Review Mount & Blade: Warband Reviews

VentilatorOfDoom · Apr 12, 2010

Tags: Mount & Blade; TaleWorlds

There can never be enough reviews, so here are another two.
 
 
Game-Debate <a href="http://www.game-debate.com/articles/index.php?a_id=433&game=Mount%20and%20Blade:%20Warband">dishes out the epic score</a> of 9.5/10.
 
 
Should you buy this strange game from an obscure husband-and-wife team in Turkey? Unreservedly YES! This is that rare beast of the gaming world, a sequel that builds on, and outshines it's prequel. Already there are several good mods out there, my favourite is "Hunt Mod" which pits werewolf-faced "prey" with knives and axes against hunters with bows, crossbows and muskets. If the modding activity surrounding the original "Mount and Blade" is any guide, "Warband" will be a HUGE mod platform as new mods emerge, older M&B mods and those in progress like the Samurai, Viking and Roman era mods get ported to the new game. Buy one game now and get hundreds more free! "Mount and Blade and its various mods has been a staple on my hard drive for two years now, Warband will be there for the next two.....Why isn't on yours?
 

 
 
Whereas Games On Net <a href="http://games.on.net/article/8633/2_Minute_Review_-_Mount__Blade_Warband">feels compelled</a> to rate it 4/5.
 
 
If this is your first foray into the Mount & Blade games, it's definitely the best place to start, and the price isn't exactly steep. The graphics are cleaner, the game is less buggy, and there's more for you to do than in the original. But if you did buy the original and were hoping for substantial improvements in what TaleWorld are generously calling a "sequel" then you might be slightly underwhelmed. It's more of a spit-polish on the single-player mode than anything else and the multiplayer mode, while fun, is a missed opportunity.
 
 
Still, perhaps it is too harsh to berate a sequel for being too similar to the original, when the original is such fun. You get out of Mount & Blade what you put into it, so open your heart and show it a little love. If you can look past its quaint graphics, and grit your teeth through its repetitive quests, then you will be rewarded with a game which adores you and just wants to make you happy.
 

 
 
Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/97501-mount-a-blade-warband-reviews.html">GB</A>

sheek · Apr 12, 2010

Is anybody from the Codex playing it? I downloaded the trial a week ago and have yet to install it.

Morkar Left · Apr 12, 2010

Regarding to singleplayer it is a big improvement for me but there are enough bugs and balancing issues that need fixes. Like every game nowadays it was released to early. Singleplayer is like one of the big M&B-Mods (PoP, SoD, NE).
Couching is annoying. Not because of the needed keypress but because of the directionswitch you can do from the right side to the left side (it´s to sensible for me).
For me it´s worthwhile the pricetag if you count multiplayer in plus the new possibilities for modding. Everybody that complains has not seen all new features, torrent games anyway or is simply a very, very poor bastard who has stolen his pc because he couldn´t afford the money for it. Just wait some time if you are not a die-hard fan. I´m sure the pricetag will be lower in 6 months and some mods avaivable.

Al3xand3r · Apr 12, 2010

@ sheek:

Al3xand3r said:
I have to say I'm disappointed with Warband. I put my faith in TW and pre-purchased it and it feels like a waste of money now I've played it enough.

The multiplayer doesn't interest me because it's very, very underdeveloped and in my opinion sloppy with many issues that are fine in SP but when exploited by players online it's real bad. It's very barebones in any case, just a few basic battle modes and constant respawning with no organising in the teams. It would have been cool to be able and run a semi persistent campaign world, similar to Dungeon Siege or Freelancer, with players running about doing their own thing and occasionally interacting if they wish (maybe even competing to be marshals in the same realm or for the heart of the same fair maiden, complete with duels etc) alas they did not attempt any of this and imo took the easy way out.

The single player has some additions but few of them haven't already been done by mods, even if they're ever so slightly better here (like the morale, which in the user made mod causes enemies to run to the edges of the map, while in Warband they actually exit the battle map and form into a new party that tries to flee - though in the mod it seems to happen more often and more realistically, not just when there are too few units left to matter as in Warband).

In any case, it won't last as long as the first game since progression through it feels much the same with the same skills, the same battles, the same armor and weapons aside from a few additions which aren't even top tier items and will therefor see little use (like the Elite armors which have similar stats to the Heraldic mail armors, give or take a point or two, yet are heavier, or the new Sarranid faction's swords).

