PC gamers are probably familiar with Mount and Blade the name, even if they are not familiar with Mount and Blade the game(s). The games are a series of mass action games for the PC, featuring a highly active and engaged modding community, and some rather unique takes on combat. The titles have been wildly successful within their reach, reach which is admittedly limited, but was assumed to always remain that way, owing to just how PC specific these games seem to be.

Well… that might be changing. In an interview with a Turkish newsmagazine (translation provided by DualShockers), TaleWorlds’ Armagan Yavuz stated that the upcoming Mount and Blade II has been designed with the home consoles in mind, and that it is in fact probably coming to home consoles.

This is a pretty darn big deal- the caveat being that the developer itself has not yet confirmed anything, so it might just be a false alarm.

Still, this could mean the consoles getting another quality series, with the flipside of the series’ appeal being diluted to accommodate the consoles to begin with. We’ll see.

These are all extremely valid points. Chances are, taking an average gamer’s last ten game purchases, at least nine if not all ten of them have been, in some way, related to a franchise. And if not, chances are the game purchased will be part of a franchise. Anything that rises even tremulously above mediocrity is likely to get a franchise treatment in some respect.

The legacy, impact, and overall importance of franchises thus far is unimpeachable. They have ensured the steady growth of the industry, simultaneously attracting new generations of gamers while keeping those of us who grew up alongside it happy.

But there’s rot at the heart of the empire. The problem is stagnation, and stagnation comes from a variety of different places.

For one thing, popularity is not a gauge for quality. Popularity does lead to income. Income leads to the ability to make better games in the future. For a franchise to remain popular, it has to strike a balance between its nebulously defined “core elements” and the demand for something newer, shinier and more exciting. Mess up one game, and it could kill the franchise.

It’s a tricky catch 22, that the power gained by a franchise is illusory because the franchise has its hands tied down by its own popularity. The longer a franchise maintains itself on its original ideas, the harder it will be to change them. It’s a system that allows perpetually repetitive franchises to flourish, while simultaneously allowing any newer, less polished games that have no franchise association to wither on the vine, despite (or because of) the new ideas it brings to the fold.

As good as some indy games are, they can’t compete with any of the big hitters. Despite having some of the most insanely fun and addictive elements, they are seldom recognized as anything other than games to occupy our time with while we wait for the next Mass Effect to come out. Because of their limited appeal (and even more limited budget), it falls on the shoulders of competitive franchises to attempt to do new things. For example, it takes a game with the pedigree of the Battlefield franchise at its back to challenge Call of Duty on the modern warfare FPS front, something that an indy developer wouldn’t have a hope of attempting.

It is unfortunate, because of some of the most fun and interesting games are ones that remain under the radar to the average gamer. Mount and Blade took an old and familiar formula – fantasy role-playing – and used a unique and clever combat system to make it rise above its competitors. One of the main reasons few gamers are familiar with it is simply because the game looks hokey. Characters are blocky and the graphics look like they were straight out of the turn of the century. The stand-alone expansion, Mount and Blade: Warband added new factions, new weapons, and new multi-player modes and while it’s not perfect, the game is, for my money, more fun and replayable than either Dragon Age or Fable. It’s ambitious, clever, and fun… but it’s not a recognized franchise, and so nobody plays it.

That is perhaps the worst part of the franchise-dominated industry. While it’s not protocol for a publisher who owns a particular franchise to discourage indy games, the effect is the same as if they did. The fact that only franchises have the marketing power to put their name out there practically ensures that all but a few annoyed gamers will tend to stick with what we know, and what we see. Indy developers can’t compete, because we as gamers laud so highly the well-known names and faces of franchises, we tend to prioritize our purchases accordingly. Why spend twenty dollars on an indy game that might be crappy when we could save it to buy Black Ops?

It all adds up. The marketing power, the popularity, the investment of the time and money it takes to make a quality game all rest with the franchises. They dominate the industry so thoroughly that we, the gamers, are more than willing to spend $60 a pop for a game that carries the title of a franchise we enjoy. But imagine what the price for Fable III would be if they didn’t pay for a commercial to air every thirty seconds. How much money did Activision pay Kobe Bryant and Jimmy Kimmel to appear in their latest (admittedly very cool) commercial for Black Ops? Maybe the price of those games might drop five or ten dollars.

