PETER HOSKIN reviews Mount & Blade II – Bannerlord 

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord (PlayStation, Xbox, PC, £39.99)

Verdict: victorious hero

Rating: ****

Increase! Grab a knife! It’s time to fulfill your dreams of becoming a… bannerlord?

I’m not sure of the subtitle of Mount & Blade II: , but otherwise the intentions of this game are remarkably clear. This is all about living out your medieval fantasies, if indeed you are the sort of person with medieval fantasies.

It’s set in a place called Calradia, which is a fictionalized version of – roughly speaking – the collapsing Roman Empire, circa 500 AD. You can join factions much like the Vikings or the Goths or the Mongols. Then you and your shabby buddies go about on your horses, brandishing axes and foul language, trying to conquer as much new territory as possible.

Increase! Grab a knife! It’s time to fulfill your dreams of becoming a… bannerlord?

This is all about living out your medieval fantasies, if indeed you are the sort of person with medieval fantasies

The graphics aren’t exactly polished. The fights outweigh the other parts in terms of quality

In reality, it’s not all on horseback. Like its 2008 predecessor, Bannerlord is a mix of different games, although the mix is ​​much more pronounced this time around. There’s some of the overhead strategies and city management from the Civilization series, for example. There’s a touch of the talkative relationship building of Crusader Kings.

But it must be said, a lot is done on horseback. Perhaps Bannerlord’s main appeal is its battles, which take place on huge maps with dozens of combatants. Few other games – if any – convey the mud and toil of hand-to-hand combat so evocatively. When a cavalry charge strikes or a volley of arrows shoots into the ground, it’s as authentic as this 21st century thing can handle.

If all this makes Bannerlord sound like an ambitious game, well, it is. There are even different ways to get caught up in the gameplay, from a full story mode to an open sandbox option.

But this ambition is not always matched by the achievement. Bannerlord was recently released in full on PCs and consoles after a few years in early access – effectively an extended preview period – but many of the blemishes of the early access years remain.

It must be said, a lot is done on horseback. Perhaps Bannerlord’s main appeal is its battles, which take place on huge maps with dozens of combatants

In reality, it’s not all on horseback. Like its 2008 predecessor, Bannerlord is a mix of different games, although the mix is ​​much more pronounced this time around

Bigger games have been made at a much higher cost than Bannerlord – but they struggle to match their charm

The graphics aren’t exactly polished. The fights outweigh the other parts in terms of quality. Even the initial tutorials are a bit outdated, so they’re less enlightening than the tutorial sections in other bigger games.

In a way, though, that’s the point: bigger games have been made at a much higher cost than Bannerlord – but they struggle to match its charm. After your first few hours in Calradia, you don’t notice the questionable facial animations and clunky interfaces anymore, and you just see medieval Europe before you. Attack!