It's essentially the same game with a few enhancements that aren't beyond the scope of mods (or version numbers), and overall has lesser scope than mods like Sword of Damocles do. It's quite absurd that people are asked to pay more or about as much as they paid for M&B, especially in Europe (I paid $25 which at the time was like less than 20 euros, Warband cost me 26.95 euros with the 10% pre-purchase discount which today is $36 or so) for this thing.

They didn't expand the tactical aspect within battles in any real way (the AI still just rushes to you giving you little time to position your units properly, even though you can now assign troops to custom battle groups, not just infantry, cavalry, archers, etc), and while they did expand the kingdom management aspect it's not beyond fan mod features, while the way some things are currently broken (garrison wages, tax funds, etc) it's not even worthwhile for players to own many fiefs.

The graphical improvements are also minimal at best, the game is still ugly with crude models and low resolution textures, it just has the addition of crude basic normal maps and HDR now, which don't help the overall visual quality. Fan mods like graphical enhancement, polished buildings and hopefully soon polished landscapes did far more to upgrade the visuals of M&B so TW's efforts were a total waste of precious resources that should have been put into tangible game features and fixes.

My advice to every owner of M&B is to wait for a price cut, by Christmas it's probably going to be on some Steam deal for $10 or less. It's worth about that much as far as new content goes, unless you really want to play multiplayer or something, but imo that will get old very fast even for those who like it and it will be up to mods to offer actually compelling game modes that go beyond its simple barebones content. I made a mistake, feel free to laugh at me but be warned.

For new users however, Warband is the version they should get, and they'll get their money's worth with the playability of a grand, unique game, though they should still wait a month or two for the bigger issues to be resolved, if they are. It's just a shame long time supporters got fucked over like this. This is essentially Warband v2.0 Beta (there are loads of issues with the new mechanics, as well as issues existing since the original M&B they've yet to fix) sold as a full new stand alone product. I'll not be supporting TW's next project if it's similar (and With Fire And Sword is similar or worse by what I've seen of it, but I suppose that's not strictly TW, though they did whore out their engine and what not and allow them to sell a product that's an M&B mod at best, much like they're doing with Warband).

Saxon1974 · Apr 12, 2010

Morkar said:
Regarding to singleplayer it is a big improvement for me but there are enough bugs and balancing issues that need fixes. Like every game nowadays it was released to early. Singleplayer is like one of the big M&B-Mods (PoP, SoD, NE).
Couching is annoying. Not because of the needed keypress but because of the directionswitch you can do from the right side to the left side (it´s to sensible for me).
For me it´s worthwhile the pricetag if you count multiplayer in plus the new possibilities for modding. Everybody that complains has not seen all new features, torrent games anyway or is simply a very, very poor bastard who has stolen his pc because he couldn´t afford the money for it. Just wait some time if you are not a die-hard fan. I´m sure the pricetag will be lower in 6 months and some mods avaivable.

Agree with Morkar. It's not finished but I like the additions in the single player campaign (At least when they are complete). I plan to play it in 6 months to a year.

Al3xand3r · Apr 13, 2010

Sorry but contrary to what he says, and you agree to, I haven't pirated it, have played it enough to see all the new features, and am not cheap but just don't like paying more than something's worth to me, while I was certainly a big fan, hence the pre-purchase, just not a fanboy if that's what being a "die-hard" fan means.

There are only few games on my GG profile because I get most via retail, GoG, Impulse, or Steam, while I got M&B directly from TW years ago. I discovered GG very recently, tested it out with the ME2 purchase since it was cheaper than on Steam, and since I was satisfied with the service (unlike D2D and others) I decided to buy from them whenever they have a better price for software I'm interested in, which happened to be the case with Warband. Just saying.

But hey, nice to see what you think of people who disagree with your opinions or have different standards, it makes what you think that much more important for sure.

SerratedBiz · Apr 13, 2010

lol man, you do know that the jpg stores the data you painted over and anyone can easily restore them with photoshop, right? :lol:

Clockwork Knight · Apr 13, 2010

^Really? Oooh, this will be useful.

*right-click, save as*

Morkar Left · Apr 13, 2010

Sorry but contrary to what he says, and you agree to, I haven't pirated it, have played it enough to see all the new features, and am not cheap but just don't like paying more than something's worth to me, while I was certainly a big fan, hence the pre-purchase, just not a fanboy if that's what being a "die-hard" fan means.

