All the characters keep a great tone of brutality and heart through their all too few lines.

The gameplay is beautifully thought out and as hardcore as anyone wants it to be. The Jarl's criminal informant(you'll know when you see him in story mode) is a favorite.ĭamn good. I find myself keeping NPCs because I like them as opposed to what they can do for me. I won't spoil too much, but it's really cool and only feels cooler the more you know about the era.Īlso, your companions are just as if not more well written than they are in Native. There are a lot of different ways to interact with them depending on your religion, homeland, persuasion, and personality traits. It starts with a simple revenge story and radiates outward as you as you interact with (mostly piss off or murder)more and more important people. The game pushes you toward a certain play style, but it doesn't force it, and combat is still pretty solid. A mediocre sword will net you what the best armor in Native does. Half the game is already currying favor with awful nobles and now you need to curry favor with them just to recruit 0-12 measly peasants? Hell no.Īlso things are a bit more low tech. I will say that I particularly hate no easy recruitment.

Being optional, they're only as offensive as you want them to be. You can add realistic bits like fatigue and weapon wear. A Welsh city looks no different than a Danish one, and not that different from a castle.Īnother big thing are the optional rules. It's honestly not that great, like the sieges but even more cramped.Īlso, as impressive as the maps are, the towns, villages, and castles don't look distinctive at all. It's perceptibly larger, the factions are intentionally (historically) unbalanced, and there's water.Īnd boats. It also cannot be stressed enough how different the world map is. You also have more options, personality and religion being the biggest new deals, affecting how many NPCs react to you. You still don't know exactly what a large, young, phlegmatic Pict is to the world until you make him, but you get an idea. The first thing you'll notice is that character creation is noticeably deeper and way better annotated. It's pretty open ended how you accomplish this (banditry, political intrigue, monopolies on olive oil) but it's guaranteed to be a lot harder and less straightforward than it sounds. You begin as a lone adventurer, gathering wealth, influence, an army, and maybe an empire. Go buy it, or at least try the free demo.

Mount and Blade: Warband is a 2010 PC game and a redo of the original Mount and Blade.

Mount and blade viking conquest review