There are times when I see a game get re-released and I just scratch my head as to why. Mount and Blade: Warband is one of those games. This is a game that was released initially on PC back in March 2010. It’s pushing 7 years old, and it’s not like there has been a calling for it to get a console release, unless I’ve been totally blind to it. Hell, I’ll fully admit I’d never even heard of the game, apparently it is actually a standalone expansion to a game that the Mount and Blade game that was released in 2007. I’ve frequently found that games made for PC can struggle when ported over to console. Sometimes the control mechanics can be too in depth, or there are a whole plethora of menus that need to be trawled through, or in the case of older games, there is a LOT of reading to be done. This can be even more prevalent in RPG games, which Mount and Blade: Warband happens to be. Will this be a game that manages to surprise me?
Mount and Blade: Warband is an Action Role Playing Game set in medieval times. Don’t expect anything similar to Game of Thrones here though, there are no fantasy elements present in game. You have swords, bows, crossbow, armour and horses to get you through, not a dragon in site. And there is actually very little in term of actual storyline. You create your character at the start of the game using a series of questions to create a backstory for yourself which helps distribute early attribute points into a huge amount of different options. And from there you are left to create your own story. Be a good guy, bad guy, whichever. You build your character up by fighting, working for different factions and eventually taking over areas of land and people.
As soon as you start the game you can tell this is old. It hasn’t aged well at all from the menu systems to the graphics. No improvements have been made here for the console port, and if you didn’t know better you’d think it was older than the 6 years it is. And yes I appreciate that ‘graphics aren’t everything’, but there really should have been some work gone into this, especially as the controls are poor aswell.
I went straight to the tutorial mode, which demonstrated how the games combat system works, and to be totally honest it put me off the game straight away. It is a very clunky experience which at times felt overly slow reacting to what I was trying to do. Coupled with this is the awkward controls. On paper it sounds like a decent way of approaching combat, by pushing in different directions depending on the type of swing you take. Unfortunately, the camera is also controlled by the stick you used to swing. This leads to the camera being all over the place as you are trying to fight and defend in battle. It makes for uncomfortable gameplay, and one that will make a lot of people not want to even bother with the main game.
I would also argue that this type of game is much more suited to a PC gamer, that to a sofa bound console gamer. I say this because of the sheer amount of text that is on the screen during the character creation, with all the different options. Those will smaller TV’s will be struggling to see everything that is going on. Also, the interaction with NPC’s is all done via text based dialogue, rather than voiceovers. There is certainly still a niche market available for people who enjoy text based story telling in video games, but in my personal opinion it doesn’t suit the console market.
Behind all the issues with the game, there is actually a rewarding game here if you enjoy building a character and creating your own story rather than being led by a game narrative. Unfortunately if the core controls of the game are so poor it is very difficult to recommend anyone try to look past them. And coupled with a clear aging issues, this is a game that may well have had its plaudits in its heyday, but should be avoided now.
**Thank you to XCN for providing a review copy of the game**