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After having a discussion on gaming with a friend a few nights ago, I decided to take a look at the Mount&Blade complete pack on Steam, because apparently it was awesome. My first impression of Warband (With Fire & Sword hadn't been unlocked yet, and it was apparently close to the original but better) wasn't great, the graphics weren't that good, and the character creation was quite limited. But I worked with it, it is only the product of a small company, and when you compare the options available to you here to those found in Bethesda's Oblivion, there isn't a lot of difference considering that Oblivion is made by a conglomerate of well-known companies that are each several times larger than Taleworlds, the makers of M&B.

If you're playing for the first time, the tutorial is a must. This is not a small company's attempt at Oblivion (which is the closest game I could find reference-wise for the first-person play), and you cannot win by running into a crowd and furiously hitting the 'attack' button whilst the 'block' button lies beside it gathering dust, which is what seperates this game from others of the same genre; a hack'n'slash mentality gets you killed, fast.

Ranged weapons are pretty-much the same as other games, as there's little to play around with. There's no power/speed selection bars, but there is accuracy deterioration with bows (not crossbows); the longer you're pulling the string, the less accurate the shot, so you need to line up very quickly with your target so that the reticule is at its smallest, then release. Crossbows differ in that because you're not holding a string, you get no accuracy deterioration whilst standing still. Crossbows are also more powerful in base damage than regular bows, however unlike bows, there is no skill that can raise damage, as detailed later. The final ranged weapons are thrown. They are by far the trickiest to master. Like crossbows, they don't have deteriorating accuracy when standing still, but they're generally inaccurate anyway, so your chances of hitting are slim unless you're right next to your opponent. All ranged weapons have less accuracy on the move. All ranged weapons apart from Crossbows that are not 'Hunting' or 'Light' can be used on horseback, which is a skill that is very tough to master, but hugely rewarding.

Magic is... nonexistance. "Wait, a medieval game with no magic!?" I hear you cry? You heard it right, this is medieval genre game with 6 human factions; no Dwarves; no Elves; no <insert mythical creature here>; just Humans slaughtering each other like in the good ol' days. If you're a fan of over-used fantasy-medieval genres and clichés, then this game isn't for you.

Storyline is something you forge yoursel. M&B is wonderfully open-ended. You start the game at the caital city of your chosen nation (which you are not automatically alligned to, so you can go marauding without a King telling you to stop; however at level 1 it is far from wise), and you'll be attacked by a bandit. This is why the tutorial is 100% necessary, as he will kill you if you run in thinking you're playing Oblivion, that's right, your first enemy encounter punishes you for skipping the tutorial instead of pandering to cries of "Waaa! It too hard!!!". Once you kill him, a merchant runs out and promptly asks you a favour. This is your first quest, and it is the final part of the linear side of M&B, after this, you're able to roam away and do whatever you want.

This isn't a strategy guide, so i'll stop telling you what to do here, and move onto other stuff, like skills.

First, there are 4 main attributes that each govern a selection of available skills. These are Strength, Agility, Intelligence and Charisma. Strength increases the damage you do, and will upgrade your hit-points by 1 for every point; it governs how hard you hit with weapons (melee and ranged), which weapons you can use and your hitpoints. Agility governs the usage of horses, weapon efficiency and speed. Intelligence gives you another skill point to use on your list of skills (as opposed to the 1 you get for levelling up) and governs your knowledge of the world map, how much damage you take if you lose a battle and how quickly you and your party regenerate health during gameplay (unlike most games, you cannot regenerate health unless you are on the world map, there is no hiding in a corner until you're back on full health, and there's no popping a potion mid-fight (there are no potions of any sort in the game) to save yourself from death). Charisma governs how well you keep party morale, how big your party can be, how well you trade and also handles Prisoner Management, allowing you to have more prisoners to sell to slave traders and ransom brokers you meet.

The skills are further divided into Personal, Leader and Party skills. Personal skills affect only you, Leader skills are only in affect when the owner is the party leader, and Party skills affect the whole party.

