The horns sound, the ravens gather. An empire is torn by civil war. Beyond its borders, new kingdoms rise.
Gird on your sword, don your armour, summon your followers and ride forth to win glory on the battlefields of Calradia. Establish your hegemony and create a new world out of the ashes of the old. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is the eagerly awaited sequel to the acclaimed medieval combat simulator and role-playing game Mount & Blade: Warband.
Set 200 years before, it expands both the detailed fighting system and the world of Calradia. Bombard mountain fastnesses with siege engines, establish secret criminal empires in the back alleys of cities, or charge into the thick of chaotic battles in your quest for power.
DD1GG - Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
Overall Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is a great game. It’s a case of if it’s not broke, don’t fix it, but it’s been improved on with some beautiful graphics and refining of basic gameplay. TaleWorlds continues to polish it with patches and listen to their community about it. This is hands down one of the best games that let you charge with your cavalry archers while you charge ahead with your lance to end banditry in the area and everything in between.
Bannerlord is already a deeply engaging world but clearly an early access title. At time of writing, many of the perks appear broken or missing, negating character development except to unlock better weapons or hitpoints. That said, if you can ignore that and the occasional balance issue, the game has a lot to enjoy, and with the regular updates, the future is looking bright. [Early Access Provisional Score = 70]
Though lacking in some technical polish, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is a very satisfying early access strategy battlefield. [Early Access Provisional Score = 80]
Intoxicating and addictive, this Mount & Blade II concocted by TaleWorlds magnifies a concept that has already proven itself. More beautiful, more exciting, more ambitious, this app is a must-have for all action-RPG lovers looking for intense adventures. [Early Access Score = 85]
In its current state, Bannerlord is buggy, imbalanced, and lacking many of the features mentioned by its developers during the course of its 8-year development cycle. However, despite all that, the magic of what made Warband great can still be felt, and the support the game is already receiving by its devs is nothing short of phenomenal, with constant communication with the fans and patches being released daily. It will be a long journey till the game is out of Early Access, but that journey is sure to be exciting. [Early Access review]
There’s no question that TaleWorlds have the will and talent to tidy up these problems. With its enormous popularity – it’s already the biggest release of the year, a far cry from the obscure 2006 game my friend’s friend talked about – they ought to have the resources to make an outstanding game. But Bannerlords, for all the good it does, just isn’t there yet. I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it, but I’m confident that I will in time. [Early Access Review]
It’s not just bugs and technical enhancements that TaleWorlds are working on through Early Access. The developer has heaps of content and features still in the pipeline, from new story quests and voiced dialogue to making each city and settlement its own unique environment. Then there’s balancing, as well as improvements to the game’s online multiplayer which we haven’t even touched on. [Early Access review]
August 21, 2018
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord presents its sandbox campaign. Watch video
