale and what they like and dislike, the information is a bit vague, but as long as you are sensible not much should go wrong (it really is important to pay attention to your troops though).Now I'm sure you're all thinking that's quite a lot of problems, and I'm sure you're all wondering how I will justify a 9.5 - in all honesty it's hard to explain.The gameplay - this is what's at the heart of the game, I've haven't noticed an ounce of story (well, actually I have, you sort of make your own, as you go around the world your troop will tell you interesting thing about certain locations, and in a way you carve your own story, it's not brilliant, there isn't any scripting or voice acting, but it's satisfying, very satisfying.The combat is truly brilliant, not only is the actual combat satisfying due to huge battles you commanding one army, your enemy commanding another, charging into battle on horses with crossbows, swords, pole arms, a few bowmen on foot ready to take people down from a range (you get the picture), it's also rather smart. Prior to Mount&Blade I have never seen a game where if you have your shield on your back and an arrow hits it, it actually block. It doesn't sound like much but it's these small improvements that make the combat so satisfying, in most game the arrow goes through and you loose 5 hit points, and it does this for pretty much everything.The controls make or break a game, and here they are brilliant. Easy to use controls allow good fast paced game play against many enemies without the slightest key confusion, or loosing a battle because the game didn't react fast enough. It works, it's very playable and it just makes the game even more fun.The music is the last 'upside' I'm going to mention, it is really really good, now this really surprised me. A good soundtrack adds a lot of feel and atmosphere, and not only are the sound effects good, so is the music, creating a really epic feel.Well.. I lied, there is one more upside that I have to mention, a good modding community. Even the best games get old after a while, some last 10 hours, some last 1000 (morrowind anyone?), but an active modding community is a sure way to keep it going until.. well until the modding community stops.. and this one doesn't seem to be doing that any time soon. So when you've had your fill of the normal game (which takes a good while) you then have many more user made 'modules' to download an play (and just for your information there is one being made at the moment reworking the game's graphics, and it looks very good).Epic battles, Well written text, Active modders and some of the most satisfying gameplay I've come across make this game one my favourites - ever. A must buy for all even mildly interested in the genre!

11.8.2009

Normally I don't write reviews, but for this one I'll make an exeption. For this lowly price, you'll literally spend hours glued to your screen. Addiction rate is quite high as is the learning curve. Especially on higher difficulty levels, the game can be quite unforgiving. It tends to be more of a 'realistic' medieval combat simulator and it pulls it off quite well!Graphics: Not the greatest around, but very functional. Face models are rather ugly as are the body models. Armor on the other hand looks pretty good. Plantlife is rather crude, but the towns and castles are not too bad. It's all quite 'low poly'. Overall quality can be (and will be if I can believe the screenshots of the upcoming expansion 'warband')improved upon. Luckily, there are tons of mods that improve on this (higher resolution textures, HDR lighting etc). Still, it's suitable for this type of low budget game and did not bother me too much.Sound: Again, not the best, but it's functional. Grunts, screams, metal clanging it all sounds familiar and realistic, but I'm sure a bit more effort could've been made here. Again, mods are available for download which improves on this.Gameplay: You start out as a lonely adventurer in a medieval period fictional world with various factions, all of which you can ally yourself with. Various missions are offered from town elders, guild masters, lords and kings and in order to receive a vassalage from any king, you will need to prove your worth. Go forth and recruit villagers whom you will forge into a might army with enough time and training. The role playing aspect is quite deep, with various skills and traits that are vital to your adventure and directly impact your effectiveness as a leader and warrior. Combat skills are obvious. If your horse archery is low, don't expect to be able to shoot with alot of accuracy from horse back. If your leadership skill is too low, don't expect to be able to command a large company of soldiers. Wound treatment, engineering, inventory management, tracking, spotting and surgery are a few others. You can also recruit relatively fleshed out characters which you can individually equip with armor and weapons that you can buy. They have their own will and will object if you go against that particular charater's ethos. Some will also not be able to happily work together forcing you to make choices between them. Some will leave after a certain amount of time of their own accord. They, as you, also increase in experience over time and you can mold them to suit your strategy. Having a tracker, engineer and surgeon for instance, along with some bulky knights can really help (you can also give them horses for instance). When you progress through the game, you will partake in campaigns of war against factions and you will be given towns to govern as well as castles. Medieval politics is also part of the game where throne pretendents can be assisted to take over factions as well as trying to gain favor with certain ladies of the courts to excercise influence. Most of the missions are a bit repetative, but there's plenty of them to keep you entertained for a long time. You're free to persue your own interests however and that what makes it exciting. Raiding caravans, pillaging towns, besieging castles: it's all part of day to day life in Calradia. It's got huge longevity too with all the expansive mods available. Some are high fantasy, some are more realistic. Currently I'm playing the 100 years war mod set between England and France and find it very enjoyable.Multiplayer: there is none. This is (for now, until the expansion pack arrives) single player only!Overall, I found it refreshing, intuitive, engrossing, addictive and a heck of a lot of fun! Certainly worth my money and the expansion pack will be a definite day one buy for me. Can't wait! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm about to charge into some bandits that are plagueing my villages...