You spend your money without checking what you buy? And now you complain that you didn´t spend your money well?
There was a feature list, the features were discussed on the board, vids on youtube and there was a betatest for mp+sp and a demoversion to test.
Plenty of opportunities to check if your money is well spend.

Al3xand3r · Apr 13, 2010

The features were discussed roughly (better kingdom management! better graphics! better this, more of that!), and they do sound good on paper, until you actually get to experience them and see they're nothing spectacular in practice, not to mention that the game is still half finished. Maybe they'll finish it in another expansion/sequel/full price thing like With Fire and Sword which will add actual battle formations among other features. They sure found a good way to make more money.

Now, I did play the MP beta before buying it and found it lackluster but figured the SP would be worth it. That wasn't the case, sadly. And yes, I also was part of the SP beta test... but only after pre-purchasing prior to the release of course, being a fan as I said I was and all. And when did I say I didn't make a bad choice? I clearly said you can feel free to laugh at me for making such a bad choice, and now I've made it I can warn others to avoid doing the same. That's certainly a better attitude than yours. What are you arguing anyway? I merely discussed the game's quality as I see it having experienced it. Your argument against it (after preemptively accusing me I'm a pirate, or ignorant of the features, or all sorts of other things) is that I made a bad purchase? I know I did, that's what I already said myself, so thank you, captain obvious.

And no, I don't think jpg does that mister, but if you're that good (read: a wizard) by all means, that would only mean you agree it's not worth buying after all. You're welcome.

Morkar Left · Apr 13, 2010

The features were discussed roughly (better kingdom management! better graphics! better this, more of that!), and they do sound good on paper

You have played at least the mp-beta where you could see the graphics (not to mention vids and screenshots). And it was pretty clear that M&B will not evolve to Farcry 2 (or whatever is the new shit). If you want a fair comparison compare it with the Total War - Engine when it comes to graphics and performance. But yes there are still some old textures in that are not fitted to the new m&b gfx (the game is rushed out to early).
The kingdom-management is as good as the options already in mods, even better than the generic kingdom management floating around in every mod.
The marriage-system fits the mood of the game perfectly and there are lots and lots of little details improving the game.
But yes, M&B gameplay will be M&B gameplay and after some years you can get sick of it. That´s normal.

That's certainly a better attitude than yours. What are you arguing anyway? I discussed the games quality as I see it having experienced it. Your argument against it is that I made a bad purchase?

No, I don´t blame you for making a bad purchase. I blame you for complaining that you made a bad purchase as if it would be the fault of the game. Sorry, but buying something in advance without seeing it before is not intelligent. Playing something, buying it and still complaining that the game is not worth the price is not intelligent too.

Now I did play the MP beta before buying it and found it lackluster but figured the SP would be worth it.

The mainfeature was always mp. The game was even called a MP-Expansion. If MP sucks for you that´s your personal taste. I´ve heard the same from a friend of mine. But it seems lots of other people enjoy it and are happy with the style. And you already tested that mainfeature of the game in the beta.

Code:

I discussed the game's quality as I see it having experienced it.

You did. In more detail than I did. I agree with some things you wrote and disagree with others. But I wasn´t complaining about your feedback. I only mentioned that the pricetag is reasonable for me and calling all "it´s to expensive"-complainers pirates or feature-ignorants or all other sorts of things (if you don´t mind using your vocabulary).

Al3xand3r · Apr 13, 2010

They hyped the other features as much as MP, perhaps it's what you were most looking forward to and therefor considered it the main feature. That's not how everyone felt.

I'm not sure why you keep repeating I made a bad/dumb or whatever you wanna call it, choice, I already said it myself multiple times. Yes, I bought it on "faith" in TW, yes, I didn't wait to sample all of it and just went by the big talk, yes I purchased something that if I knew everything I do now, I wouldn't have. I said it myself already.

And yes, it's the game's fault it's not worth what I paid, things could have turned out differently you know, the "faith" I put in TW could have actually, you know, paid off. Could I have avoided that mistake? Of course, and that's the point of my posts, to help others avoid it.

I wish someone had told me similar things before I purchased it, but instead the forums of the actual SP testers were full of blind praise for everything outside bugs and technical issues. If someone did that, then I would have bought it by the end of the year for 10 or 15 as I encourage others to do, and would have felt it was just about worth that.

