It's all about the combat

My recent blogpost got me thinking and this part specificly.

True, the combat may be the big draw to M&B, because they absolutely did things "right", but the other features are a lot of fun as well.

Isn't this true about MMO's as well ?
I mean combat is usually what MMO's are about, it's all covered up with some quest text, but most of the time it comes down to killing a bunch of mobs.
Well, in Mount & Blade, most of the time you are fighting (killing mobs), true there is not much questing involved, but you are fighting for a goal. You are fighting for your kingdom or as a Vassal for a king, so there's your story.

In MMO's they'll tell you to go get ten ratskins to make some piece of armor, but it comes down to killing mobs. So what's the difference, apart from Mount & Blade being mostly singleplayer (Warband has multiplayer), i'd say not much it all comes down to fighting/killing mobs.
OIf course for an MMO the community behind is also important, but when the combat is boring, i doubt many people will keep playing despite a great community.

I find the combat in Mount & Blade to be so much fun, nothing beats the feeling of charging towards the enemy on your horse swinging that sword, trying to get that swing just right to hit the enemy, and as a result actually seing myself moving in my chair to try and compensate the swing if i feel i am not doing it right, not that it helps but that's just how much i get involved with the fighting.
So far i have to say i am still not bored with the fighting, it keeps being fun, every encounter is different, different in opponent size, different in kind of enemies (archers, infantry, cavalry), sieging castles and what i really enjoy is not hearing any of the BS standard questlines, you just fight for your cause, your kingdom or your king.

So there isn't much story in Mount & Blade, it would be nice to have a huge story behind it and a lot of lore but in the end it is all about the fighting/killing and if a game gets that "right" i think it's a winner.

Now if someone could "just make" Mount & Blade into an MMO, i am pretty sure it will be a winner.

So mount up and make us that MMO!!

(Allright i'll keep dreaming)

Mount up for Mount & Blade

I've been playing lots of Mount & Blade lately and have to say i forgot how much fun this game was.

I started playing this game in December 2008 and even claimed that for me it was the game of the year
http://hauntshade.blogspot.com/2008/12/mount-blade-my-game-of-year.html
But funny thing was shortly after i started playing i went on a vacation and never actually touched the game since..

Recently the game was on sale at Steam for 5 Euro and since i had to reinstal the game anyway, because i upgraded to Windows 7, i figured i would get it on Steam (i originally bought it on Direct2Drive).

I still stand by my post and say it was the game of the year and i really recommend getting it, as it is worth it.
At first you might be put off by the graphics, i was at first, but give it a few hours and you might really enjoy it.

The mounted combat in this game is simply amazing and a lot of fun. You'd think that after fighting so many battles it might become boring, but for me i am still enjoying every battle, that's just how much fun this game is.

The graphics don't look like much (although the game has it's moments), but the gameplay is so good that i don't even notice the graphics that much and for me that's a sign of a good game, as sometimes the graphics do make or break a game for me.
When the gameplay is not that good and the graphics start to bother me, that's usually a sign for me.

Now to wait for the Mount & Blade Warband expansion, coming March 30th!

Mount & Blade, my game of the year!

For the last couple of days i have been completely hooked to Mount & Blade.
I did start playing a bit of The Chronicles of Spellborn, but Mount & Blade quickly took my attention away and is right now all i play.

Admitted the title doesn't sound great, the graphics and character models look like 10 years ago but the gameplay is awesome.
Some of the "big" game makers should really take a look at this game.

This game is kind of a mix with RPG, action and strategy, but the thing they did very well was the horse/mounted combat, this is just awesome to play and it feels close to perfect (admitted it might not work perfect in an PvP environment but it works for PvE).
And then to think this game is (from what i have read) mostly made by a husband and wife team!!

This is definatly one of the most fun games i have played this year and really makes me wonder why the "big" gamemakers can't come up with great stuff like that.
For me a game usually stands or falls with the graphics/character models unless the gameplay makes up for all and with Mount & Blade it definatly does, looking at the hours i clocked so far on playing this game (68 hours and counting) it's my number one game for this year, even beating Fallout 3 for me.



So if you haven't, definatly check out this game, there's a full functioning demo out there that let's you play the (full) game up to level 7 without restrictions.
I have to admit when i first read about this game and saw the screenshots i was not really interrested but after seeing IGN give the game an 8 in a review i decided to check it out and am i glad i did :)

So looking at the amount of hours i played this game and the fun i am having i would probably say this is my game of the year!

Hmm, wonder what this game would be like with an engine like unreal or Gamebryo and a few tweaks here and there.....