GoogleAds
Mount & Blade
Taleworlds Entertainment
Game details:
Release Date: Sep 30, 2008
Genre: RPG
ESRB: Teen
Platforms: PC only
First there was Dungeons and Dragons, then there was Zelda, and now we think of swords as tools of power used by angry paladins or knights in the middle ages. What is more is that what still fascinates us is not how the sword was made or the different types of it, all that really mattered was pressing the right button to get it into the virtual (or real live action role-playing) individual who looked at you in a rude way. As if our mothers did not tell us enough about manners, pointing was not very rude in the middle ages (nor in the dark or roman ages) unless the point was that of a spear. To this point we sum up these seemingly random cliches and jump into the matter. Mount & Blade, as the name implies, is an RPG which integrates horses and horse combat. This is really what differentiates it from other games of the genre, but this alone makes it stand out so much into the beta scene, that we already foresee a great future for the game developed in Turkey.
About the game
The game is a fully fledged RPG, more ripped off real life then Dungeons and Dragons, and features combat from the middle ages only, meaning there is no gunpowder stuff to worry about, unless it's an older version or a mod. Even with a very seemly connection to Oblivion, or better said to Morrowind than anything else, the game is very much different. You are an individual customized intensively at the start of the game, living nowhere in particular (at least in the start), with nothing other than the tools of your trade. Namely an awesome selection of swords, hammers, maces, polearms, bows, crossbows, and last, but not least, your horse. While technically not a weapon, you must note the fact that the game is based on the jousting in the middle ages. Meaning you can ride your horse while using a spear and skewer through most enemies with utmost ease. That is if you have good eye-hand coordination. It won't use swinging at air. You have no targeting system to help you around, you are basically on your own with a nice targeting reticle when firing bows, a few directional attack arrows and your healthbar (together with the optional shield status image and number of bolts or arrows). That is unless you have your trusty companions. The other thing that differentiates this game from others is the fact that you can field armies. Armies from fellowships of 2-3 people to massive armies of 200-300 people, which is usually overkill in a game like this. Not in this one though, although you have to mod your game to field more than some dozens at the same time on the screen, and it will slow your game down, massively. You train your units as much as you gain experience yourself, yet you will never die, just be knocked uncouncious.
Starting out
You get to start the game as a small rank knight or an unknown adventurer (at least in this version) specialized in one of a few classes. One of them should represent your way of playing, whether its archery, medicine or swordsmanship, and your starting character will have skills and equipment as the class implies. The rank you choose makes it harder or easier for you to do well, because being the son of a well to do noble certainly gets you some advantages as opposed to being unknown and alone. Yet after you play some games and you get used to the combat and the stuff you have to do in the game, you will get in the money quite fast, by the means of the Arena. The Arena is the same kind as the gladiatorial games colloseum, only smaller, and you get to use horses. Here you can fight mock-up games to train yourself for what to come for no cost to what you have, aside of losing the sum you bet on yourself in case of losing. It is basically free training, and you are really encouraged to do it after the tutorial and training, unless of course you will get really ambitious and run into the first bandit gang which will bellow warcries and mercifully rip you to shreds.
Getting better and stronger
As you progress through the game, you will discover more about the five nations in the world, and then even join one of them and fight your enemies, everything in a politically correct status, attacking caravans to keep small towns from growing, looting the towns, obliterating enemy armies and ultimately siege the castle and get it for yourself. Keep in mind that the game is just a beta, so you are to expect a little story in the final version. Even though it's still early to say anything about the final release, we will know that it will certainly feel more polished than it does now, although you can clearly see that the combat is really top notch, and only quest thingies are missing, like talking to the tavern keeper only to say bye after saying hello, or always getting the same answer to the question of news in the world. Seems like all people are awfully oblivious of the number of people dying around them for preety much nothing at all.
Graphics - Swords can shine another day
The graphics might not be Oblivion, but it still stands out through the nicely detailed environments, the careful use of pixel shaders, the really sweet shadows, and, never to forget that, the look of the character in the moonlight. The atmosphere is very austere and catches the feeling of the middle ages, although the cities should look a bit more gritty and dirty, as we know the middle ages weren't really all that hygenic. Yet everything that should be fleshed out is fleshed out, and nothing beats seeing your sword red with blood after a lengthy battle, and falling next to a guy who looks like a pincushion of arrows and javelins. Nothing beats throttling your horse to max speed with your spear couched under your shoulder toward the nearest opponent. Seeing as the game features a first person perspective too, it can really change the way the game looks like and how you play it, as you are hardly aware of what is behind you until you actually hear the sod shout "You bastard!" or something along those lines. The game also features a game map, which you use when you travel from city to city or from battle to battle. Everything adds up to a mix between Oblivion and Rome: Total War.
