Mount & Blade - Previews @ GameSquad & 1Up
Gamesquad takes a mostly positive look at Taleworld's soon to be released RPG Mount & Blade in this preview:
Another major change that M&B brings to the table is the end of small party questing. Most RPGs are intimate affairs, with the player managing his character with maybe one or two AI-controlled assistants. Not so in M&B. While the gamer does begin alone, as he accumulates wealth, he is free to hire as many soldiers as his skills and wallet allow. A reasonably successful player will quickly have a sizable group of mercenaries in his employ....
Conclusion:
Mount & Blade has the potential to be a trend-setting title. By ditching the fantastic for a down to earth medieval reality, embracing a novel FPS perspective, and allowing the formation and management of large raiding parties, M&B has already succeeded in shattering the conventional RPG stereotype. While it’s too early to declare M&B a complete success, if the 0.960 beta is anything to go by, Mount & Blade will prove to be a watershed event for RPG gamers everywhere.
1UP also has a preview here, along with a gallery of screens:
Mount & Blade takes a unique approach to medieval combat, focusing on cavalry attacks while trying for as much realism as possible. The game puts careful focus on combat physics and calculates a number of factors into determining damage, including the arc of the attack and the momentum behind it. After all, a man swinging a sword from a galloping horse is obviously deadlier than a foot soldier swinging a mace. You won't find any dragons or magic spells here, just down-and-dirty melee combat and archery.
Source: Blues News
Information about
Mount&BladeSP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Fantasy
Genre: Action-RPG
Platform: PC
Release: Released