10.9.2009

Mount and Blade is an original and addictive Medieval RPG, unique in the sense that it's one of the few Medieval RPGs that doesn't involve orcs, magic, and dragons - even if the game is set in a ficticious kingdom. You begin by selecting the type of character you want to play - will he/she be a Noble Knight, a ruthless mercenary or a wily merchant? You can then build a backstory for your character by answering a small number of questions. You then select your character's appearance, including body/facial shapes, race and sex. With these options selected; you are then unleashed upon the Kingdom of Calradia, and what you do is entirely up to you, as there is no story. Some people might find this slightly daunting.Others will find the lack of story somewhat boring. Personally I find it great as it gives you the freedom to create your own adventures.As you advance through the game, you can join into alliances with the many warring factions in this vast realm. Each one has their own unique strenghts and weaknesses, and each are based on a medieval civilisation such as as the Vikings, Mongols, Arabs or Gothic Europeans. As you wander about you can take part in tournaments, engage in epic battles (with up to 200 men on screen), fight in sieges, deal with raiders, and carry out simple tasks for noble lords- such as assassination, hostage rescuing, letter delivering etc. What's particuarly good is how you character can progress. The more missions you complete and the greater number of men you defeat in battle will allow you to gain new skills and attributes. You can also buy and sell weapons, clothing, food and armour, as well as recruit mercenaries into your ranks.One of the highlights of the game is the combat system which is intuitive and original, not to mention realistic. You can swing your sword and parry blows by pointing the mouse in a particular direction. For instance, if you think the enemy is going to launch a blow to your left, just turn the camera in that direction and click. It's simple and easy to learn but difficult to master. Horse riding is also very effective, and there's something rather satisfying about landing an arrow between an enemy's eyes.Another highlight is the music and sound effects, which is of a very high quality considering the game's low production values.If the game has any problems it's in terms of graphics. These are rather old, while the combat animations are poor. With that in mind, riding through a village on a starry night, or watching the sun set on a castle's battlements is still very impressive. The old graphics even have their benefits in that it allows the game to be played on lower end systems.Another bad point would have to be that the game can be very unforgiving at times. While starting out, I wandered the countryside just minding my own buisness only to be randomly attacked by a massive army five times the size of my own small warband. I was subsequently thrashed, and my meagre possesions stolen from me. While trying to find a way to a safe haven I was attacked again. This can become tiresome and depressing when you first get into the game, but you'll soon learn to overcome it.Overall, this is a fine game and a labour of love by the tiny Turkish independent development team, Tale Worlds Interactive. Armaðan Yavuz and his wife, Ipek Yavuz, should be congratulated for the amount of hard work and dedication they have poured into this game.With new mods being created all the time, Mount and Blade is sure to have a lasting impact. With low system requirements and price, everyone who loves medieval combat games should get it.