Are we there yet?
The game is not fully structured yet, seeing as the beta is focused more on the gameplay side than on the story and stuff, but there are lots of randomized quests you can finish, and enough stuff to keep you playing for quite a long time. For now, after you gain some renown by battling tough opponents, you can get to be the vassal of the king of one of the five nations and get a fief (a town) from which to raise troops and get tax money. You can also upgrade it to get more of these, but not much more for the moment. You can also play some quick open field battles and sieges in the quick battle menu.
Multihacking possible?
Sadly, Mount & Blade lacks one thing which would have taken it to a whole new level, and that is multiplayer. If the developer would include it, I bet it would get much more of the praise it has now, because it would not only help it out a lot, but also make it even more addictive than it already is, which is sick anyway. Going over that, I must praise the sounds in the game, especially the sounds and warcries which must be some of the best ones I've heard since Warcraft and Warhammer 40k. I shall never forget the line: "I will drink from your skull!". Picking that aside, you might even hear some heroic quotes like, "this is where we fight, this is where they die!" if you get some mods on. The game is made to be modded, and if you look up the repository, you can find enough things to keep you entertained for hours on end (and even get you into modmaking yourself).
Running around Conclusions shooting arrows
All in all, reminding you that the game is still in beta stage, and the fact that if you buy it now, you will save some money later, I must state that this is a game of great potential, as it has been for a few years now, during which the forums at the official site at www.taleworlds.com has gathered some faithfuls. You can download the demo there, and it takes you through the first 6 levels, after which you have to own the game to play through. The music is decent, the voice acting is superb, the graphics are good enough for an indie game, the controls and modding are top notch, a great community on the site, and it's still in beta stage: I think it deserves the money. And it's the dream game of any medieval LARPer (live action role player).
How does it look so far?
It's coming along nicely... let's see how it holds up at release though!
Version 0.950 update!
New stuff!
It's been a day since the release of the latest beta version of Mount&Blade and people on the forums are already going bonkers. Thing is that they have reason to as well. The game got a bit more than a facelift, although no changes have been made on the bread and butter side of the game, namely combat, yet now it has about 1.5 times more features than it had in 0.903. Of course, being such a large update, this version comes with it's fair share of bugs, but Mount&Blade now yells medieval in several languages, especially Calradian. As a rough listing of the new things in this version I should start with the fact that the map is much larger and differently structured now, so as to allow more border conflicts between the factions, each faction has a number of fiefs which are raidable and other factions even occupy other castles, there are new death and idle animations, as well as ambiental sounds in different locations.
New things you can do
Archers seem to hurt a bit more, especially in the revamped arena battles, which are now classified into two types: one of them features a melee practice session in which enemies spawn in succession in a definite number so as to battle about 40 or so one after another, while they fight each other. The people in the arena fight automatically now, and you don't have to watch a fight to get them to fight while you are at the balcony, they just appear and try to down the opponent. The other arena battle type is the organized fight, which is organized into tiers, and which features fitting ambiental sounds. You fight successive battles until you are the only one left so as to win 200 denars, 20 renown and a slight improvement with the organizing town, as well as the winnings of the clever betting on yourself. You can also get castles to yourself and manage them, train soldiers at them and improve them. You can capture lords and give them back for a nice sum as ransom.
The early game is much harder now, as the starting town Zendar has been removed, and although it has been removed with a scatter of training grounds in which you can destroy vases (read that as targets) to improve your experience. You can also spar with other heroes in your party, and the hireable heroes have also increased in number and now have an actual background to them. They also talk to each other and argue in a humorous dialogue, so you should notice that you can't really have all heroes without a bit of black heart around you. The background history thing does not concern them only. The starting inquiries about your life have been diversified and you are suited with the equipment and skills fitting your choices. There are also a few bugs here, as sometimes characters start out with no or limited equipment as well as no or limited skills.
Hey mister? Wha's herldiry?
One of the coolest new things in the game is the heraldry. That is, you get a fitting heraldric shield, and it will turn the texture of the actual flag you are sporting. It isn't really very important gameplaywise, but if you want to play without the helping name text for added realism, the only way you are going to actually recognize your troops is their heraldry. As such, all shields under a lord will have the same texture, which is uniform and militaristic. You can do many things in Mount and Blade and what is intriguing is the fact that they all fit together.
Game smarter?
The AI seems to be better in combat and the overall difficulty has been upped a notch. It's an even more enjoyable game than it was before, and now you have huge towns to wander into as well. There are many bugs around here, but none of them is a gamebreaker, so download the game from here.
Promise of the day!
More updates to the preview as they come...