Title Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War Date 11.23.2007 Genre Action Platform Xbox 360 Developer KOEI Publisher KOEI

Ok, so we've all played Dynasty Warriors - and if you haven't, where have you been for the last decade? (Babies are excused.) Some people love them; most people find them repetitive but enjoyable for a time. The biggest flaw of those games is the shoddy AI and the lack of depth - you go in and button mash and win. Well, Bladestorm is... different.

If you ever played Kingdom Under Fire for the Xbox, this game is a combination of that and a Dynasty Warriors game, set in the Hundred Years War between England and France. The history is simplified, so don't come to the game expecting a deep, historically accurate story or anything. It's a good setting for the game, giving a backdrop and reason for incessant warfare and the need for mercenaries.

Yes, you play a mercenary, selling your sword to the highest bidder. England or France, you care little for which side wins so long as their coin is good. In truth, you'll help both sides through story battles, but you do have the ability to take missions almost exclusively from one side or the other - or whichever pays the best. Your choice has little impact on the game, so feel free to pick your favorite or flip flop like any good politician.

I'll leave further plot elements for you to discover. Bring your magnifying glass, and maybe a microscope. But the plot isn't what drives the game. Like a great hack-n-slash RPG, what drives you in this game is the need to level up, finding great loot and defeat stronger enemies. Like a good RTS game, what drives you is the desire to have bigger, better and more units in bigger, bloodier battles and prevail using superior tactics. And like a fun action game, the combat is addictive, fast paced and FUN!

The graphics in this game are pretty strong for the number of units acting on the screen. Characters are distinctive and easy to spot even in the maelstrom of a huge pitched battle, sometimes with the help of floating name tags for important units. The action is flashy, and powered by smooth animations. There is even a decent physics engine driving the combat, which make cavalry charges look great. There is some graphical glitches and clipping, but it's not very noticeable with so many units on screen. During big fights, the 360 does encounter some slowdown. This happens when lots of powers and effects are in play, but the simple control scheme (see later) saves this from being too annoying.

The sounds of battle and music are very apropos - everything from the thundering hooves of a cavalry charge to the whistle of an arrowstorm. The voice acting is about par, nothing outstanding but nothing that makes you want to cringe. Your character's phrases are limited and repeated often. Obviously when learning to control dozens of different troops you missed some speech lessons. It will either bother you, or you won't even notice it. If you enjoy the combat, it's easy to not even notice the voice. Overall solid production values and most importantly nothing game breaking.

The controls are very simple to learn, and rarely make you stumble when trying to earn your “bling” as a sell-sword. The right bumper controls the 'attack' command, with the face buttons controlling your squad commands. The right trigger toggles map views, and the left triggers bring up items and squad summons. The analogs control movement and camera, with the option to invert. Again solid and these streamlined controls mean you never have to think about how to get something done. The menu system can be a little confusing at first, having multiple stages within each selection, but the manual or a little experimentation gets everything sorted out.

The gameplay is surprisingly deep, with a complicated counter system that - and this may blow your mind - is NOT rock-paper-scissor based! Each unit has specific strengths and weaknesses against other units. For instance, bows counter halberds, and knives counter bows... but bows don't counter knives; in actuality knives destroy bows. It's all about using the right units and mixing them up, and fighting smart. If you choose to “power-level” then you can make the game very, very easy. But if you play at a normal pace and mix up your unit leveling the game has a pretty decent difficulty curve. You might even die a few times, especially if you hit a unit that counters yours.

You can level up unit characteristics and powers, as well as giving them new weapons. Your character uses the weapon of the squad he or she commands, and fights alongside them. Additionally, you can give your character armor to protect yourself against various types of damage. All equipment is shown on the characters throughout the game, including cut-scenes.

The biggest difference from the Dynasty Warriors game is that you never fight alone. You often have several squads of AI controlled troops supporting you, and sometimes you fight with - or against - named enemy commanders. They will frequently taunt you, or offer you praise, and some can be tough to take down. Try to fight solo and you will often be forced to retreat, unless you are grossly overpowered. As you proceed you earn fame and unlock harder missions - with greater rewards - that often have you rely on AI support.

All of the game is centered on taking or defending castles and forts, with a few additional objectives sometimes added. The gameplay all takes place on several large maps. You may be fighting over one base, but there are always dozens of other fights occurring across the map, which you can choose to join in or avoid. The AI follows general battle plans which are displayed on your map, and usually utilizes good path-finding. However, you will occasionally see them engaged in a hilarious battle, such as if two knights start trying to charge each other on horseback. These moments don't really break anything, but can be amusing.

Despite the completely unrealistic, historically inaccurate settings and combat, this game really does a good job of making you feel in the midst of a huge war. Your accomplishments sometimes seem wholly insignificant; while at other times you can single handedly carry the day. If you like RTS games, RPGs and action games, give this a try. Or better yet, download the demo for free and try it out. Just bear in mind that there are dozens more units and characters than in the demo. Quite frankly this game is huge and can easily keep you interested for 40-80 hours during your first play through. And the replay value is massive.

Game Score

B-

Reviewed By: Contributed