Battle Brothers - Review @ PC Gamer

[HiddenX]

PC Gamer has reviewed the tactical RPG Battle Brothers:

Battle Brothers Review


Around our campfire, the men eat and sleep and sharpen their axes. I’m worrying about our profit margin. Our contract pays 400 crowns for taking out these bandits, but the fat little nobleman who hired our mercenary company didn’t mention that we’d have to charter a boat and march for a week just to find them. Watching the miles tick by, I keep thinking the same thing: we’re barely going to break even.

This is the kind of commander that Battle Brothers, a new medieval strategy RPG, has turned me into. In combat, I’m aggressive and decisive. But when the fighting stops, I turn into a miser. Every coin and every bandage is money we need to stay alive, stay equipped, and keep going in this wonderful game of tactics and sellswords.

[...]

Despite being fresh out of Early Access, though, the majority of Battle Brothers is well-oiled and dependably fun. I kept humming with the victory and despair I usually reserve for X-COM campaigns: the archer who makes a wondrous 19% headshot; the swordsman who blocks and dodges his way out of certain death; the veteran soldier suddenly gutted, lost forever behind the veil of permadeath. Battle Brothers takes a formula I love and twists it to fit a wide-open medieval setting. I don’t have to save the world, I just have to make enough to fix my gear, hire a new sword, and go on to my next contract. The stakes aren't as high, but it feels just as rewarding.

Score: 84/100

Thank you for the info, henriquejr!


More information.

 

[henriquejr]

It's good to see indie developers doing great! Congratz, Overhype Studios!

 

[you]

Still waiting for gog release.

 

[Saxon1974]

Want this but no time!

 

[domein]

I don't like 3 things:

1) You are limited to 12 units per battle, yet enemy may go as high as 50 units against you.
2) You loose your good high level units to random criticals
3) Enemy units play on different rules, they never run out of ammo, some types unaffected by morale and fatigue and others carry insane amounts of armor

 

[forgottenlor]

I don't like 3 things:

1) You are limited to 12 units per battle, yet enemy may go as high as 50 units against you.
2) You loose your good high level units to random criticals
3) Enemy units play on different rules, they never run out of ammo, some types unaffected by morale and fatigue and others carry insane amounts of armor

1) I don't see this as a problem. Being outnumbered is usual in RPGs. You have quality, the enemy has numbers.

2)This works both ways. But it also I think is a very important part of Battle Brother's gritty and low fantasy feel.

3)Your units are human and you face inhuman enemies, I think having them have unusual characteristics is ok. Nevertheless I think your point about ammo is valid.

So far I'm really enjoying this game, and unless things change dramatically in the end game, I think it deserves such a high review.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

I don't like 3 things:

1) You are limited to 12 units per battle, yet enemy may go as high as 50 units against you.
2) You loose your good high level units to random criticals
3) Enemy units play on different rules, they never run out of ammo, some types unaffected by morale and fatigue and others carry insane amounts of armor

It's certainly not the easiest game in the world. That's what makes it fun. If you want an easy game, I could write a list here longer than the Internet would allow.

 

[Hastar]

I don't like 3 things:

1) You are limited to 12 units per battle, yet enemy may go as high as 50 units against you.
2) You loose your good high level units to random criticals
3) Enemy units play on different rules, they never run out of ammo, some types unaffected by morale and fatigue and others carry insane amounts of armor

The undead don't have morale but all other units do. The dead don't fear death. Your battle brothers can get crazy amounts of armor also, with special armors and traits to make armor even stronger. Those enemies (orcs) with really high armor just bring your warhammers against them.

There are traits to keep your battle brothers alive longer and to help against critical hits. Iron brow and colossus come to mind.

The fear trait you can get at the end for your brothers is a great strategy for orcs to break their morale. I get that for all my archers and spearmen.

 

[luj1]

This is like heroin.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

It is. And I bet you've even come to like the little chess-piece guys, who are all informative at a glance with their weapons and armor.

 

[Wisdom]

It is. And I bet you've even come to like the little chess-piece guys, who are all informative at a glance with their weapons and armor.

No, still a killer for me. Death to chess bots!

 

[mercy]

Great game and score is about same as my review, because of bad world generator and weak balancing.

 

[They Live]

to be honest game is not THAT unbalanced.
Early game can punch you but once you learn how to mitigate damage with perks and gear things are a lot better.

I play on Veteran mostly (tried few ironman veteran campaign too) and basically early game is all about expendables generic backgrounds, when you start to have money you pick the good ones and gear them decently. You will still lose someone on the road but things are way easier.

 

[fadedc]

The good news is that when you lose someone to a headshot you don't lose the armor ythey are wearing. It's definitely a silver lining because sometimes I'm more attached to a character's gear than I am to the character themselves.

I'm also learning that doing headshots with a flail can be a good way to salvage some extra armor from enemies.

 

[They Live]

The good news is that when you lose someone to a headshot you don't lose the armor ythey are wearing. It's definitely a silver lining because sometimes I'm more attached to a character's gear than I am to the character themselves.

I'm also learning that doing headshots with a flail can be a good way to salvage some extra armor from enemies.

jester on good star rolls with flail and headhunter perk, 1 hander without shield and offensive spec. That is one of my fav/funnier builds. If you manage to find one with "brute" trait it's bingo!

 

[screeg]

I attacked a random band of other mercenaries yesterday for the first time (they were very recently introduced). These guys had nice mid-level gear and were competent fighters, but we outnumbered them 3:2 and, more critically, they had no ranged support.
First arrow from my archer: headshot, instant kill. Shoulda brought your helmet, buddy!
This is the kind of RNG a certain type is always whining about on the forums, but strangely(!) no one complains when it works for them.
Regarding the imbalanced fights, the biggest advantage the player has is strategy. Maybe the undead don't incur fatigue, but your brain is always going to be bigger than game "AI".

 

[Mustawd]

Getting me hyped to play this. Might install when I get home.

 

[ChienAboyeur]

This is the kind of RNG a certain type is always whining about on the forums, but strangely(!) no one complains when it works for them.

Case of selective memory. It was mentioned many times on this forum that in terms of decision making missing a 95pc chances is as bad as succeeding a 5pc chances.

 

[Capt. Huggy Face]

I still have trouble understanding the complaints about RNG. (No, this is not an invitation for another explanation. I actually do understand why people complain; I just think it's ridiculous.) I mean, this is an RPG site. D&D and all. People remember dice, right? Even the people on Steam have surely played Risk. Hell, even Chutes and Ladders had a damn spinner.

 

[ChienAboyeur]

There is nothing DnD, DnD was not meant to be a die game.

Players decided to put a special emphasis on certain sides that put rolling dice at the center.
Rolling dice is not the core.