Mount & Blade (pc: 2008): Reviews

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Mount & Blade


8.4

based on 19 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 82 votes
Read user comments
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Official Website

Calradia is a land at war, a land offering great riches and even greater dangers to the adventurers and mercenaries that flock to shed their blood on its soil. With unerring courage and a strong sword, an unknown stranger can make a name as a warrior. Raise a band of hardened soldiers, become the lord of several towns and castles, and perhaps one day you may wield the power to depose kings and crown new ones at a whim. Free-form sandbox gameplay. You are free to go anywhere and do anything you choose in a world that has more than a hundred unique locations, including villages, castles and towns. Unique horseback combat. You are able to attack your enemies on your horse, whether you’re swinging a sword, holding a lance or unleashing arrows. Highly advanced, sophisticated and intuitive sword-fighting system. Fight on horseback and on foot using an expansive variety of medieval weapons, each with their own unique characteristics, strengths and weaknesses. Be anything from a lonesome adventurer to a commander of armies or an owner of villages, castles or towns. Sophisticated AI that will provide a challenge both in combat and in the strategic realm. Freedom to interact with hundreds of characters, including kings, lords, ladies, commoners as well as heroes you can take on as companions, each with their own personality. [Paradox Interactive]

PUBLISHER:	Paradox Interactive
DEVELOPER:	Taleworlds
GENRE(S):	Role-Playing Game
PLAYERS:	1
ESRB RATING:	RP (Rating Pending)
RELEASE DATE:	September 16, 2008

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

GamePro

For a game with such a heavy emphasis on medieval combat, Mount & Blade is just shy of perfection.

GameShark

The only real problem with this in depth beginning is that it sets the expectation that the choices you make here are going to have some affect on the game’s story.

Computer Games Online RO

Aside from that, if you’re in just for a relaxing skirmish or looking to conquer the whole world of Calradia, Mount and Blade is a stable product from early beta with great replay value which offers a level of entertainment that few titles with overinflated budgets fail to provide.

Pelit (Finland)

A Medieval action RPG with a great battle system, and there are many ways you can play the game. The game doesn't have a storyline, which is why it becomes a bit boring and pointless after a while, but it does have many good mods and they will keep the game fresh. [Sept 2008]

GameFocus

Very fun combat, mixed into an era we rarely ever see touched in gaming and solid but brutal gameplay and the fantastic community built mod’s, gives this game a permanent place in my gaming library. Buy it.

AceGamez

Medieval warfare just got even trendier and, despite several major deficiencies, Mount & Blade has just too many memorable moments of glory to ignore; the price tag is worth it for the sunsets alone.

DarkZero

It might not be to everyone’s tastes, but it makes a whole bunch of interesting and bold design decisions, and I guarantee you’ve not played anything quite like it. For those reasons alone, it gets a glowing recommendation.

2404.org

The interplay between mounted and dismounted soldiers, archers, knights, and the wide array of possible troops and equipment means that Mount & Blade has some of the coolest, most engrossing combat of any RPG ever.

Boomtown

A fantastic game. It's hampered by a few problems, but nothing major. It provides ground breaking gameplay that I am sure will be imitated by others.

RPG Fan

I can appreciate developers wanting to add more realistic touches to games, but to me realism does not always equate to fun.

LEVEL (Czech Republic)

Vast world with working economic model, excellent mounted fight is degraded by a weak engine presentation. Only hardcore gamers can enjoy this game in the state it's in. [Dec 2008]

Cheat Code Central

Mount & Blade's strong RPG elements, in-depth army management aspects, and amazingly addictive combat system balance out its mediocre quests and half-baked sandbox gameplay.

Total PC Gaming

An intriguing concept. [Issue#13, p.66]

PC Gamer UK

A decent ride until you get off. [Dec 2008, p.72]

Gamers.at

This may be an ambitious project of an even more ambitious programmer couple, but the lack of budget that game suffered is unfortunately very easy to notice. What remains is an average game with awful graphics and buggy controls.

PC Zone UK

An anorexic "Oblivion" set in a budget version of Tolkien's Rohan. [Nov 2008, p.65]

GameSpot

Mount & Blade has some innovative ideas, but still needs a lot of work.

PC Games (Germany)

Lousy graphics and bad accessibility hinder Mount & Blade’s way to a better grade. Yet, this game will make enthusiasts happy.

EuroGamer

There are foundations here for something really quite special, but in its current state the game is nowhere close to delivering on its promises.

The average user rating for this game is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 82 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Aaron L gave it a10:
If you can ignore the last decade graphics and animation (slightly exaggarated), this game is easily one of the best rpg games ever. Extremely addictive, and really meets what sandbox stands for. If you have been constantly disappointed by the new over hyped games with nothing but flashy graphics, misleading claims and 3000 good critic reviews (while scoring about 2/5 on amazon on the users side), then this game is for you.

krazy J gave it an8:
The graphics, lack of interesting quests and lack of any storyline at all, really weighs the game down. but the awesome combat system and the constantly changing world in which you are playing in weighs out the ugly parts and brings the game to shine.