What needs to happen – and this is something that we, as the perpetuators of the industry, have the power to change – is the dethroning of the franchise state of mind. We need to make it clear to distributors that, while we’re willing and able to pay inflated prices for games that, let’s face it, we’ve already played, we’re much more interested in what games could be, instead of what they are. Let’s try to get distributors to throw a little extra money at side projects in between their big releases. Instead of getting a new Call of Duty every year, let’s wait two years, with a short, inexpensive experimental shooter in between. Activision can certainly afford it. How awesome would it be for the script quality of any Bioware epic to be put behind a game based on the clever mechanics of something like Mount and Blade?

Short, experimental games made by companies that have the power to distribute could find a willing market for them. They could even be included, through Xbox Live marketplace downloads or some other such distribution vehicle, in that publisher’s next big game; first-edition games could come with a download code for a one to three hour investigation into the potential fun of a shooter set in World War I. If it proves popular, a full game might be made, and a new franchise born. If it doesn’t, then that company has saved themselves the time and money of attempting a full-length game that might prove to be a doomed concept.

With the power and the influence that franchise publishers have, there’s really no excuse for this not to be happening already.

Let’s make it happen.

Multiplayer is what it’s all about.

The new campaign works similarly to the original, with you taking control of one man (or woman) who you lead to victory, acquiring new followers, more money, better weapons and more. This time however, you can become king, appoint lords and dish out rewards for your men. This adds a cool tactical edge to the game, but it has been done before by several mods. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as Warband is naturally more polished, but it would have been nice to see something truly original added to the mix.

What everyone wants to know about though, is the multiplayer. Servers can support up to 64 players in free for alls, battles and capture the flag. The combat remains the same here, but with human opponents you have to be much more on the ball. Now that there is a button that allows you to kick your opponent and stumble them, getting too close can spell disaster. Human enemies tend to do all kinds of other devilishly evil things such as hunting you with crossbows from afar, or jumping to your rear to stab you in an all-too-horribly-exposed back.

While there is little in the way of continuity between matches, each time you kill someone you earn money. This can then be spent on better armour or weapons (veterans of Counter Strike will feel right at home). Unfortunately, this normally means that players that have been grinding on the same server for a long time can have an advantage over new joiners. Nevertheless, with a bit of luck, you will soon be making your own money and be tooled to the teeth.

In classic multiplayer style, there three troop types. Each one is heavily modifiable, but the basics are Infantry, who are best armed with a sword and shield, Marksmen, who should try and stay away from melee combat and try to attack from cover, and Cavalry, who are mounted and are best used with a large spear or two-handed axe. Each class is fairly well balanced, and although Cavalry might seem like the superior option, many players quickly realise that most Infantry are adept at neatly sidestepping a charge while thrusting a spear into your torso.

Griefers will always be found, in every game, but oddly many players seem to actually be able to co-ordinate some tactics. In one server, my team actually banded together all the spearmen into a spear wall, with archers behind them, creating a deadly blockade for horsemen. Unfortunately, most of the maps are balanced horribly. Particularly on CTF modes, it can be possible for one team to simply hole up in a fort and rain death on their opponents spawns, but we’re hoping this will get patched.

The HDR is a nice effect, but the overall look remains ugly.

The graphics, while greatly improved, are still nothing to look at. While HDR significantly boosts the appearance of battle maps, close up textures still look muddy and facial expressions are downright awful. Luckily, the gameplay is just so darn fun that hopefully you will be too busy lopping off someones head to notice. The same goes for the lacklustre music score, which has simply been pasted from the previous game.

Overall though, Mount and Blade: Warband is a game you should definitely pick up, if for nothing else than the fact that there are no other games like it. The multiplayer is addictive, gory and rewarding, although balancing issues can make it more of a frustration than it needs to be. The solid engine also means it is one of the most moddable games on the market, potentially giving unlimited amounts of new content. This is one to buy.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

It’s also, easily one of the ugliest games to come out in 2008.

