Battle Brothers - Review @ AWNT

[HiddenX]

A Wargamers Needful Things has reviewed the tactical RPG Battle Brothers:

Battle Brothers

Battle Brothers, from Overhype Studios, is a game which took me by surprise in the best way. The first time I sat down with it and started playing, my only thought was "How has no one made a game like this before?!" This is one of those occasional titles which reminds you why you started playing video games in the first place. In case you haven't guessed yet, I really enjoyed the game. Read on to find out all the details, or just go buy the game now.

In Battle Brothers, the player takes on the leadership of a small company of mercenaries making their way in a low-fantasy world. The world, and everything in it, is randomly generated each time you start a campaign. Towns, each of different size and containing different amenities, are scattered across a world divided between a few noble houses. There is also a massive area of the world map which is completely shrouded in mystery at the beginning of your campaign. One will immediately be reminded of Mount & Blade when beginning their wanderings through the world, and if you played that classic, you will feel right at home here. Between these towns runs a network of roads cutting through forests, grasslands, deserts, swamps, and mountains. Trade caravans, squads of soldiers, and even other mercenary bands travel the roads. Lurking in the shadows on every side are groups of baddies, waiting to strike the defenseless peasants. This is where your mercenary company steps in to make some coin.

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Even with all the content in he game, it's clearly a candidate for more of everything, you really couldn't have too much variety here. More quests, character backgrounds, events, enemies, world ending disasters, and weapons are always welcome. Some areas I would love to see expanded in a patch or DLC down the road would include deeper interactions with towns, more options for running the company itself, a more complex perk system, or even introducing more fantastical elements like magic or taking a step forward in tech (why not both?).

If you have read this far and are still interested in the game, I strongly urge you to go buy it. This is easily my favorite game of the year so far. Not because it has flashy graphics or an amazing storyline, but because it ticks so many boxes of what I want a game to be. It is fun through and through, and feels polished from the moment the game begins.

More information.

 

[Hastar]

I really hope they add the game to GoG so people that don't use Steam can play and enjoy this hidden gem.

I would give BB a 9/10 score. If they add mod support and a little more fine tuning then I would bump it up. They do need to have an option to rebuild towns in the later game that orcs and the undead destroy.

This could be a hard game to play in ironman because with a lucky shot or 2 your favorite merc could end up as worm food. I am trying to get the courage to try ironman

 

[They Live]

I really hope they add the game to GoG so people that don't use Steam can play and enjoy this hidden gem.

I would give BB a 9/10 score. If they add mod support and a little more fine tuning then I would bump it up. They do need to have an option to rebuild towns in the later game that orcs and the undead destroy.

This could be a hard game to play in ironman because with a lucky shot or 2 your favorite merc could end up as worm food. I am trying to get the courage to try ironman

there is a defensive perk which makes you immune to headcrits : it helps a lot on ironman to prevent sudden deaths (don't take me wrong you will still lose mercs).

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

There's also that perk where you survive one deathblow each fight with few hitpoints, though that can be a brief reprieve. I'm playing ironman, and my crew is suffering pretty badly at the moment.

 

[luj1]

When a game has such great and addictive gameplay I stop caring about the visual style anymore.


But I still imagine it in my head as having a more mature art direction, now that would be something even better!

 

[daveyd]

The character art does give it an unintentionally funny appearance. I can't say I like it. It looks like a mobile game to be honest. But graphics aren't that important to me, so I will probably buy it eventually if they sell it on GOG. It sounds like a decent enough tactical RPG.

 

[Deleted User]

Not sure why, but I think it would be cool if this game opened up to modding and allowed modders to create campaigns. It seems like it could lead to some interesting results.

Game sounds interesting, though. If I didn't already have a million RPGs to play I'd check it out more.

 

[Sir_Brennus]

I'm pretty sure that I'll buy it once they put it into a box. Reminds me of Langrisser.

 

[rjshae]

My main concern is with the nature of the overland map. The tactical combat looks excellent, but randomly generated settings tend not to hold my interest for long. Perhaps an enhancement could be for players to save their favorite maps and let us load them as our starting maps?