Mount and Blade

[Mr.SelfDestruct]

Mount and Blade (www.taleworlds.com)

I like to whore myself out to these guys every once in awhile. They've created a fantastic game, and it's got a pretty great price tag too at just over $20. They deserve the advertising (plus the more people interested, the more likely they are to update quicker:) ).

Mount and Blade is an action medeival combat game. It features RPG elements, horseback combat, large scale battles, quests, factions (two joinable), a pretty decent character creation system, arenas, and a fantastic community. The game is meant to carry a sense of realism, so you'll find that you won't be able to wade through enemies. If you're not careful, you can become overwhelmed quite easily.

Check out the videos. I just picked a couple off of youtube, but I tried to make sure they show a few of the combat elements such as archery and calvary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hehRIsZlv8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0q-59Xmmd0

If the vids interest you, grab the demo at the site I provided, just click on the game title at the top. The demo on the site is the full game, but cuts you off at level 5. You can start a new character as many times as you want though.

This game comes highly reccomended by yours truly, and the guys over in the Penny-Arcade forums. At worst, you'll waste some time trying out the demo.

[Nickster]

Actually it cuts you at level six. And its awesome. I havent even bought the full version yet because I'm a cheap fuck. If I buy anything over 20 that isnt a movie ticket I'll be dwelling on it for the rest of the week.:lol:

But seriously, the games badass. Fun combat, the feeling you get by commanding an army is awesome. Being a merchant is suprisingly fun. Theres nothing like wiping out 9 guys all by yourself.

But they should work on making the character animations look less stupid, and make the game more lively. Not much else to complain about though.

Tip: If your using polearms on a horse don't hold down the mouse button, just keep running and you'll couch your lance, then you can just run people the fuck down.

And if your see any guys called "Dark Hunters". RUN AWAY. RUN THE FUCK AWAY. They will kick the shit out of you. I only ever beat a group of them once. (around 30-40 guys) and that was after atacking them at least 3 times. Epic.

[Mr.SelfDestruct]

Well, I lucked out. Right when I had discovered this, one of the regulars over on their forums hosted a contest.

Create a piece of art having to do with the game. It could be a poem, an illustration, a story, whatever. Then a few guys would judge it, and the winner would get the game for free.

I whipped up a little short story, everyone loved it, and I won a free game. :D

I was preparing to buy it too, just happened to spot the contest.

Anyways, I've put more hours into M&B than many other games. In my opinion, it blows away commercial titles such as Halo or Jade Empire.

[Zooch]

It's alright. The main gameplay is BORING as hell. The only good thing about the game is the 3rd part content.

[Mr.SelfDestruct]

Guess it depends on what you're looking for. I loved the combat personally. And there are quite a few mods out there that add some interesting stuff, such as horse training, or larger battles.

[-Verifist-]

Pretty badass game, especially the LOTR mod they have.