- Jul 18, 2006
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I mentioned this game in another thread but I really wanted to give it it's own thread because it really deserves the attention. I did search the forum and found some threads from 2005, when the game was released for beta. But now it's finally been released, as of September 2008, but most people have probably never heard of it unless you check the Steam store front on a regular basis like I do. The back story of this game's development is great and I would recommend looking it up even if you're not interested in this game but are still a PC gaming fan. It's stories/games like this that guarantee that PC gaming will never die, but I'll leave that for another discussion.
This is by no means any sort of review or even complete overview of the game, I'm just giving my initial impressions and hoping it will spark somebody else's interest and they'll check Mount and Blade out. The first thing I'll mention which I know will interest many who've been around for the various DRM/Piracy debates on this forum is that Mount and Blade is natively sold as "Try then Buy". You can download the full game free of charge from the developer's website. The only restriction is that you can only reach level seven without paying for a serial code. But from what I've played so far 7 levels will last you quite a while and give you more than enough of a taste of what the game is like. Also included are several "scenario" type of skirmishes which show some of the later game content you can expect.
The setting for the game is a fictional medieval realm. Let me stress that it is medieval NOT fantasy. There are no goblins, elves, magic potions, spells monsters or any of that. It's straight up medieval, which is great in my book because fantasy is too common and often used as a crutch for developers who can't come up with original gameplay. Basically the game is completely free form taking place in a land of several warring kingdoms where you'll interact with everybody from lowly looters and peasants all the way up to lords and kings. And unlike so many other RPGs you're not automatically pinned as some long last heir to a thrown and destined warrior. You're pretty much just a regular dude and it's up to you to decide which path(s) to follow. There really isn't even a storyline to try and follow. You could just run around solo harassing villagers and/or other outlaws or trade caravans or you can build your own army and gain your own castle, which will have to be defended. And pretty much everything in between goes.
Even though the game is categorized as an RPG there is a heavy emphasis on mounted combat (as the name Mount and Blade implies). But combat in general is pretty fun and very innovative. Some may complain about the controls but they are fairly easy to learn yet offer a rather complex battle system. Simply button mashing will end in a swift death but there are no complex combos to learn. The combat system is somewhat similar to Age of Conan where it's about attack and blocking various areas of the body, but it's all real-time with the focus on where and how you strike an opponent. Movement speed is also factored into how much damage is inflicted, which is nice because it rewards high speed combat as opposed to a sit back and wait approach. It also makes taking terrain into account very important in a fight. Running uphill, through wooded areas, or wading in a stream slows movement speed and makes solders easy targets for faster moving, harder hit attackers. Taking the high ground early in a battle (especially on horse back) really makes a difference.
The dynamics of group management are very important and add a real strategy element to the game. You learn pretty early on that traveling around in the Mount and Blade realm is best down in numbers. This can mean recruiting peasants to join you, buying mercenaries, recruiting soldiers of you kingdom, or even convincing captured enemies to join your side. But you also have to pay them weekly and keep them happy or else risk them defecting. The character development in Mount in Blade is very in depth and thorough (yet not overly complex like many RPGs), but you'll also find yourself spending just as much time developing your party - which can range from you and one other person or dozens of other troops including other lords who serve under you.
One final thing I'll touch is the graphics because it's an obvious negative that will standout to a first time player. There are two views in the game, an isometric/top down view which looks like something from the PS1 era. This is what's used when traveling around the land from various castles, villages and battles. Basically it is what it is, but works for the basics of just moving around the map. The second view is the third/first person view used while in castles/villages and more importantly in battle. I would compare the graphics to something slightly better than WoW and more realistic than cartoonish. This is in part because the game was developed in 2005 and in part because it is rather low budget in general. But there are two things I'll say about the graphics (specifically the in battle part). One is that while they looked dated, they are nearly flawless. There's very little clipping or otherwise broken looking textures. And two, the game does run extremely smooth at max settings with even the most modest of hardware and during some very large scale battles. One complaint I so often hear about games like Crysis is that developers today focus too much on graphics and not enough on gameplay, resulting in lackluster gameplay which is difficult to run on even good machines. Well folks Mount and Blade is the game that puts graphics on the back burner (but still gives a very nice and solid presentation) and puts the real focus on making the game fun.
