Is an open world sandbox featuring detailed battles with hundreds of NPCs! Battles can range from a simple duel, one on one, all the way to massive siege warfare with hundreds on both sides, attacker or defender, the battles are no simple task, but thanks to dynamic options being available, they can be as hard, or easy as you want. Mount and Blade: Warband is a true masterpiece.
The game starts simply enough, pick your starting scenario and customize your look and off you go to pick a nation! you have a choice of 6 nations each with strengths and weaknesses. My personnel favorite being the Nords! they have the strongest infantry but next to no cavalry, they dominate sieges.
Be warned, picking a female character makes the start of the game harder, but everyone loves the extra challenge. First time players should definitely go male to get a feeling for the mechanics. At the beginning of every game, you are to choose your starting scenarios, like, what was your father doing while you were young. Each question will grant you a different amount of base stat points to different areas in its massive player's skill/stat page.
You begin in the capital of your nation with pretty rubbish equipment, but that will change quick enough.
The world map features all the villages and towns in the game and is freely moved around with "WASD".
Get familiar because "quests" will ask you to travel around a bit. I think it's pretty well done.
Now you are free to do whatever you want, but because you're, alone you should recruit some villagers at any friendly village. You can't do everything on your own, yet, and even then, an end game over powered king still can't take on an army on his own. You'll need backup and it comes cheap, real cheap.
The aim of the game is to reach the total unification of the land under your banner, and it is a long and hard climb but very doable. The other kings won't let up easily, but with some vassals of your own, you can dominate the land and make it yours, all if it.
Every nation has a king and vassals, which are the kings nobles. They are the generals of the armies and landlords of the land. While the villagers are the backbone of the economy and army. Kings run around with 300+ soldiers at all times, while the lords army ranges from 60 to 150 depending on the lords income from his lands. They keep the peace from bandits and enemy nations.
While you start as a independent individual not a vassal to any king. lords start the game as a vassal but can betray and change kingdom if his opinion of his king becomes negative. Or likewise, the king can indict the lords for treason and remove his ownership of his lands and boot him out of the kingdom. That lord may then join another king or leave the country completely (possibly to return later).
Now onto the meat of the game.
The fun lies in the battles that happen around the country, there are many types, duels, arena tournaments, field battles, sieges and many, many more. At the start of the game you'll be mostly helping out the villages and doing arena fights for fame and cold hard cash, while in the end you'll be leading your own kingdom into greatness by taking the land from the cold dead hands of every other king, but that will be a long and hard ascent to such power.
Combat is based on a 4 way hit system. Left and right swing, an overhead swing and of course the, stab. You can kick too, to break an enemy block. Blocking follows a similar pattern but is made much easier with a shield. One on one fights are pretty simple, and even a new player can win against the toughest units, but when you're pitted against multiple enemies, you better have an army backing you, or things will end up bad, fast. Combat may seem simple, but its more complicated then what other 3d games offer.
Multiplayer is another whole other beast, it offers many mods to choose from and lets you try your skills against real players like yourself in duals, sieges or even simple all out deathmatchs. You'll definitely find something that grabs your attention. Theirs no auto-block, so it could be a little tougher than single player, damage is higher too, so don't be afraid if you find yourself killed too often for your liking.
If you ever somehow do get bored of the maingame, it has downloadable content available which throws the theme into a whole new direction. We have multiplayer only DLC, to even brand new single player experiences like the recently released, Viking Conquests, let the name speak for itself.
And if you thought it couldn't get better, it has mods. The forums have a whole big list of mods that have been created by the community to make the game much, much better in every aspect. You'll find mods ranging from small text changes all the way to total overhauls with gunpowder weapons and cannons.
Conclusion:
It's rock solid, this can keep you occupied for hours on end, and with DLCs, mods and multiplayer available, it really does keep you busy with new content and experiences, if you don't have it yet.
Mount & Blade Collection
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