Mount and Blade: Warband – PC Game Review

Mount & Blade: Warband. PC Game. TaleWorlds Entertainment. $30.

Passed inspection: New multiplayer function

Failed Basic: Little improvement in graphics

Many players choose to focus on mounted combat because they enjoy the thrill of crashing into enemy hordes.

Mount & Blade: Warband gives players the long-awaited chance to test their mettle against other heroes.

For those unfamiliar with award-winning independent game, Mount & Blade and the new Warband expansion focus on the fictional medieval world of Calradia. Players can align themselves with several different historically inspired factions such as the Nords (Vikings), Sarranid Sultanate (Arabs) and Khergit Khanate (Mongols), and others. The different factions make war with each other, negotiate truces and engage in trade. Keep an eye on the ever-changing balance of power—don’t attack an allied caravan by mistake!

In single-player mode, players receive a “birds-eye view” of the world of Calradia, complete with vast deserts, snow-covered mountains and lush forests. The player can navigate throughout the world map and encounter a vast ensemble of other NPC groups such as peasants, deserters, friendly warbands and hostile raiders.

The original game offered players a “sandbox” style environment without any main storyline and quest. That’s been improved somewhat and players can now pursue marriage for love or power, manage estates and seek political alliances.

But battle is the main attraction. Players can recruit volunteers, hire mercenaries and persuade heroes to join forces with them. As you fight more battles, if your allies survive, you can train them to become a wide variety of veteran troops, including knights, foot soldiers, archers or skirmishers.

When you encounter another group on the world map a dialogue screen pops up that includes a few simple discussion options (no lines are voiced). Some are benign while others will lead to confrontation.

If you do choose to engage in battle, players are presented with a few basic tactical options. You can lead your party into battle yourself, order your men to fight without your leadership (a risky move) or leave a rearguard behind while your main forces try and escape.

When you choose to lead your men in battle, your forces will be sent to a third-person, “over-the-shoulder” view of the battle area. Many players choose to focus on mounted combat because they enjoy the thrill of crashing into enemy hordes and hacking down their opponents, but you can also choose to fight on foot.

Enemy forces deploy on opposite sides of the battle area and immediately begin to maneuver for position. You can give simple orders to your troops, such as hold position or charge, in order to gain the best tactical advantage.

When the melee begins, players and their allies begin hacking and slashing away with a vast array of swords, clubs, pole arms, javelins and bows. You’ll also need armor to protect yourself; choose among many different types of light, medium and heavy armor, including helmets, boots and gloves.

Although mounted soldiers can easily trample individual enemies, a wall of pikes or a shower of arrows can quickly stop a charging knight.

Players can also equip shields but they aren’t an invincible force field—too many hits from a big axe will shatter even the stoutest defense.

If you do decide to fight upon a trusty steed you need to make sure you have enough skill to ride the toughest and fastest horse available. Many heroes will charge into battle with a lance because it has the potential to do devastating damage. If you ride fast enough the lance will automatically be braced, and a single hit will kill even the most heavily armored opponent.

If the two armies engaged in combat are large enough they will receive reinforcements throughout the battle. It may also take several bouts to completely crush the enemy. If you are wounded or lose too many troops, you can choose to retreat or disengage.

But if you succeed in whittling down the enemy, you’ll receive gold, experience and equipment as your reward. You can elect to take none, some or all of the weapons and armor your men retrieve from the field of battle. If there’s something you want, simply drag it into your inventory. If you’re out of room, you can swap out something less valuable.

At any time before or after battle, you can also access your party management screen in order to view the relative strengths and weaknesses of your forces. You can give some troops higher priority than others so they will be the first to fight. You also need to keep your troops fed and maintain their morale; otherwise you won’t move as fast on the world screen. You can also re-equip any heroes fighting for you and improve their skills once they “level up.”

Outside of battle, you can visit—or burn to the ground—a number of different towns, cities and castles. You can buy arms and goods at friendly cities and attack hostile or neutral villages. Players can also lay siege to enemy castles and try to overwhelm the defenders. Players can even build their own fief by taking over villages and making improvements, if they show enough loyalty to their lord.

Some multiplayer modes are similar to the single player “sandbox” environment with strategic goals. However, most players choose to test their mettle against other heroes.

Players can face off on a number of servers that offer several different combat modes including:

• traditional death match, team death match and capture-the-flag options
• battle mode, akin to a “last man standing” contest
• siege contests, where defenders try to prevent attackers from capturing the keep until time runs out
• fight & destroy, where one team must defend plump targets from attacking raiders
• conquest, where teams must take and hold targets on the world map

The most popular multiplayer formats include the deathmatch and siege contests where players fight in large melees. There are no NPC characters. To ensure fairness, you can’t take your high-level knight into battle against a horde of helpless “newbie” adventurers. Instead, each player selects from a different type of basic soldier and selects the armor and arms that best fit his style of play. From there, the combat is very similar to that found in single-player mode.

Players in multiplayer severs often use voice chat programs like Teamspeak to coordinate attacks and form guilds to fight together. In addition, 19 teams from around the world recently participated in a round-robin multiplayer tournament that included players from England, France, Germany, Italy and many others.

However, the new expansion retains most of the original elements of the original Mount & Blade game aside from the multiplayer aspect.

Other small improvements have been made in combat. Players can now see the relative health of their mount and can more easily distinguish their own allies while in combat.

The player community is still very active and has contributed a number of home-grown additions including a role-playing-heavy multiplayer mode, a Napoleonic era firearms version, diplomacy and intrigue options, and other programs that add new weapons, armor and troops.

Some veteran players may question the $30 price-point, which is as much as the original Mount & Blade sold for. Although Warband adds a lot in terms of multiplayer functions, it still suffers from many of the drawbacks of the original game, such as low production value and sub-par graphics. There’s no voice acting and the game is technically unimpressive. However, if you enjoyed the original and would love to face off against other heroes, Warband may be just what you’ve been waiting for.

As with the original, Warband offers a free demo up to level 7 but locks access to the multiplayer portion until you buy a full license.

Armchair General Rating: 83%

Paul Glasser is a newspaper reporter in Frankfort, Ky. He enjoys traveling, miniature war games and role-playing.