There are also weapon efficiencies. The higher your Weapon Mastery skill (governed by Agility) the more points you can put into these when you level up. Once you reach the cap for your level of weapon mastery, you cannot manually put more points in, but you can skill gain them during battles (albeit at a slower rate). Each point increases the effectiveness of these weapons in your hands, so if you like hitting things with greataxes, go for Two-Handed etc. etc.

You might've heard the term 'party' mentioned, this isn't Dragon Age, and your 'party' isn't a group of people taking on thousands. Instead, you recruit volunteers from villages you come across and traint hem up in combat or with the Trainer skill to become mighty veterans. This is not done in a day, however, and it'll take a long time for you to have a top-tier army, so you will need to learn to pick and choose your fights with great care. You can get 'companions' for your party, and give them equipment and assign their skills when they level up, but they are not battle-winners. Unlike your regular troops, they cannot die, and are simply knocked unconscious should they fall in battle, but they take time to heal before they are fit for battle again, meaning if they fall in one fight, they might not be ready for the next.

You can control your army to a limited degree using battle commands (hit Backspace on the battlefield), but I haven't quite got the hang of them (they're quite vague and fiddly, if you want your archers on a hill, you have to lead them there and tell them to stay, which can be a hassle; especially if your presence is required on another part of the battlefield).

Because time is short and this post is getting tremendously long, i'm going to list the last few things and let you find out on your own:

You can:
Swear allegiance to the leader of one of the factions, and if accepted, become a vassal and become a feif, perhaps even rising far enough through the ranks to be granted a castle.
Become a marauding bandit, your army can swell until it rivals those of the Lords of other nations. You can even siege a castle, capture it, and create your own faction with your own name and faction banner. You can appoint your companions as Lords and even declare them traitors to the faction.
Chase after a lady of a faction, attempt to woo her and perhaps even marry, although only heterosexual relationships based around a male character are in the game (so if you choose a female character, you cannot seduce a lord or a lady, and a male character cannot attempt to have it off with a lord).
Become a tournament champion, roaming the land in search of tournaments and winning them. This can get you invited to feasts (the only way to meet single ladies of the faction) and repeated successes might even net you a feifdom.
Just roaming around and being well known could net you an offer of vassalage from a faction, as happened to me (but I turned it down as I had my eye on another faction already).
Break out ye olde abacus and become a merchant. buying low in one town and selling high in another to rake in profit, or even setting up an enterprise in a town for a weekly influx of cash (provided it does well, of course, always research the market beforehand).
Aid a claimant to a faction's throne is dethroning the false leader, possibly gaining vital ties within the faction should you succeed.
Run for the throne of a faction yourself, although this is a steep mountain to climb, and not one to be taken lightly.

Tips for the start of the game:
Female characters are worse off, not through sexism, but through realism, however they achieve the same as a male character.
Play and re-play the tutorial before attempting the game, stop only when you're sure you know it all, then practice some more.
Enemy archers are not stormtroopers, they are deadly accurate, so strafing is a must, as is use of cover and a shield (which is destructable if it takes enough damage).
Running is always an option; if you're facing bandits you know you cannot defeat, having a few troops aside to leave behind whilst you escape is always handy; a high Tactics skill reduces the number of troops needed to be left behind.
Lances hurt, avoid them if the owner is on horseback and running towards you; they will nearly always one-shot you; however, weapons rely on distance between contact and speed to do damage, so getting right up close to a lancer who is not charging will prevent you taking any damage from them; since the lance is already touching you, there is no distance to generate speed and the damage is nullified.

I picked up the original to try out and it is somewhat difficult to start off. There is literally no guidance, no starting quest to point you in a direction. If you sit and do nothing, then nothing happens, except maybe some looters come by and take you hostage and drag you around for a week and a half before you escape with your life in a far away country that is unfamiliar... That right there is what makes the game so awesome, it will give you plenty of chances to forge quests, but you have to take the initiative and go get them.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
The game is not user friendly however, death comes very easy.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I also found that the tutorial is very easy and simple, combat is somewhat difficult to master (even melee) but the training does not offer you opponents that try to evade your attacks so it is useless beyond teaching you the right buttons to press.

