For the Empire!

I never got around to playing the original Mount and Blade: Warband, but I was aware of its unique blend of Total War’s type of empire building and strategy while then switching to 3rd person for its grand and epic battles. As big fan of not only medieval type warfare but the Total War games as well, I don’t know why I never checked this one out but luckily the sequel Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord is here and while I enjoyed some aspects of it, there were others that just didn’t feel right.

MSRP: $49.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99

For starters Bannerlord is not only a big game but a deep one as well. Starting off there are a plethora of choices that need to be made to mold the player’s perfect character. Each choice adjusting a skill in horse back riding or one-handed combat, these choices amount the standard character sheet found in RPG’s. Once that bit of work is done the game gives players the barest of tutorials, which really just amounts to throwing a sponge in the ocean and hopes it absorbs it all. This game is deep, and it could have used a deeper, more meaningful tutorial for those of us that are new to the franchise.

Even though the game offers two main gameplay modes in the campaign and sandbox the only real difference between them is the thin narrative the campaign offers. These beats are the usual, ‘rags to riches’ type fair which isn’t a bad start it just doesn’t really go anywhere. The whole of the game is just the player trying to build up their kingdom by conquest, which sounds more fun than it is. Combat is few and far between, and I mean where the player will actually be swinging the sword. Outside of dueling an enemy leader 1 v 1, most encounters will be spent controlling the growing army and assigning the troops various commands. Which is a blessing in disguise cuz brotha this ain’t Chivalry’s combat, oh its decent to be sure but man its not anything that will bring you back like Torn Banner’s medieval combat game.

The games only real tutorial will teach players the basics of swinging a sword, riding a horse and the like but as I alluded to before this game isn’t a lake, its an ocean. There are so many systems at play in Bannerlord, the players troops can get married and have children which will affect their stats for battle. Players can get castles and towns where they can assign a mayor and lead the towns development via a menu options. All of this sounds cool but so much of it is mentioned in a throwaway line and then buried in a menu that most players could miss a lot of the depth offered here.

Like Total War, when the players massive armies clash in battle it is a sight to behold, luckily the game offers the option to simulate battles and watch the AI troops clash. This, to me was massively more enjoyable than trying to struggle through the games clunky combat. While I loved the depth offered in the RPG elements of the world, I came away disappointed enough by the combat that is just made the whole experience feel like a chore to play; combine that with the lack of a real story and I Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord just didn’t turn out to be the total medieval simulator game I was hoping for.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.