REVIEW: ‘Mount And Blade: Warband’

This will no doubt make me lose a lot of credibility as a reviewer and gamer in general…but I don’t really like sandbox games. 

The problem is that games such as Grand Theft Auto and Skyrim claim to be limitless in the possibilities presented, yet of course it’s a game. There has to be a plot, there has to be an objective, and there has to be walls. A game where you can do anything is impossible because even when a game randomly generates content, there is still a physical limit.

Also, plots in sandbox games are generally terrible because missions take place in instances rather than in the environment presented. The sandbox itself is almost always merely a holding pattern for the story, meaning it's just a distraction. This being said: I like sandbox games like Minecraft that don't have any plot at all as it encourages you to forge your own story in the absence of one.

So thank goodness that Mount And Blade: Warband does not care for story. You start off having to do a few odd-jobs for a merchant, but the merchant quickly vanishes. The story is entirely optional - because there is no story, just a starter-quest. There's not even a tutorial level, though there is a stand-alone tutorial in the main menu where you can learn how the surprisingly involving comat-system works. 

Admittedly, it's sometimes best to just let the A.I get on with it.

There aren't even any mini-story quests. Usually, RPG's have one main story, a few fetch-quests, and a couple of quests that act as their own short narratives. Here, the only narrative is your own personal journey. Whilst the game clearly wants you to try and become at least a lord, you can always attempt to take the throne by force instead of going down the diplomatic route. It's much harder, but the game doesn't stop you - in fact, the game applauds your effort even if it's to be immediately crushed. 

Whilst not a Real-Time-Strategy game, there are certain elements taken from that genre. The building of your army and management of your estates is perhaps the most obvious aspect, yet underlying the whole experience is a reliance on your own wit. Want to storm a castle? Godspeed to you...but your on your own.  

There is dizzying depth behind the game. Whilst your running around hoping to run into bandits, there are usually at least three wars going on at once between different factions. People will happily spout their life-stories at you if asked politely, and there are little touches such as suddenly getting ambushed by bandits or encountering a drunkard in a tavern (leading me to automatically equip my shield whenever I enter an area). Even the nondescript villages you encounter occasionally go through periods of famine as a result of war or economic crisis. 

It's only a model...

An initially confusing, often frustrating, yet unique feature of the game is that, unlike other sandbox RPG’s where quest-givers perpetually stand in the same location throughout the game, quest-givers have their own agendas. You’ll often return to a city to find that the lord who you slayed a bandit for has gone on an expedition and is now half-way across the map. To find this lord, you have to ask other lords for his location – but their reports are often out of date. And if you can’t find the lord in time, then that lord won’t be pleased. It can get particuarly annoying when you join the army and have to frequently report back to a lord who always seems to teleport half-way across the map in-between quests.

I’m against constantly saving then reloading a game, but it’s almost expected of you given how quickly things can go wrong. For some reason, your army performs a hundred times better if you enter battles personally - but entering the battle yourself is a huge risk considering that if you get knocked out then you automatically lose the battle regardless of how well it was going before to your pre-victory arrow to the face. Lose a battle and you lose the army you spent all weekend amassing. I feel no shame in saving every five seconds and slamming the 'reload' button if I accidentally call the king 'your highness' instead of 'your majesty.'  For a game that you're expected to sink a lot of time into, things can go very wrong very quickly - and it'll take forever to set them right again if you chose not to reload.

Yeah, I called my character 'Hawk The Slayer.' What?

Full disclosure: I haven’t managed to get that far in this game yet. Well, I’ve gotten quite far – I managed to own a city and defeat three factions, but considering that it's possible (though very difficult and time-consuming) to become King, and even then it’s not king of the whole continent but king of just one faction. If you want to rule the world in this game, then it’s probably going to take just as long as it would take to really rule the world. It’s almost certain I will never get to this stage, because I am unfortunately cursed with a life.

If your willing to make the commitment, Mount And Blade: Warband will certainly reward you. The combat is satisfying, and the depth is refreshing in an age where game publishers don't know the joy of actually consulting your notes and talking to people to find out where to go. I imagine that finally becoming king would be enourmously satisfying considering how much work is required. If your really interested, download the demo and see if you like it.  

Screenshots taken by me.