Also, I have found archers to be very inaccurate. I ran headlong at a bowman, allowing him to get off five arrows before I beheaded him with my axe and he never hit me. = /

I suppose everyone's experiences will differ.

So this is why you left us on minecraft :/

I love Warband, but not digging Fire and Sword all that much, I will give it a fair shot.

For those that play Warband I recommend the Diplomacy Mod, which adds tons of options, Tweak MB, which allows you to tweak annoying crap like herding cattle. And finally cRPG, it's a multiplayer mod that gives you a character that sticks around past a single MP game, it's much more like Single Player, even allowing you to retire.

I love this game, my only lament is the rather lacking coop functions. My brother and I purchased this game in the hope of having access to the single player portion in coop.

BrookM wrote:I love this game, my only lament is the rather lacking coop functions. My brother and I purchased this game in the hope of having access to the single player portion in coop.

Derp

Why would you even think it had Co-op?

Anyways back on topic. I also really enjoy the Mount and Blade series. SP is pretty deep and can absorb me for hours at a time. MP has some neat mechanics and if generally enjoyable, but I still feel it lacks a tightness of mechanics and controls that most other MP games have. Can't put my finger on the exact issues I have with the MP yet.

With about 140 hours in the entire series I think I can say I like it.

KingKodo wrote:I picked up the original to try out and it is somewhat difficult to start off. There is literally no guidance, no starting quest to point you in a direction. If you sit and do nothing, then nothing happens, except maybe some looters come by and take you hostage and drag you around for a week and a half before you escape with your life in a far away country that is unfamiliar... That right there is what makes the game so awesome, it will give you plenty of chances to forge quests, but you have to take the initiative and go get them.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
The game is not user friendly however, death comes very easy.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I also found that the tutorial is very easy and simple, combat is somewhat difficult to master (even melee) but the training does not offer you opponents that try to evade your attacks so it is useless beyond teaching you the right buttons to press.

Also, I have found archers to be very inaccurate. I ran headlong at a bowman, allowing him to get off five arrows before I beheaded him with my axe and he never hit me. = /

I suppose everyone's experiences will differ.

I like how the game isn't very user friendly; being the don of your world on Fantasy-Medieval Game XYZ is all well and good, and you can have fun slaughtering armies on your own, but eventually, being an undying behemoth gets boring; having a game where you can't simply run headlong into the fray and expect to survive is a breath of fresh air in the smoggy world of games where you cannot be struck down unless you let yourself be killed. Your life becomes precious, especially since you falling normally means your side loses in the auto-resolve that happens afterwards unless you fell near the very end of a fight you were dominating or you attacked with vastly superior numbers. I don't know of many other games where a fine balance of killing people, using tactics and trying not to die is necessary.

The tutorial is also only what you make of it. I still go around the track a few times to try and master mounted archery on stationary targets (because i'll be picking off the unshielded archers that don't tend to move around a lot, that is if i'm not spearing them as I ride past). The melee fighters are really only for learning how melee works, after that the Arena is better for further honing your skills in a completely risk-free environment. Once you've done a few arena rounds, you should be ready for most fights.

As for archers, I run at an archer and I get rewarded by an arrow in the gut unless I strafe, was also attacking a castle earlier, and every time I lined up a headshot with my crossbow I got riddled with bolts and arrows; even on horseback I get shot regularly, though my horse suffers more; still waiting until I can get Riding 4 and buy a Charger so I don't have to worry about getting dismounted by anything but a direct lance strike.

corpsesarefun wrote:So this is why you left us on minecraft :/

Partly, I also have a few responsibilities in my WoW guild, and i've run out of stuff to do on MC; i've made a mine, made a treehouse, made a cave house, made a wooden shack, made a wooden house and it's all becoming mundane, but that's a story for a different thread

On a more related note, i've tried With Fire and Sword and I must say that i'm disappointed. You don't get to choose your backstory, your character is always male, and i'm not sure but I think you start the game the exact same way every time. Guns have also ruined it IMHO, where it might be historically accurate to have one tactic that is simply "Line up, wait until they're in front of you then fire a volley into their faces", it is very tiresome; there's also something about it being based off a novel that feels like the game is limited in its freedom.