19.8.2010

Wage War, Sack villages, trade, build an army, join a kingdom and become a lord or be an outlaw - Mount and Blade offers all of these things; your story and legend awaits you in this RTS RPG.Story:The story is fairly simple. You make your own story. Will you start your adventure as a trader who will become the most famous and honored noble in the land? Will you start your life as a noble who will become the strongest leader with the biggest army in the land? Mount and Blade offers you many choices. You can even chose to join a war and sack villages and siege castles and forts of the enemy you are fighting against.Eventually you may retire and see what your character becomes from all the money and land he/she owns which was a system that could be found in Sid Meier's Pirates which Mount and Blade has borrowed ideas from. To many if you ask me - this game reminds me of Sid Meier's Pirates. The only difference is that you control the fighting you do in battle and it has RTS elements and is set on land with some other ideas (such as being able to loot villages).Gameplay:The combat is actually quite fun. Rag dolls are in this game as well. I once killed a solider while he was on horse back and he went flying off of the horse, landed on the ground and bounced up before coming to his final resting place. You must remember to block though and time your strikes. Fighting from horse back is the same as fighting on ground, apart from the fact that it is much faster. Needs more practice and is very invigorating and funny as you try to hit people while they are on house back as well.5/5RPG elements:The RPG elements are pretty much like those found in old traditional Role Playing Games. You have strength, Agility, Intelligence and Charisma. Then you have minor skills and then weapon proficiencies.5/5RTS elements:You have direct control over your units. You can order them to charge, mount up, dismount in case spear men are nearby and hold position and various other orders. You could just build up a massive army and not even issue orders but if you want to win battles that you have disadvantages too, then tactics are required. However, with a powerful character and powerful units, tactics aren't really necessary.3/5Overall:Mount and Blade is an addictive game. You may get board quick or you may have countless hours of fun raising an army, making a profit from trading, battling, entering tournaments and arenas, completing quests or winning a war and gaining land as a result.PROS:Addictive, good ideas, RTS and RPG free roaming combined. Great combat. Good sceneries. Re playable. Different paths to take. War is fun. The important NPCs wage war against each other. Travel to each other's courts. Visit towns that belong to them. Kill and capture bandits raiding their land - you aren't the only one doing things in Mount and Blade.CONS:Dated graphics. Repetitive quests. You can never die if defeated in battle, instead you are always taken prisoner but this has some pros in its own ways. Dialouge is only written and not recorded and is quite repetitive. Traveling about can take long. It takes only 10 hours of game play to build an army big enough to siege a fort. You can't buy towns or villages. Captured enemies can only be sold, recruited or released but not killed.Score:7/10A nice game with some good ideas. For the current price. How could you say no?P.SI don't view comments.

14.10.2008

This game is great for so many reasons. Sure, it has it's downsides but when you bear in mind it's from an indie developer without megabucks you can really appreciate the concepts here; fresh ideas, thrilling gameplay and, for me, utter addiction.The combat has been touted as some of the best real time combat yet seen and I have to agree. It's faced paced, thrilling and as you get better immensley satisfying. It's great fun charging yourself and your steed into a pile of enemies and seeing them crumple. It's also great trying out new weapons, be it ranged, polearms, axes, swords, halberds, etc. they all handle differently and you can really pick one to suit your playing style. Also,

1.2.2011

Great gaming, great valueStumbled accorss this randomly on amazon and based on the reviews and price decided to buy. I stopped playing PC games some time ago when DRAM was brought out but was very happy to note its absense from this game (developers should note the massive support for this game in the community with people even rebuying the new game to show support for the developer).I've only just scratched the surface in terms of the game itself having only put in 10 or so hours so far, but what I have experienced has been fantastic - open ended 'sandbox' type play where you tell the story you want to.Currently I have become something of a bandit,