It's clear you like the game. That's fine by me. I'm glad you got your money's worth. I'm not sure everyone would feel like that however, and thus, here I am, posting about my experience, just like you did of yours, and I don't go around telling those who disagree they're pirates or whatever else. I suppose they can always try the demo nowadays but hey, some people are fans, just like I was, and may purchase it just by reading the rough features list and putting "faith" of their own in TW. That's pretty bad, but of course, if you're a fan, even if not die-hard as you mentioned in your posts, you don't always do the rational thing and may need a nudge to the right direction. There's no harm in that.

sheek · Apr 13, 2010

So is anyone playing online?

I don't expect a masterpiece of game design. I'm looking for the equivalent of LAN Doom or Counter-Strike with swords, horses and hacked limbs.

mondblut · Apr 14, 2010

Played it today. Can't see much difference from the original, frankly. A different map, an additional faction, a few unique quests with special locations, and that's it. That would be a fine final release for a vanilla M&B as beta, but with M&B already having been released, this hardly justifies a brand new game.

Didn't play MP, don't care.

Morkar Left · Apr 14, 2010

They hyped the other features as much as MP, perhaps it's what you were most looking forward to and therefor considered it the main feature. That's not how everyone felt.

Besides MP they only said there is a new faction, a new map and the ability to marry when it comes to "hype" features. For the rest you had to read on the forums.

http://forums.taleworlds.com/index.php/board,140.0.html

look under features

http://www.paradoxplaza.com/games/mount-blade-warband

http://www.atomicgamer.com/articles/1009/mount-blade-warband-preview and more...

Personally, I wasn´t even interested in the MP.

And yes, it's the game's fault it's not worth what I paid, things could have turned out differently you know, the "faith" I put in TW could have actually, you know, paid off.

My donations to the church could pay off when I die because I have "faith"...
If you trust in faith when you buy a product you pay just for the "I want to believe" - part and what could be possible, not for the actual product itself.
But that´s an experience everybody has to make in his life. Critical consumer and all that...
(If it comes to games it was Oblivion and NWN2 for me)

And for the features, what would warrant 30 $ for you?

And compare this to other games on the market like Pirates! (from original to Gold to the latest installation, all full-price) to the entire Civ-series, Colonization to Europa Universalis and its expansions to the TotalWar-Series and its expansions.

Al3xand3r · Apr 14, 2010

I already said buying it was, in the end, a poor decision. What are you trying to accomplish by repeating the same thing over and over causing me to do the same? It's clear we pretty much agree on that one topic at least. I pre-purchased the game, as many others did. For some it was worthwhile, for others, like myself, it wasn't. Neither "side" could have been 100% sure it would be worthwhile considering the game wasn't released yet. The faith in the studio was based on the original M&B's offerings and the promises for what ended up being a stand alone sequel, not on an ancient story book. And no, in the features list on the TW site, only two of the seven bullet points are strictly MP focused. The rest speak of the grand experience in SP. Your unique story and experiences, your empire building, and so on and so forth. Other features weren't only discussed in the forums, but also during various gaming shows, often linked in the front page of the website. Most of which are in fact in the game (well, not so much the "unique story" stuff of course, unless you consider unique visiting cities in a different order, or doing the same handful of tasks for characters with different names), but in a lackluster form, and/or clearly half finished as I explained in my first comment, which you said you agree with to a certain extent. All the other games you mention are much more polished, far more expansive than Warband, or both, and mostly meet their feature lists in a satisfactory, not lackluster, way. Of course, if another studio does something like this and rips off their customers, fans, or die-hard fans by offering lackluster sequels, it doesn't make it OK or a good thing for TW to also do. Otherwise, I have no reason to do business with them over others. As for the price, TW employs a tiny few people, their product's price is that of a premium indie game, it's not any sort of stupidly awesome deal just because you may compare it to a product that employed 50 or 100 people, whether you prefer its gameplay or not. Though, plenty such games do cost as much or less than Warband.

I'm glad you didn't waste your money as I did mondblut, spread the word.

Shannow · Apr 14, 2010

Al3xand3r said:
I already said buying it was, in the end, a poor decision. What are you trying to accomplish by repeating the same thing over and over causing me to do the same?

Because you persist in blaming the game for your poor judgment. You should take this as a lesson and don't pre-purchase games "on good faith" in the future.

And no, in the features list on the TW site, only two of the seven bullet points are strictly MP focused

Sorry but you can check all the Warband news items on the codex. MP, a new faction and marriage were the only "hype points" with strong emphasis on the MP-part. And cursory glances at the TW-forums didn't give any more info. The SP-part looked very lackluster from the start.

