PC Gamer UK gives Mount&Blade 69%

[Caladrian]

PC Gamer slams Mount&Blade rating it 69%, here are the highlights: 'identikit lords, ladies and specialist NPCs,' 'functional repetitive visuals largely lacking in spectacle,' 'the dodgy AI that regulalry sends horses into trees or arena walls' 'It's open, they might claim. it's aimless you will probably respond after a couple of days.' 'what a disappointing setting' 'a creakily old fashioned singleplayer RPG' 'awkward menus and repetitive multiple choice interactions'

In Pc Gamer 69% means mediocre: 'Fans of the theme or genre can extract limited fun if thet persevere. Other wise, put your wallet away.

Not the 11/10 review people here were expecting.

[ufo]

I think to fully appreciate M&B (as many people here do), you have to had followed it's growth. When I look at M&B today, it is a magnificent sight compared to .751 or whenver it was I joined. Though I don't understand where they got the "disappointing setting" thingy from. It's the only realistic yet interesting setting on the whole market.

[Cilcain]

I hope that's not right, as otherwise the market for the game will be limited to the people who were on-board all along. Personally I didn't discover it until the final beta, and fell in love with it right away.

I wonder how much influence game mag reviews have nowadays ... personally I'm much more interested in reading what actual players made of the game, e.g. Amazon reviews would be the first place I'd look, and the place I'd go to share my own opinions and experience.

Mags can be too much in hock to their advertisers IMO.

[ultraman]

I started with M & B a couple years ago, and while I love it (it's potential, mostly), I kind of have to agree with what was quoted from the review. Vanilla is fun for a few days, but then I get tired of it. Once you're leveled up, taking on dozens of enemies by yourself isn't that difficult, and the limited number of quests and possibilities becomes a bit dull and lackluster. What really keeps me hooked are the mods, which is where the potential comes in.

I think vanilla is a great platform to build on. Unfortunately, it's not going to be reviewed on that basis.

[Tiberius]

I started with M & B a couple years ago, and while I love it (it's potential, mostly), I kind of have to agree with what was quoted from the review. Vanilla is fun for a few days, but then I get tired of it. Once you're leveled up, taking on dozens of enemies by yourself isn't that difficult, and the limited number of quests and possibilities becomes a bit dull and lackluster. What really keeps me hooked are the mods, which is where the potential comes in.

I think vanilla is a great platform to build on. Unfortunately, it's not going to be reviews on that basis.

Mount & Blade is a game that relies a lot on the modding community. Just like games like morrowind/oblivion, M&B gives quite a lot of freedom to the modders which help enhance the game by mods, and that's why we love it.

[Cymro]

'a creakily old fashioned singleplayer RPG'

Agreed! Because if a game doesn't keep up with social trends, like that nerd in your class who listens to classical music and plays nethack, it's totally uncool and quite possibly gay too

[Sound Chaser]

'a creakily old fashioned singleplayer RPG'

Agreed! Because if a game doesn't keep up with social trends, like that nerd in your class who listens to classical music and plays nethack, it's totally uncool and quite possibly gay too

Indeed. Since when has old-fashioned meant bad? I think they may have something to back up their opinion with, but the choice of word is bullshit.

[kambien]

I disagree with most reviews like this.  I know a lot of people here say they have been here from much earlier builds of the game, myself only playing for but a mere two weeks.  This game is open ended.  It's Sid Meier's Pirates! meets Midevil times.  More than anything this game reminds me of the times I had in EverQuest.  The graphics are not so far from being so close to how that game looked and felt.  I love M&B for that reason and it's play.

Sad it does not receive the reviews it deserves.

[waraelm]

i stop reading pc gamer, when the people wrting it truned out to be a bunch of gits, so ive stopped reading, it and they condem most games.

[froggyluv]

 Usually I just ignore these kind of reviews but the crack about  the AI was just too much. First of all, the biggest budgeted 100+ team blockbuster games all have some sort of AI shortcomings and personally, I am amazed how well 400+ troops actually perform fighting each other. That is- charging on horses while timing swings as well as raising shields to defend and evasive moves. MTW had the scale thing down but those battles are just dice-rolls, not actual models attacking and defending in real time in a 3d world.

[bravesirknight]

We've been over the reviews quite a bit already. Basically some people shit on indie games for lack of polish, some are willing to give them a chance. M&B gets quite high reviews among the latter imo.

[Saxon Searaider]

Who cares?. Just enjoy the game as it is and keep playing.

[Cyborg Eastern European]

Good word usually goes further than mag. review.

[Zaro]

Though I don't understand where they got the "disappointing setting" thingy from

Because it's not as fleshed out as in other rpg games.

I don't see why people are annoyed at these reviews. Everyone has an opinion and varying taste, and many, many people just prefer a visual feast that takes them for a short ride. I don't know why people were expecting high reviews, gameplay alone very rarely does it, and M&B's gameplay can be perceived as repetitive and aimless.

[Krieg Corp.]

I'm surprised the MMORPG whores gave it that good of a review.You have to understand the way they rate things.No MMORPG-15%.No graphics that only the top 5% of computers can play-15%.So you see,they actually gave it a good reveiw.PC Gamer panders to it's advertisers,which are MMORPG games and Alienware.
As someone ekse said,the only reveiws that really are honest are what other players write.This was the review that caught my attention and had me out seeking M&B.
http://www.armchairgeneral.com/mount-blade-pc-game-preview.htm