Half Gamer Half Crab

So there's an indie game doing the rounds right now, you may or may not have heard mention of it. It's called Mount & Blade. It's a very interesting little piece, and one which has had me compelled for some weeks now.

If you've seen many reviews of M&B the comparison you'll have seen most often is Oblivion. This is a false comparison and I don't know where it comes from, except perhaps insofar as they both have RPG elements like stat-building, and they both have real-time combat. Beyond that they are entirely different games. A far more accurate comparison, in my eyes, is with Elite and with Dynasty Warriors.

The game centers around the fictional land of Calradia, circa 1257. The military technology is broadly analogous to our conception of medieval technology at that time - swords, spears, lances, and so forth. Guns are hidden in the game code, and several mods make use of them, but in vanilla they don't make an appearance. Also not making an appearance is magic, or indeed fantasy in any form. No magic, no race but Humans, no healing potions, nothing. Just soldiers, weapons, and horses - mounts being to some degree the game's raison d'être. The game is ultimately a combat simulator, and whilst I mention DW as a comparison that is due only to them both having real-time combat of significant numbers. With regards to how combat plays out this is almost a polar opposite of Koei's cash cow. Whereas DW is arcadey and over the top, M&B strives towards a realistic representation.

Combat here is convincing and based on physics. If you swing at someone and can't get a lot of speed up before you impact, you won't do much damage at all. If you're on horseback and smash someone at full tilt with a battle axe, they're likely to drop like a sack of potatoes. As a result of both this and how you defend yourself the game has a strong skill component in combat. Defense comes in two forms; with a shield and without. The former offers protection against frontal attacks, but your shield can be broken by repeated hits. The latter requires more player involvement, as you will raise your weapon to parry, but you won't necessarily raise it to the right position until your opponent begins preparing their swing. This requires you to pay attention - especially because the AI is smart enough to feint.

As the leader of a mercenary force, you can also give commands to your troops. This can be crucial to victory against tougher groups of foes, and it's very satisfying when you successfully execute a tactic. You recruit troops in the Elite-style side of the game, which is the world map and various towns, villages, and castles on it. You have the freedom to go anywhere on the map right from the start, to do quests for towns, villages, and the lords of any of the five nations in the game. You can recruit troops, who gain strength through combat and your Training skill level. You can hunt bandits and looters and the like. You can attack caravans. You can trade various goods between cities, making a profit for yourself.

This side of the game is less developed than the combat, it's true, but it works well and can become very involving. There's no main plot to hold your hand, you just go about whatever business you please. I've seen some complain about this but for me, it's liberating and works well.

M&B is a compelling experiment. It's far from perfect; the quests get repetetive, there are some balance issues with regard to the economy, herding cows is the most annoying thing since itchy diarrhea. But the combat is some of the best I've seen in gaming, you grow attached to the land, your character, and your army, and it's a very brave and refreshing piece of work. It must be recommended.