Why is Mount & Blade such a great game?

[jan765]

This is not a question, but more like a discussion. I've been playing this game since it was beta and now its fully released in stores. I ask myself, wow how long it has been!
So many mods, so many mods that take my interest! From the 300, the Romans, even Samurai mods, and Pirates! they are the reason I loved this game! Native is also fun but it gets boring a while.
The combat system is wonderful, and now that they have added ragdolls it feels more realistic.
The game's textures,engine, sounds may feel so 2002 but I LOVE IT!. It is improving and improving each month. [Through mods and of course, and the developers' improvements.]

I cannot wait for the new installment Warband. Wow this would give me a heart attack ^o^ (Figure of speech of course).

Now here is my reason why this game is the BEST and gives fun.
1. Due to a small size, its easier to dowload, edit, and run on any computer.
2. Mods make the game more fun.
3. I bought a game called Fallout 3 (For PC of course). Wow it SUCKED! I wanted to puke after all the crashes, bugs, and the unstable coding of the game!. Then they release this patch called 1.1, and broke the game so bad! After 1 month, i QUIT!------------ Then, i have totally forgotten about M&B, and found out that they are already selling a v 1.1 on stores (Big shock). I bought it for a low, cheap price. I was SOOO HAPPY when I played it. For 2 years i have played it and I haven't experienced any "bore". Well except the fact that I play alone (no online) but im still happy.
4. Till now I still play it, awaiting for patches, new releases, and new games the developers are making. I would LOVE to buy Taleworld's products! While I would never buy a Bethesda(Fallout 3 makers) products again!

- Cant wait for the new game installment-

 

[Uther]

It's refreshing to see a realistic game set in medieval times; without all the magic and potions and abra-kadabras.

Plus, the combat system is great, both mounted and on foot.

 

[Ku Aborough]

well in response to the OP, Fallout 3 was broken before it shipped for sale, I'm a LONG time fan of fallout 1 and 2 and fallout tactics, all were REAL rpg games,

which neatly brings me to answer the topic at hand, why is M&B so good?

here's my check list:

• file size, under half a gig WITH mods in my game directory
• load time, there is none, my game takes about 1 min to get into the game and from then on no loading at all, instant fights / scene changes
• re-playability, I'm on my 4th proper character (6th counting cheat characters) and I don't see me giving up any time soon.
• addicting? I have no idea why, but like the original X-com game M&B just has some oddly addicting quality, just one more hour... just one more quest...
• looks good, It might not be all singing all dancing D-X 10 with super-whatsit mega lighting per pixel la-de-dah, but for what it is, It looks great.
• simplicity, its not over complicated or demanding, but still remains interesting and involving, with little demand on my poor brain for extraneous things i'm left to enjoy just playing the game.
• near infinitely moddable, sure if you have done all you want with  Calradia, why not try ancient Rome, or the far-east, or modern day Scotland?

 

[Kazdum]

- Good graphics for its size.
- Unique style of battles, you can command your troops for a view of a soldier, not a view of a god (looking bellow to all little units_
- Free to play, you dont have to follow a campaign, you make your own.
- You can play as a mercenary for the rest of your life and dream with your own kindgom.
- Realistic medieval times, not fantasy, we already have enough fantasy games.
- Open source to create new mods, since the main mod is kinda limited, that makes the game fun forever, you can always play something different.

 

[Will Greaves]

... The combat.

 

[Skot the Sanguine]

3. I bought a game called Fallout 3 (For PC of course). Wow it SUCKED! I wanted to puke after all the crashes, bugs, and the unstable coding of the game!. Then they release this patch called 1.1, and broke the game so bad! After 1 month, i QUIT!------------ Then, i have totally forgotten about M&B, and found out that they are already selling a v 1.1 on stores (Big shock). I bought it for a low, cheap price. I was SOOO HAPPY when I played it. For 2 years i have played it and I haven't experienced any "bore". Well except the fact that I play alone (no online) but im still happy.
- Cant wait for the new game installment-

Sounds to me that is more of an issue with your computer or vid card.  I own and thoroughly love that game, and the TES series as well.  So...ya, crashes/bugs/coding haven't been an issue with mine, think it is your comp.  However, Mount and Blade is undoubtedly a great game.  What makes it more amazing is the nature of its development, so much more human and "as it should be."

 

[RSwordsman]

I'll second the combat, the realism, and the mods. I couldn't care less about how big the game is (I've got more drive space than I know what to do with), but one point I'll add is the immersion. With lack of a central story (which I'm ambivalent about) it really feels like you were plunked down in a medieval world with the freedom to do whatever you want.

