This game has been out a while now and I still can't understand how few people actually mention it. IMO it's a good game and it deserves some attention. Nothing groundbreaking, but amusing and fun. I usually go back to it every few months or so as I get a craving for it's original gameplay.
Anyway, this what follows is my post from another forum where I failed to arouse much attention and I hope this will prove interesting for some of you.
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"KILL'EM, KILL THEM AAALLL!!!!!" this is what you'll be shouting not long after you immerse yourself in the game
Abstract
Mount&Blade is a medieval tactical-action-open ended type of game. I have noticed that this game has gone unnoticed so I was wondering how come. Quite a lot of time has passed from it's official release, but I think it still deserves your time, dear reader. So pretty f*cking please, try it out
Info
Calradia is a faraway land torn with petty little disputes between five different tribes who instead of bringing their forces together and conquering the world conduct countless skirmishes among themselves. Each tribe has something to offer - fearless Nords who sport the best footsoldiers; Vaegirs excel in archery; Swadians and their knights delivering brutal couched lance damage; Rhodoks offering crossbowmen and Khergit with the fastest, lightly armored units.
Mount&Blade is all about slashing and mutilation... with sharp and not so sharp axes, swords, pikes, knives, arrows, spears... while mounting a horse... need I say more? This game features the try before you buy model. That is, you can play up to level 7 of your character (which develops in the old skool RPG stile, with 4 attributes and skills spawning from those attributes with major weapon groups proficiencies) for FREE. This equals to at least 5 hours of playtime for a new player. There's loads of game mechanics to meet and enjoy, a large map to explore, towns and villages to see. In said 5 hours you can only scratch the surface.
There is no magic nor potions that restore health and whatnot. The only way to fight is to cut and pierce with cold steel, the only way to heal is to let time grab it's hold of your wounds. All this while an angry mob of 50 and above fekked up individuals follows in your wake and cause mayhem leaving only a trail of spilled innards and fields of men and women praying for a quicker death.
Make no mistake, this is NOT an A grade title and I thank heavens for that. Mount&Blade is a simple B production game from a Turkish team that has been at it for years and only last year managed to get a publisher and push for the final (as is now version 1.011) release. So, if you are looking for an eye candy, move long. This game is all about gameplay, tactics, combat and freedom. It grabs you and when you snap out of it, you realize it's way, WAY past your bed time.
There are two major issues holding this game back. One being the absence of marketing, the other being the multiplayer. Better said, lack of it. Well, maybe some day they'll add on to the functionality.
Mods
Yes, there is a thriving community of Mount&Blade addicts, people who are so far gone that they are making this game more complete as we speak and their work (at least some of it) is so refined and (dare I say) perfect that it should be included with the game, out of the box. Mods give this game a lot more then the original packet offers and are completely free.
Links
Ahh, where can all of this be gotten?
- the official M&B site is over here
- you can download the game here. Size is 380MB, with try before you buy method. The serial key goes for 30$. No additional downloads required after the purchase.
- like I said before, mods with this game are something you are not allowed to miss. A plethora of settings (like star wars mod or Calradia at war something) can be found on the forums.
If you are going to try this out, I RECOMMEND downloading the following mods (these only increase the graphical and sound impression of the game, Native gameplay is not modified). I'll sort it in order of relevance.
Some of these mods come with installers, others are just archives that need extracting. Installation is simple. Textures (.dds files) go to the textures dir in the game dir. Meshes (.brf files) go into CommonRes dir. Overwrite when prompted. Panoramic mod needs to be extracted over the game dir (follow the folder structure) while the Cries of war pack needs to be extracted in Modules\Native dir in game dir. That is, extract the contents of the archive in the WCVShybrid folder into the modules\Native folder. Overwrite files when asked. You can also have both folders in the modules, that is Native and WCVShybrid and then choose the latter when you start the game in the loader window.
Some of the best Native mods are listed
here.
For some of the total conversions mods check out
this topic. I hope you have loads of bandwidth, becasue you're going to need it.
Screenshots
I have made tons of these, but have limited my final selection to 6. Click to see in full size and glory.
Aftermath - all is said and done
Aftermath 2 - moments of glory
Heat of the battle a.k.a. silence of the lambs
AAARRRGHHHH!!!!!
The last man standing
Typical action scene
The text over the character heads can be switched off, but then it's a bit hard to tell who's the enemy
so I leave it on. By default, the game runs with well above 100FPS maxed out, but after the mods have been applied it drops somewhat, so maybe you'll want to tone down the settings a bit.
Disclaimer
If and when you get hooked, don't blame me. This game has loads to offer, especially to a newcomer.
Phew, this has been one long mofo. I hope it was informative. If I have messed up something, do tell. Also, any questions are welcome and shell be replied (if I know the answer).
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P.S.: If you are interested, please read as all the info is contained here. The users on other forum have shown loads of immaturity in this regard.
P.S.2: The above price is listed for the download/serial (30$US) while you can also find it on base.com for 10£ plus delivery (most of Europe is covered with 1£ charge).
Mount&Blade 
