Mount & Blade: Expanded Gameplay III

Type:
Mod
Game:
Mount&Blade
Download link:
http://www.mbrepository.com/modules/PDdownloads/singlefile.php?cid=1&lid=576
Forum Thread:
http://forums.taleworlds.net/index.php/topic,61453.0.html

Looking at customised games can be potentially a daunting task by any means, the sheer number of games which professionals and fans alike have attempted to improve or change the face of completely is phenomenal. But when it comes to it some games have clear potential to be added to. Enter the game Mount&Blade, a personal favourite of mine and fellow reviewers on this blog alike. I however, have only just been accustomed to the world of customised games by viewing the Taleworlds Forum and the candy shop like array of modifications. As a big fan of the original Native game play, I decided to review the v0.95b Mount&Blade mod Expanded Gameplay III released in April 2009. The other reasons for the review of this particular mod is that, as stated before, due to my only recent discovery of the Mount&Blade modifications I completely skipped the release of the highly acclaimed Expanded Gameplay II so it’s interesting to see how far the improvements have come. So, it’s time to load up the new mod and give it a try!

Firstly, one can say that looks are what tends to initially sway the player of a game or customisation Module and this for me this has especially held true, basically games that look good have to be played. Whether the graphics or colour scheme contributes to the game play is a different matter. Fortunately the breathtaking thing when playing the Expanded Gameplay III mod is the overworld map, though it is the same as the one used in the Native Module, it has been highly crafted and lavished with details and foliage making it instantly Native’s more attractive sister in the terms of aesthetics solely. This attention to looks has also been turned to the characters themselves with faction armour being much more detailed and individual to the kingdom it is designed for making troops look radically different on sight especially with the inclusion of an army of the dead which consists of fallen ones appealing to Medieval superstition to give it that traditional/fantasy feel. These undead hordes are surrounded in flaming tendrils of the underworld to illustrate the supernatural point, it’s a scary thing!

Weapons and armour are radically enhanced differing greatly from the Native Module making it an interesting search to find your own preferred arsenal in the terms of looks and performance. Moderator Chel commented on the Taleworlds Forum that he: ‘wanted to replace the old M&B items that I was very used to seeing everywhere (like falchion, leather jerkin, plate armor), add new items and create a new stylish look for all the troops and factions. So the mod contains many great new items created by the community and redesigned factions to give each one more of a unique personality.’ indeed Chel delivered what was promised but what of the game play itself.

The Expanded Gameplay III mod feels defiantly more personalised from the Native version by making the character development questions much more influential to the final culmination of your emerging warrior and creates a sense of involvement with your own character as your choices even affect starting characters granted to you. Limits have even been placed on abilities you can learn based on your decisions which can be seen both as a hindrance and a positive as it provides a feel of classing and customising your character down a certain path.

In the terms of conflict, actual battles feel more consequential as well as the chance of death is now an additional penalty and further motivation than just the loss of items, funds and troops. To further the intensity of fighting common soldiers gravitate towards your more advanced troops to create the feeling of group hierarchy and helping to solve the stray foot-soldier issue that may occur in battles. The only annoying thing I found about the group hierarchy is that during a particular siege my troops clumped together getting stuck in a tower doorway to fight a single archer whilst a larger threat marched by unharmed to attack the cramped troops as they became inescapably vulnerable despite orders to spread out. On the open field however this grouping system is not a problem and in fact a useful tool to prevent troops from stretching themselves too thin and being singled out. Battles have also been improved by a new ability menu that can be accessed by pressing ‘N’ during conflict and I found myself enjoying sprinting and taunting the enemy in a mock Braveheart manner.

One thing I have found to be an issue with this mod is the repetitive ‘popping up’ of code which can be irritating and takes away from the seamless gaming experience. This and a few other niggles occasionally cause the game to lag in battle which fortunately is not too frequent. Bugs in mods are not unusual however and are present in the original Native Module itself, I am mainly pleased that the errors have not crashed my computer or caused the dreaded 'is not responding!' at pivotal points so error scripts are just a minor thing.

Apart from the bugs outlined this mod is uniquely awesome in the fact that so much has been added onto the initial game. I could write pages on other features included such as charms, trophies and healer units but I haven’t spent nearly a long enough time playing this mod to explore everything added, the best thing to do is to play the mod itself or look at the Taleworlds Forum both of which are linked at the top which I recommend you do both. This mod is epic with distinct improvements to the battle system, armour and weapons. In terms of the pure detail added this mod feels genuinely like a loved child which has been given a lot of attention.
Overall I give this Customisation 9/10

screenshots soon to be included....