Recent reviews by Colbac

the people writing bad reviews on this game are automaton and terminid sympathizers.

(but the servers weren't great at launch. it's improved since somewhat. games still good)

freedom never sleeps

good game.

something unique in the FPS genre. they have issues to work out but for a free game it is well worth it to try.

I really wish I could write a review that was mixed. Right now, as it stands, I'm loving this game. Its touching that itch that I haven't had since I blade the original Mount and Blade and subsequent expansion Warband. But there's a lot to do on this game.

So why am I not recommending it?

If you're not a hardcore Mount and Blade fan, I'm not sure I'd recommend it to you but for the sole reason that a first impression is so important. So here's the deal:

Pros:
-Combat like in dueling feels to me just as good as in Warband (I played a lot of multiplayer)
-Sieges are a lot of fun
-The battles are bigger and feature a lot of unit variety (than Warband)
-The AI (both the Lord AI and the troop AI) seem to me at least more capable of holding more complex formations (square, circle, shieldwall, etc).
***I want to expand on this point more. In Warband native, all you could do was tell your units to spread out, or stand closer. There was no "face this direction" or "circle" formation. This is a very welcome change/addition that I'm happy to see. Furthermore, I've seen enemy lords take position over higher ground AND form a circle on it against my vastly superior army (I won by the way ;) ).***
-Visual improvements over Warband (But for many it already looks dated. I don't mind as much since I'm used to potato graphics on Warband)
-Expansion on Politics (Influence, voting, policies for your kingdom. All good stuff)
-The AI on an individual level fights better (They feint more, they vary their timing)

Cons
-Quests are still fairly bland
-I can still cheese the AI sometimes (but I'm not surprised by that)
-The top armor seems very rare
-There aren't any mods yet (I'll get to that one)
-Leveling and experience is broken as it's too slow, or in some cases things don't level up when they obviously should be doing so
-Hide outs can be too difficult to clear for not much reward
-Looters can become huge armies, bigger than lords in some cases
-No battle or duel game mode (MULTIPLAYER)
-Long queue times for games (MULTIPLAYER)

Here's my thinking: I've been waiting for Bannerlord for just as long as every other Mount and Blade fan. Right now, I don't think it's worth the $45 dollars for a non fan. If you're interested, pick up Warband (I even think there's still a demo of the game on their site) and play that. It's more finished and completed than Bannerlord is + there's a pile of mods for you to ♥♥♥♥ around with.

If you're a fan, I think you'll like this game EVEN if you don't like it right now. Taleworlds is doing a good job of updating the game with a patch pretty much every day. I really appreciate their hard work on one of my favorite franchises. So getting back to my point, EVEN if you don't like it right now, I don't think it will be a waste of money for you as I believe they'll eventually fix all the problems with the game. But if you don't want to drop $35 (you get a discount if you own Mount and Blade titles I believe), totally understandable too. There's nothing to say that Taleworlds tomorrow leaves will all the money (though I don't think that will happen). After all, the game isn't finished yet.

It is my belief that Taleworlds has expanded the CORE gameplay of Mount and Blade: Warband, while have other areas roughened up. Commanding over your troops has been improved to include MORE options (formations, delegating sergeants), siege battles have been improved to include MORE options (siege weapons YOU get to choose), battles themselves have been expanded to include MORE troops (in terms of number AND of variety), politics have been improved to include MORE options (policy, family clans including your own). What they haven't perfected is all the other details: experience gain, loot drops, hide out difficulty, looter army spawn rates. Stuff which is necessary and muddens Bannerlord's image, although not exactly "core".

If I had to use an analogy, it's like we're comparing two vehicles. Warband is a 2010 Affordable Sports car (think a FRS or BRZ or something, I know it didn't come out in 2010 but stay with me). It's a blast to drive, and the manufacturer made it so you could mod and tune the hell out of it, and the people did. But there's a limit to how fast it can go, and people want more. So in 2020 (Bannerlord), they debut a new sports car: faster, powerful, and just as much fun to drive as the last one. But it's got problems, sure. Maybe the gearing in the car isn't so good, or it tends to under/over steer too much in the corners. Maybe it's got a faulty radiator or something and it tends to overheat. Since it's supposed to be a better car, it's more expensive too. And to top it all off, people haven't figured out how to tune or mod it yet. So bringing this all back, that 2020 car is a better PLATFORM for the company to expand. The car doesn't explode when you turn on the ignition. It's not dumbed down into a economy car that's not fun to drive. It's exactly what the fans wanted from the car. Now all the car needs, the manufacturer willing, is to fix the part issues.

Give Bannerlord some time. I don't think any of the core gameplay mechanics are broken. The things that are broken I believe are easily fixable in a year, and I'll readily change my review to positive when that does.

AND THIS DOESN'T CONSIDER WHAT THE MODDERS ARE GONNA DO THIS GAME!! Because what makes Mount and Blade unique to me, is its high level of modding potential. I believe I remember seeing a devblog that they're going to include more modding tools this time, so I'm excited for the future.


tl;dr Bannerlord is a car vroom vroom

Rocket Science was never hard.
It was impossible.

but this game is awesome none the less.

Would I recommend CS;GO? Depends. Obviously it's a very well known title that almost everyone knows, but its a very competitive game and I wouldn't recommend it to someone who likes more casual games. But, however, there's still a lot of quirky game modes like jail escape and surfing, but then again some other valve games (TF2 for one, which is free) have some of those already. If you are a guy who likes a challenge and wants a competitive skill based game, I would really recommend CS:GO. It's got a lot of replay ability especially if you've got some friends to play with.