All the other games you mention are much more polished, far more expansive than Warband, or both, and mostly meet their feature lists in a satisfactory, not lackluster, way.

No. Not really.

Of course, if another studio does something like this and rips off their customers, fans, or die-hard fans by offering lackluster sequels, it doesn't make it OK or a good thing for TW to also do.

And where did they rip you off? When you went and bought the cat in the box, after having had a look at it and noticing that it's MP-mangyness? After playing beta and not liking it, you can't find the patience to demo Warband before the purchase?

Otherwise, I have no reason to do business with them over others.

And you shouldn't. You shouldn't even think in those terms. If somebody offers a similar game with better features and production values, you should buy their game and not follow some pseudy-loyalty towards taleworlds.

As for the price, TW employs a tiny few people, their product's price is that of a premium indie game, it's not any sort of stupidly awesome deal just because you may compare it to a product that employed 50 or 100 people, whether you prefer its gameplay or not. Though, plenty such games do cost as much or less than Warband.

Huh? Premium indie? What's that supposed to be?

Now to be clear: I hate consumers who take the side of devs. I find Warband offers too little (mainly because I'm not interested in MP). It's still unfinished, imbalanced, buggy and lacks features. Some of the new features aren't too great either. For what it offers over vanilla the price is at least 20$ too high. But nobody forced you to pre-purchase... You wasted your money. Your fault. Don't blame the game or the devs for that.

Al3xand3r · Apr 14, 2010

Edit: wait, what, you agree the price is 20 too high for what it offers yet you still say the developers have no fault whatsoever? Lol? I didn't blame them for wasting my money either, I clearly said I made a mistake many, many times but you have some fetish with repeating that same thing and making me repeat that same thing over and over. I blamed them for offering a lackluster product in such a price, and you just agreed they did that. Congratulations, I guess. The original comment still applies.

Origiinal comment: okay, maybe you need to take a chill pill and agree to disagree as I said I'm absolutely fine with you enjoying the product. It's the game's condition that stops it from being worth the 26.xx I paid to me. Maybe I'd have saved 26.xx if I had acted differently, but that's not the point. The point is, that in my opinion, the game is not worth the current asking price. Whether I had purchased it or not, that fact doesn't change. I have every right to post that opinion and you have every right to disagree, as you've made clear you do, being a die hard fan and all. Of course, if I had not purchased it you'd be trolling me telling me I haven't spent enough time with it to judge it so harshly or whatever else. Now go find someone else to troll, I'm done here since you keep leading this in pointless circles.

Morkar Left · Apr 14, 2010

@ Shannow
Thank you. I lost already my patience with his last post.

@Al3xand3r
Learn to read, seriously. But I assume I should congratulate you for your success in trolling me?

sheek · Jul 21, 2010

Truth is Mount&Blade 1 was never worth it for the single-player either.

The big attraction was always imagined potential: good combat AI, a loose but decent story line and dynamic quests/encounters (an actiony Daggerfall/Darklands was my vision). It never really moved forward and I erad the announcement of multi-player as an admission that they'd given up on the single-player game.

spectre · Jul 21, 2010

That's where you get it wrong.It's Pirates (and Pirates formula was never too profound to begin with), not Daggerfall/Darklands. Now that's more like imagined potential. You want it to be rpg, and it only wants to go as far as "with rpg elements".

Truth be told, I don't have a loot good to say about Warband myself. It has some improvementy over regular M&B, but unless you're in for multiplayer, I wouldn't bother.

If you want to go single player, vanilla is boring and early game is a chore due to poor balancing (it started being so circa version .930), mods can make it good to awesome, but that's

Also, they managed to royally screw combat animations, true, much more fluid and realistic right now, but I can't hit shit from horseback how. I'm being told that it takes a little getting used to, but hell naw.
Onthe other hand, ground combat's got a lot more flavor thanks to kicking, morale and some variation in the ai which queues to strike you when you run away a bit less.

sheek · Jul 22, 2010

spectre said:
That's where you get it wrong.It's Pirates (and Pirates formula was never too profound to begin with), not Daggerfall/Darklands. Now that's more like imagined potential. You want it to be rpg, and it only wants to go as far as "with rpg elements".

I said that was my vision of what it could/should become not what it is.

The random-generic 'dynamic' 'strategy' layer of roving armies, villagers and faction reputation management they pasted on after ¬v800 is just an annoyance.

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