This is by no means any sort of review or even complete overview of the game, I'm just giving my initial impressions and hoping it will spark somebody else's interest and they'll check Mount and Blade out. The first thing I'll mention which I know will interest many who've been around for the various DRM/Piracy debates on this forum is that Mount and Blade is natively sold as "Try then Buy". You can download the full game free of charge from the developer's website. The only restriction is that you can only reach level seven without paying for a serial code. But from what I've played so far 7 levels will last you quite a while and give you more than enough of a taste of what the game is like. Also included are several "scenario" type of skirmishes which show some of the later game content you can expect.
The setting for the game is a fictional medieval realm. Let me stress that it is medieval NOT fantasy. There are no goblins, elves, magic potions, spells monsters or any of that. It's straight up medieval, which is great in my book because fantasy is too common and often used as a crutch for developers who can't come up with original gameplay. Basically the game is completely free form taking place in a land of several warring kingdoms where you'll interact with everybody from lowly looters and peasants all the way up to lords and kings. And unlike so many other RPGs you're not automatically pinned as some long last heir to a thrown and destined warrior. You're pretty much just a regular dude and it's up to you to decide which path(s) to follow. There really isn't even a storyline to try and follow. You could just run around solo harassing villagers and/or other outlaws or trade caravans or you can build your own army and gain your own castle, which will have to be defended. And pretty much everything in between goes.
Even though the game is categorized as an RPG there is a heavy emphasis on mounted combat (as the name Mount and Blade implies). But combat in general is pretty fun and very innovative. Some may complain about the controls but they are fairly easy to learn yet offer a rather complex battle system. Simply button mashing will end in a swift death but there are no complex combos to learn. The combat system is somewhat similar to Age of Conan where it's about attack and blocking various areas of the body, but it's all real-time with the focus on where and how you strike an opponent. Movement speed is also factored into how much damage is inflicted, which is nice because it rewards high speed combat as opposed to a sit back and wait approach. It also makes taking terrain into account very important in a fight. Running uphill, through wooded areas, or wading in a stream slows movement speed and makes solders easy targets for faster moving, harder hit attackers. Taking the high ground early in a battle (especially on horse back) really makes a difference.
The dynamics of group management are very important and add a real strategy element to the game. You learn pretty early on that traveling around in the Mount and Blade realm is best down in numbers. This can mean recruiting peasants to join you, buying mercenaries, recruiting soldiers of you kingdom, or even convincing captured enemies to join your side. But you also have to pay them weekly and keep them happy or else risk them defecting. The character development in Mount in Blade is very in depth and thorough (yet not overly complex like many RPGs), but you'll also find yourself spending just as much time developing your party - which can range from you and one other person or dozens of other troops including other lords who serve under you.
One final thing I'll touch is the graphics because it's an obvious negative that will standout to a first time player. There are two views in the game, an isometric/top down view which looks like something from the PS1 era. This is what's used when traveling around the land from various castles, villages and battles. Basically it is what it is, but works for the basics of just moving around the map. The second view is the third/first person view used while in castles/villages and more importantly in battle. I would compare the graphics to something slightly better than WoW and more realistic than cartoonish. This is in part because the game was developed in 2005 and in part because it is rather low budget in general. But there are two things I'll say about the graphics (specifically the in battle part). One is that while they looked dated, they are nearly flawless. There's very little clipping or otherwise broken looking textures. And two, the game does run extremely smooth at max settings with even the most modest of hardware and during some very large scale battles. One complaint I so often hear about games like Crysis is that developers today focus too much on graphics and not enough on gameplay, resulting in lackluster gameplay which is difficult to run on even good machines. Well folks Mount and Blade is the game that puts graphics on the back burner (but still gives a very nice and solid presentation) and puts the real focus on making the game fun.
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