Mount & Blade Review
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A moment ago I was talking about visiting the towns in Calradia and interacting with NPCs there. Well, as I like to do in 'open' games, I decided to attack the townspeople after I had already to go into the town, not when I was outside of it and the game asked me if I wanted to take hostile action. Should you decide to do this, be prepared for disappointment. Nothing happens. If you try to punch someone, hit them with an arrow, run into them with your horse, or use any kind of weapon, nothing happens. With arrows, I noticed my ammo depleting, but I couldn't even get an NPC to turn their head much less take damage. This type of oversight is major in my opinion.
On the other hand, I visited a castle. There were like, three guards, inside the entire courtyard. One was guarding a dungeon and said I needed to talk to the King to get access, although he also admitted no one was being held. Once again, just to see how the game handles it I decided to attack this guy. He actually took damage, and how. He simply stood there, flat footed, while I put arrows into him until he finally fell over. It just seemed ludicrous to me that he didn't react; I mean I've played games well over a decade older than this game that had more believable AI.
Another issue I had with Mount & Blade that I touched on earlier was the lack of any direction at all. I can appreciate the openness of the game, allowing you to run about gathering and declining quests and so forth; but the other issues overshadow this in my opinion. Without a clear direction, you'd better enjoy what the game has to offer or you can bet continuing to play is going to be tough.
