Mount and Blade: Warband Review

Mount and Blade, TaleWorlds last game in the series had me at something of a loss. When I first played the game, I was under the impression I was looking at a low-budget, rushed, and basically dull strategy game. However, once I delved deeper into it, the game became quite the addiction; I was finding myself planning out strategies for sieges, managing my army effectively and most of all, sinking countless hours into it without even realising. Here we have its sequel, Warband. With the inclusion of multiplayer, does it still have the same addictive quality the original had?

First thing's first. Mount and Blade was automatically thought to be mediocre at best by some (myself included), thanks largely to the graphics. They are, in a word, terrible. Luckily, Warband has had a graphical overhaul but it's never going to win any prizes for being a looker. Warband has improved character models, the outdoor areas look improved and the game now has some added animations when attacking, but other than that, it's still nothing special graphically. It suits its purpose, however, as the game still manages to be addictive as hell once you're past its looks.

Now, onto the game itself. You'll likely be starting off with the main campaign, which is near the same as the original was. You'll create your character, go through training in combat, horse riding and the like if you so choose, then you're left to your own devices. Literally. After the training section, which you can by all accounts ignore, you are free to do what you like and go wherever you like. This can lead to a strange sense of isolation however, as if you've missed a mission somewhere, you can be scooting around the same area on the rather large overworld map for a long time looking for something to do. You'll use this overworld map to navigate the lands, and when you enter a battle situation or certain town areas, the game switches to third person.

As with the original, missions can be received in towns, from Lords and Kings and the like, with the addition of Guild masters, and just bumping into the right person at the right time this time around. The missions are just as fun as they were before, ranging from simply killing bandits who are harassing a small village, to leading assaults on castles. They are generally well paid for the work they entail and all is good. However, this is where the problems start.

I won't lie, the game is buggy, unbearably so at times. You'll find yourself accepting a mission you like the sound of, where your reward will be a hefty sum, only to find it cancelled or expired the moment you accept. This can actually have dire consequences, as party members may up and leave you if they think you're not leading them well enough. I had this happen a few times, one of those times having one of my party get mad and scarper. Likewise you may find yourself in a siege situation, it's in these critical moments where your soldiers decide they forgot how to climb ladders and will simply stand looking at them, waiting for death.

There have been patches released which seem to solve some of the problems the game has, but there are things that are likely never going to be fixed by a simple patch. The dialogue in the game is atrocious, much like the first, you'll find yourself battling the evils of disjointed English and accepting quests you don't understand. This is however, simply bad writing obviously, not a glitch or a bug, and since the writing was horrible in the first game, you'd have thought the developers could have worked a bit harder on it this time; unfortunately not the case.

I do realise I've stated my love for the original, yet it seems like I've been doing nothing but complain about this game. The truth is, other than the fancier graphics the single player remains much the same to the original (maybe with a few more bugs). This is definitely a good thing, although I'm not sure it would make the purchase worthy of those already in possession of the original game. If you have an insane addiction to the original however, like a few people I know, then you'll welcome more of the same with open arms.

This brings me onto the games truly new feature; the multiplayer. Here you have deathmatch, team deathmatch, and siege. While the deathmatches are self explanatory, the siege is very fun to play. It's attacker vs defender in ever sense of the word, but the difference is, you're either defending an entire castle, or attacking it. On certain maps this can lead to an extreme disadvantage to the attackers, simply because the defenders have a height advantage, but through strategy and sensible deployment of troops, you can overcome even the worst of odds when attacking. This is what makes it so much fun, you can have the odds stacked heavily against you, but if you plan things right, you can still come out on top, and you get a good feeling inside when you do so. It plays the same as the single player however, and this just made me want a co-op mode for the main campaign, so here's hoping it'll be here in the inevitable sequel.

While I can honestly say, when the game works, I love it as much as the original, there are a few too many bugs presently to advise spending the £24.99/$29.99/€29.99 on it. The multiplayer, while fun, is the only really different thing you're getting for your money here. It's said that graphics don't make a game, and Mount and Blade proved that, but here, we have improved graphics, but we've now got a buggier game. Unless you're a die-hard fan, stick to the original for now.