As for the combat: It's not based on pressing a series of buttons to make a combo, nor reliant on abstract skill modifiers on background dice rolls to determine who wins. Any advantages are real, not assumed. If you can hit enemies out of an arrow loop in a tower, it's not because it's a special program that makes arrow loops effective; it simply works just like it would in real life.

Idk, I could go on for hours about how much I love the game. But its unique combat is what mostly sets it apart from others like it. But who am I kidding, no game is quite like M&B.

 

[Mabons]

The fact it is Singleplayer.

I'm done with Multi games until it comes out for this game.

I hope when Multiplayer comes, that there won't be all these annoying people, who go around on objective based games, purely killing and not benefiting their team at all. Also hope there won't be any overpowering weapons or armour etc.

 

[MasacruTheArcher]

M&B is an unique game and is the only game that i ever played (Excepting sa-mp back in 2006) That i played over 16 hours continously , i used to play like this all the time back when i discovered the game (: Even now when i bump into a mod i play it the whole day hehe.

And i agree with your points about the game .

 

[Diavolo]

Great combat system for the player, on foot, on horse, with bow, with lance, with bow on horse etc.
Realistic control of units, you cant see what all your units are doing, its more similar to what actually was the case in the old days.
Army development/character development, you start as a lone traveller, and ends as a general (hopefully)
Big battles/ great sieges(even if thats the worst thing about the game, it is waaayy better than anything other offered on the gamemarked)
and much more!

 

[Percival Goodenough]

Im amazed how good the visuals are for the small download, runs great on pretty much any video card.
Game itself is awesome , great combat system and horsey riding. If you could issue orders to unit stacks (like sharshooters, swadian knights etc) instead of just archers/infantry/cav it would be perfect.

 

[AlienKnight]

I think it is just because the features you have listed are combined together in an entity that offers a very complex challenge, resulting in fantastic playability.

For me it is the complexity that is the main factor: you have so many ways to behave, so many choices you can make, so many tactics you can implement...
Every time you start a new game it is gonna be different than before if you want it so. So you don't get bored.
That gets close to an addiction, indeed.

And I will not waste a good opportunity to say "Thanks a lot guys for your hard work" to all the mod makers.

So like I once said before: M&B is poor graphics, generation old, low-budget project that is way behind so many other games if you take into consideration the features one by one.
But if you put it all together, M&B is second to none.

 

[MorgTzu]

For me:

+ Cuz no one else has done anything like it.
+ You can roleplay without having to be led by the nose.
+ Mods are the best of any game system even though the mod system is like learning latin in braile with a hangover!
+ People like Fisheye and Maw and Nijis are here, what else would I play?
+ I paid 6 or 7 dollars for years of teh win! With screenshots that put hollywood to shame!
+ Community input is how great games should be made! Just ask all those multi-million dollar bankrupt game studios.

 

[Pagan]

Everything you guys have already said counts for me too, but there is one underlining factor that i couldn't quite pin point until a few months back, while explaining the game to a work mate.

This game harks back to the (for me) good old days of gaming. The daggerfalls, dune 2, Fallout 1-2, x-coms. games that were games through and through. They were not about graphics other then the natural technology progress of the time, or one cool feature, lets make a game around it.

While playing games back then, i often felt such admiration for game devs, like they were just childish gamers like my self at the time. making this game for me and for themselves. Like the business side of things never entered the spectrum. it was about making games not making money. I know now i was young and nieve. But the fact i felt that way says a great deal about the game itself. Obvisouly armagan and co want and NEED to make money to continue in the future. But i just don't feel the fiscal side of gaming while playing this game. unlike most if not ALL recent games where you SEE the effects of early release, or blatent half assed work. So for me, it makes me feel like im 15 again, without a care in the world, just playing games coz i have nothing better to do. It's a beautiful thing.

 

[Venitius]

For me:
1. Relatively cheap.
2. Easy to install.
3. Plenty of mods, and they are generally easy to install.
4. Can have more than 1 version on a computer, so there's no need for upgrading an old version that contains mods that have not been ported yet to a new version; just install the new version in a different directory.
5. Good combat.
6. File Size
7. No main quest (I don't like getting led around by a quest line)
8. No combos.
9. No magic.
10. Does not require an excellent system.

The above aren't in any particular order.

 

[The_lol_King]

The fact it is Singleplayer.

I'm done with Multi games until it comes out for this game.

I hope when Multiplayer comes, that there won't be all these annoying people, who go around on objective based games, purely killing and not benefiting their team at all. Also hope there won't be any overpowering weapons or armour etc.

What kind of MP games did you play? You just have to find a clan that plaies(how do you spell that!?!?) the way you like.  But I know what you mean, I play BF2 as well, so I know about the kind of ppl. you mean.