17.9.2008

I played the trial downloadable version of this game until it expired and couldn't wait for the full version to arrive, in fact Mount & Blade is singularly responsible for bringing me back to playing PC games; I don't think I've bothered since 2006 when I came across EVE ONLINE.Point of reference for many with M&B will be that graphically the game resembles the Elder Scrolls games Morrowind and Oblivion, but to tell the truth it is there that all similarities end. M&B is essentially an RPG/strategy hybrid - it contains elements of both kinds of games, with a wonderful emphasis on combat: large-scale battles in this game are something to be experienced (if medieval combat is your cup of tea,

13.12.2008

Your sitting on your horse with your army to your left and right it's December and the fog makes it difficult to see the lay of the land.Suddenly an arrow whistles passed your head and out of the gloom you see the enemy rushing down the hill towards you and you give the order to charge. You suddenly realise that you haven't saved the game for over an hour and this battle takes on a whole new level.Other have said this is a medieval Elite but I think it is much more than that. You have the opportunity to capture and run towns, castles and villages (all be it at a basic level), pillage and burn the enemies towns and ransom their solders and lords,

21.9.2008

Medieval Elite? Definitely. Also a chivalric 3D shooter/basher with party-based RPG elements and character development in a persistent world of competing factions. I got into it by downloading the trial version (various beta versions have been available for quite some time, allowing you to advance a character up to level 6, which is plenty of time to decide if you like the game) and was hooked from half-way through the tutorial -- from the moment I first mounted a horse, to be precise. I'm sure I had a huge grin on my face as I rode around the practice field!The game is completely open-ended, with no central narrative. You find yourself in a land of competing kingdoms,

3.8.2009

After a half a year of play I am fairly convinced that this is the greatest computer game I have ever played. I'm not given to hyperbole but for sheer enjoyment (and re-playability) I would be rate this ahead of classics like Civilization. I have already purchased seven copies of the game for my friends.THE PROS1) Excellent graphics: Arguably better than more recent games that cover the fantasy/medieval genre (e.g. Dragon Age, Witcher, Warhammer Online, etc). It's probably close to being on par with Oblivion, but can actually run on pretty low specs unlike so many new releases. On my machine I can have 100 AI combatants without a hint of lag.2) Lots of alternative game-play: You can engage in diplomacy,

25.10.2009

Imagine you are in the film Braveheart and you are William Wallace. You command a number of archers, cavalry and infantry hired and trained by you. The battlefield is a bumpy open green landscape, in the distance obscured by a few trees and rocks you see your enemy. Their infantry advance towards you slowly and you need to tactically decide what is best and quickly. You give your orders, your archers retain the front line until you command the first volley of arrows and you mount your horse leading the cavalry out of enemy sight outflanking them when the time is right.......if you like these scenarios in a medieval setting, like to fight hand to hand combat on horse or on foot,

20.12.2012

Paradox games are showing exactly that you do not have to be a big company to produce a classic of a game.Yes sure, the lacks block buster production and its fairly rough around the edges in regards to graphics and game physics. What it lacks in polish it makes up in substance. The game is a complex and layerd masterpiece that gives you the entire freedom to build up and explore the way you choose, you move as a free lance mercenary, a bandit or a vassal the choice is entirely yours.This game is also very challenging which also adds to its realism, the early learning curve is brutal and you must pick your enemies carefull or risk having your meagre force wiped out.

1.4.2010

It is nice to see that not all modern games are pretty visuals with shallow visuals, no, not this game.Mount and Blade offers the oppertunity of freedom and power that I have never seen done this well, I created a new character and set off in the land of Calradia, with nothing but a withered tunic, a broken sword, and crossbow, after training, recruiting new members into my party, it was hard to believe that 100 in game days later, I was the most feared warrior in all of Calradia.This is exactly what I love about this game, the building of your character, paired with a unique combat system, perhaps my favorite of all melee combat systems so far, it is dynamic and realistic, forcing you to plan your attacks,

Mount & Blade (PC) - Reviews

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