There are two modes in Mount and Blade; quick battle or campaign. The quick battles are a good place to get used to the kind of combat that you will probably never have experienced in a game before. Battles can be played from a first or third-person perspective, but are far better played from the latter. There are several different classes of weapons in the game, and you can play around with all of them; single handed swords, two handed swords, single and two handed axes, crossbows, bows, javelins, scythes, throwing knives and more. I could go on about all the different weapons for pages and pages, but that is a sample of the kinds of weapons you get to play with. Different situations require different weapons. For example, if you happen to be defending against a castle assault, you will find a crossbow and long scythe very useful. If you are on horseback charging into battle across an open plain, a large axe and javelin will be a practical combination. You have an inventory, and can only carry so many items at one time. This means that you can’t just tool up Rambo style and fancy yourself as a one man army. Armour is another main feature of the campaign. You can get armour for your feet, legs, torso & arms, hands and head. They all give different amounts of protection to different areas of the body. They can also weigh you down and reduce your running speed, so it’s worth keeping tabs on all that plate armour you’re wearing. Like the weapons, there is a whole assortment of armour you can choose from.

Buying weapons, food, armour, books, selling slaves, starting wars and besieging castles are just some of the things you can do in Mount and Blade. You can choose to be a (relatively) peaceful traveller, or a warmongering brigand. However, it’s a huge shame that most people will put the game high up on a dusty shelf before they get to experience these great parts of the game. That’s because when you start up a new campaign, you choose a few options to decide who your father was, what kind of personality you have and what profession you had. Then, you are plonked right into the middle of a huge country, with rivers, mountains, forests and plains. The only icon representing your character is a rather low-res image of a dude on a horse. From here you can direct your little man around this campaign map in real time, going into villages and cities, or just exploring the rather unpleasant looking map.

The campaign map is none too pretty.

This game is definitely not one for first impressions. Expect to be running around, doing mindless, repetitive tasks for villages and noblemen like rounding up cattle, or chasing away bandits for at least the first few in-game ‘days’. It’s so very easy to think that the game has nothing more to offer than this. However, things start to pick up after a bit of exploration. As there is no actual storyline (you make your own), you can then choose to assimilate a small army, and join forces with one faction in this world. There are 4 main factions, and each have various alliances and rivalries with each other (however, you can make or break these alliances as you please!). Joining up with these factions is great fun, as you can then start earning money, get bigger armies, and go crusading for your king. Later on in the game, your leader might even grant you your own village to manage.

The graphics, as previously mentioned, are a little fugly to say the least. The campaign map looks like it came from a drawing by a 7 year old. I mean, just look at the rivers. Just look at them! The real time battles, while a lot of fun, also lack much shine. Characters look blocky, and while animations are smooth, nothing has much detail. There is an expansion pack coming out soon which is supposed to sport nice buffed up graphics, but its too little too late, really.

Horse riding + large swords = Fun

Anyhow, the gameplay in the battles is magnificent. Physics have been extremely well modelled, so when you swoop along on you stallion at pace while slicing with your great axe, the game will give you a speed bonus. When you kill a man’s horse while he is riding it, the horse topples over, sending its rider flying. It’s a hugely satisfying moment to use your crossbow to get a headshot from distance as well. It’s these moments that make you forget about the unnecessarily large and less well designed gameplay features. Melee combat while un-mounted is very well done too. Don’t just expect to be able to slash through enemies like a very well armoured knife through axe-wielding butter. You have to block just before they make the hit in order to successfully parry, and if you use a two handed weapon to block, ie without the use of a shield, the parry animations looks super.

The sound in Mount and Blade is nothing memorable. Expect standard classical musical scores and general bland. There isn’t much in the way of war cries or anything like that, but there is a mod which amplifies the sound of men dying…which could be interesting.

All in all, Mount and Blade is a huge game worth revisiting over and over again. There is a ton of stuff to do, and I haven’t even scratched the surface in this review. Yes the graphics are nothing to look at, but the gameplay, especially the battles, is very well done. A great action-orientated RPG.

This game was reviewed on the PC.