Noah M gave it a10:
This is probibly the most ground breaking MedEvil game on the market today. If you ahve alot of time on your hands then i would most definatley recommend this game to you guys. The mounted combat is almost perfect. The events in the game are incredible. At any moment any kingdom could wage war with another, of course you can choose (if you want) to join one of them. There are 4 factions with lords of all sorts. Very good game, made by a small Turkish family. They did a good job.

Knaz awzome gave it a10:
As a palyer from early BETA stages, I have seen this game rise from the smallest little thing to a massive expansive game. The only problem is that the 'decisions' in the beginning of the game lack to make a diffrence during later gameplay when your a fully-pledged knight or a stealthy assasin. Overall; However, the game is Perfect. I suggest it to all people who love old school RPGs or slashing up those peaseants sand-box style!

Dan B. gave it an8:
I really enjoy this game. Fantastic role playing with enough character statistics to keep you busy for hours. The combat is 2nd to none. For those that say this game isn't pretty, or visually appealing, I beg to differ. I think it looks great. In fact, give the visual enhancement mods. a try, and get a big boost in color and textures. There is a wide variety of weapons to chose from, each weapon having a unique purpose with advantages and disadvantages including speed, reach and damage factors. Since you get 4 wpn. slots to chose from, you have to chose wisely for each battle. Basically you can be a mounted warrior or a battle hardened foot soldier, the choice is yours. The sound effects are fantastic. From shields breaking to your well placed axe, swords clashing, arrows thumping into you or your shield and of course blood curdling screams from your fallen prey. You can hire 'Heroes' to join you [no probably not the cheerleader], or recruit from villages or towns to build up your army. If you're into blood, well...it's got enough to thrill you....but, sorry no decapitation or limb removal animations. Ok, so I like it...but there's always something odd with many games out there....this one not excluded. When you first start the game...you are utterly lost, aside from a training area that you're close to...go there and begin..then check out some towns,castles, villages etc...and begin doing Quests. Soon enough, you realize what's going on...and what the purpose of doing Quests are. Once you get the hang of it..eventually you'll be granted a village, and after invading enemy territories etc, eventually your King may reward you with a castle or two. That's when the next round of fun begins. Sieges. Invade enemy castles, towns, villages or vice versa...protect your own from invaders. Everything seems to have consequences, so don't forget to buy food for your party and be active in killing enemines.... or the 'morale' will decrease and your Party Heroes may start leaving. There's an active community that have made many,many mods. for this game as well. Anyway...2 points off for a confusing start to the game, [i.e. lack of storyline] requiring a great deal of patience to understand what your options are. Don't be dissuaded initially by how difficult it actually is to land an arrow or a well placed sword/axe/club/polearm etc. It takes time and practice to increase your character attributes and to understand angles and arrow flight patterns etc...fun stuff. Think of it more like a simulator where the speed of your horse, angle etc...play a definite role on how much damage you'll exert to your target. You'll be pro in no time, have fun.

L.Tom gave it a3:
Disappointed with it. Game is great with horses and riders and you're able to shoot and stuff, but there's not much else. There are taverns where you could do a little RPG like getting a drink with your men and chat with the barmaid with your adventures, but there's no such thing either. It's an empty tavern with a innkeeper that keep saying the same over everytime you visit the taverns! The towns and villages add to the monotony of the landscape,but even in those villages and towns, you only see npcs roaming around like zombies and they are few. There is not much to do in them either. Almost everything is eye candy. The only thing you really interact with is with your own character! Another thing that bothered a lot is with that single ladder siege...I mean what the heck is that?! If my memory recall, middle ages sieges are supposed to be fought after ramming the gates and destroying section of the wall so your men could rush and waste the enemy or climb multiple ladders, MULTIPLE, so your men have a chance at winning! The other thing I remember seeing are mounted men climbing steep mountains! What the heck is that?! Men on horses weighing more than 200+ that can climb steep mountains??? My jaw just dropped. I'm still kicking myself for getting this game. They claim this game sticks to realism of the medieval times. I think it stinks unrealism at best.

Zé M. gave it a9:
I really don´t know the reason for the diference in the "professional" rate and the rate of the users. Even so, I think the reason for that is that the professional critics are only pleased by the standard game industry and don´t like what is new and different. In my opinion the game is great. Of course that the grapihics could be better and bla bla bla. But the core of the game, the idea of the game, to bring the player to a medival world in witch we can be a almost everything, is fantastic and well built. You can raid citys, conquer forts, help kings in his conquest. This game has no story or script u make your one story and i love that kind of game- i like games were i can be me in a new world, were i can dream. For me, the battles in this game are great a i even think that the battles simulations are the best you can try in pc games. Plus the game have many new modes created by other players [and you can creat one to ;) ] and it can give you so many hours of playing (naturaly my girlfriend hates the game LOL). Take it for me, try the game and i'm sure that you will love it (you can try it first). I don´t give 10 because i never give 10 (you never know whats comming in the pc games).