Mount & Blade Expansion Coming, Adds 64-Person Multiplayer

Posted on June 5, 2009

I’ve told you before about my undying love for indie game Mount & Blade. So it’s exciting to see that at the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles this week, the game’s developers pulled back the curtain on a new expansion pack, Mount & Blade: Warband, which adds a ton of new features — including online multiplayer.

You heard me. With Warband, you won’t be limited to skirmishing against the computer — you’ll be able to take part in massive 64-player online battles. And there’s a bunch of other cool stuff as well:

Key features revealed for the first time at E3:

• Overhauled graphics; HDR, FSAA, Depth of Field, Soft particles, Tone Mapping and many other effects are all now implemented.
• Majority of Models are being redone.
• Multiplayer battles can now handle up to 64 players with Mods including ‘Team Death Match’and ‘Search & Destroy’.
• Ability to become the ruler of a faction and convince lords to become your vassals in the Single Player Campaign.
• Ability to upgrade your companions to vassalage by granting them land.
• Improved Mechanics for Soldier Morale: Soldiers will break and run away if their morale gets too low.

A summary of additional features previously revealed at GDC are Multiplayer for up to 32 players, improved strategic AI, improved graphics and optimization including customizable quick battles, extended diplomatic options and new weapons, armor and animations, a new faction with unique troops and equipment.

Other aspects introduced in Mount&Blade: Warband are improvements to the combat system with more physically accurate horse archery, a variation in horse sizes, and more options when embarking on sieges.

This is rapidly shaping up to be a must-buy.

If you haven’t played Mount & Blade yet, what the hell are you waiting for? There’s a free trial for download that lets you play the full game until your character reaches level 7, and the full game only costs $29.95 to download, no trip to the store required. So being cheap and/or lazy is no excuse here, people. Get to it! You can thank me later.