Gameplay Today - Because You're Always Gaming

Whenever I play one of those massive scale RTS games, I find myself wishing to be a little closer to the action. Being able to zoom in and actually fight in a massive medieval siege battle or skirmish would be gaming gold. Well, take Battlefield and make it have a baby with Sega's Total War series and you will have the gaming wonder that is Mount & Blade: Warband. This title was developed by the semi-indie studio Taleworlds and published by Paradox Software. This is the sequel to the first Mount & Blade and Warband adds many new features to the mix.

Mount & Blade: Warband is set in a fantasy medieval world known as Calradia but when you get down to it, the setting itself is believable as you won't find any magic or demons in this game. The Realm of Calradia is separated out into several different factions. When you begin your single player journey, you will be asked a bunch of questions about your character’s past which will drastically change your beginner stats and how NPCs perceive you. You can be anything from a steppe nomad to a noble's squire. Through the game you travel around recruiting new warriors via volunteers (which you have to pay) from small peasant villages or more tough mercenaries and characters from trade city taverns. As you fight battles against local ruffians and complete missions your standing with locals will increase as well as your level. Eventually the goal is to get your force to join whatever faction you have chosen and help them in their actual war effort. You can also do a number of different things other than this. If you want you can be a highwayman hassling farmers and trade caravans for goods. You can work your way into the court life and try to marry a noblewoman or become her champion. You can enter tournaments and even - if you please - travel around selling commodities to different cities. The game’s character system is RPG-like in which you get stat points when you gain enough experience which allow you to improve skills related to command, healing, combat, and many other facets of the game.

The setting and options are fun, but where the real experience begins is the combat. This title boasts a directional swing and block system which makes combat quite complex with tougher opponents. Where the game’s combat really sets itself apart from other medieval battle games is its mounted combat controls which are really good. You can be anything from a mounted archer, quickly maneuvering around the battlefield and taking pot shots to a knight in full plate picking off enemies with his heavy lance and wading into combat. Mount & Blade: Warband’s combat is simply incredibly enjoyable. There is an option in single player to let your men handle battles themselves, but the combat is just so pleasing I never find myself wanting to click that button. My only complaint is the single player AI can be sort of dumb sometimes, but in the later stages of the game it is still quite difficult due to sheer numbers of enemies you are facing.

Mount & Blade: Warband also includes a multiplayer mode which was not available in the original Mount & Blade. This is arguably the best part of the entire experience. Multiplayer online medieval seige battles with upwards of 80 real people in the server is a sight to behold and to experience. Along with this are several other multiplayer modes like team death match, death match, duels, and many others. The multiplayer mode is almost like a mix between battlefield classes and counterstrike's weapon purchase in which the better you and your team do the more money you will have to spend towards better weapons, armor, and horses. I can't think of any other game that has combined online fps style game modes with 3^rd person medieval combat, but I hope more people do.

Mount and Blade: Warband is a game that was very much overlooked by many in the gaming media. They did not have massive TV ads or banners attached to large buildings. Despite this, Mount & Blade came to the table with great gameplay, a single player campaign with depth, and amazingly fun multiplayer. Anyone who is a fan of medieval battles, strategy games, and original gameplay should not think twice before checking out Mount & Blade: Warband for the PC.