KOEI is back again delivering
Bladestorm: The Hundred Years’ War on the PlayStation 3 (also on the Xbox
360), which is reminiscent of their Kessen series. Assuming the role a
rogue commander within a group of mercenaries, players have the choice to choose
between the two sides of the war and ultimately sway victory to one side or the
other.
What exactly is the “The Hundred
Years’ War”? For a quick history lesson, it began in 1337 (who knew that
Internet jargon was popular prior to the ‘90’s?) and ended somewhere around
1453. Based around England attempting to take the French throne for their own,
it’s a storied conflict that even includes the legendary heroine, Joan of Arc
(or for those in France, Jeanne d’Arc). So it’s safe to assume that all of this
turmoil between England and France would make a good backdrop for a video game,
right? Actually, that’s wrong; Omega Force, the developer of Bladestorm,
created a strategy game that falls below expectations.
That’s not to say that there aren’t
moments of enjoyment that come out of Bladestorm, because there were
moments of triumph that were euphoric. Let’s start off with the fact that
players are able to align themselves with either the French or the English –
this alone made it worthy to see both perspectives of the war – though, this
feature is becoming a regular in many strategy video games (Kingdom Under
Fire on the Xbox allowing players to be good or evil). The other enjoyable
portion came in overrunning the opposition without too much exertion of force.
The game begins in a tavern where I
assumed control of creating my character. The character creation is the average
ho-hum affair with the choice of gender, voice, and an ugly mug to wear. The
faces are all preset, so don’t expect a level of customization to the point
where you could recreate your favorite celebrity. Anyways, the heart the game is
through the tavern where players are able to change the settings, follow the
storyline through a journal, find new mercenaries, buy equipment, talk to NPCs
and level up. When I was finally ready to go hunting for a mission, I checked
out the contracts that I could accept and chose the path of Joan of Arc due that
I just didn’t feel right joining “The Black Prince,” otherwise known as Prince
Edward of England.
Missions usually ask for players to
seize control of fortresses and capture towns with your ragtag group of
mercenaries. This was particularly easy, especially with the wide range of units
to use on the battlefield. From elephant troops to the usual swordsmen, I was in
command of a powerful set of characters that wiped out anything and everything
that stood in my way. But, alas, my overall experience with Bladestorm
wasn’t as epic as I had once imagined it would be. The combat just isn’t up to
par with personal standards for action-strategy games.
If you look at the game case, you
might get the impression that this is another Dynasty Warriors
hack-n-slash title, but that’s where you’d be wrong; it’s not even as exciting
as that somewhat-stagnant series. Through pressing only a few buttons, players
will sit back and watch their mercenary attack on the screen only to wait for
their attack meter to slowly fill back up again. Even worse, the magic involved
in the game (wait, France used magic to expel England out of their land?) isn’t
anywhere as fun as I had hoped it would be. The magic had no oomph to it and
lacked any sense of vigor.
Bladestorm features no co-op
whatsoever; not even online co-op. With Bladestorm featuring computer A.I.
that aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer (both enemy A.I. and your
mercenaries), more of a challenge was needed when on the battlefield. Another
problem with Bladestorm is Omega Force only allowing the player to
control one troop at a time rather than all the troops on the battlefield. While
I didn’t run into any difficulty problems, I am betting many will since they
can’t coordinate their attacks in succession to rid themselves of pesky enemies.
On the visual side of the game,
Bladestorm is aesthetic pleasing on the eyes in only one area. If you have
played any other KOEI game in the past, you can expect a high amount of
characters on the screen at one time. If you are on that boat though, then you
should also be ready for many of the same generic units to pop up all over the
battlefield as you slaughter them. On top of that, the environments are dull
with barely any detail, and the draw distance is minimal. So overall,
Bladestorm’s best feature is the high amount of units placed on the screen
at one time, but fails to be visually pleasing anywhere else in the graphics
department.
Gameplay: 6.0
It’s not terribly exciting to play; the strategy elements could be beefed up
to include more control over the units and co-op is a must if there’s to be a
sequel to help remove the game’s dullness.
Graphics: 6.1
While it may be impressive to see a lot of units on the screen at one time,
it’s the rest of the game the fails to provide a next-gen experience.
Sound: 6.5
The soundtrack is decent but what’s up with the shoddy voice-acting?
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Som will have trouble getting a handle with the controls and tactics, but
veteran players will find it easy.
Concept: 7.4
KOEI moved their base of the storyline from Japan/China (Samurai Warriors
/ Dynasty Warriors) to Europe, but Omega Force failed miserably with the
execution of Bladestorm.
Overall: 6.2
At one time, I was overly excited for Bladestorm: The Hundred Years’ War
due to the strategy elements, but in the end it’s the strategy portions that
bothered me most.
