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A True STRATEGY Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 25
Date: November 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is absolutely brilliant. I am a Dynasty Warriors/Samurai Warriors fan and thought this would be very similar, but was surprised at how unique it is to anything I've ever played before. I have played a lot of games categorized as strategy that involved very little real strategy. This game truly is a strategy game! It is a cross between Dynasty Warriors and Total War (PC).

There are many different units you can lead in a battle. Some have advantages over others and are at a disadvantage when facing other units. It is like a rock, paper, scissors set-up. Yet there are helpful things on the game screen that allow you to see whether or not you will have an advantage or a disadvantage over an enemy. This keeps you from having to have a whole advantage chart memorized.

One thing I really liked is your character gains experience only with the types of units he has commanded during a battle. In that way, you get good at leading certain types of troops based on your experience at leading those troops.

I am in love with this game. The learning curve is really not that steep, though at first it might seem to be. This is definitely a unique game when compared to everything else currently out there, and might set the standard for a new style of real time strategy. A definite must play for fans of strategy games!

Great Game with outstanding replay value!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I've owned this game for about a month and have played it regularly. I would best descibe it as playing one of the soldiers in a Total War game because there is a large scale battle going on while you control one character or unit to complete the objectives and win the battle.

Pros: Great grapics; the in-game graphics are great and very detailed. The individual soldiers within a unit are somewhat unique looking and are not 20 copies running around. Also, the lighting as the time of day progresses is very good and impressive. The artwork and design are also great, giving a Japenese styled image to European soldiers and characters.
The story/plot is interesting but not consuming. Short conversations and cut-scenes between battles provide plot while keeping the emphasis on gameplay. The voice acting was also impressive.
Gameplay is great and a lot of fun, you can take your character anywhere on the battlefield and choose to complete the mission objectives or make your own path.
Character/unit development keeps the game interesting as your charater develops new skills that allow you to control different units.

Cons: Gameplay can be pretty repetive, a lot of time can be spent performing the same actions again and again. But I say the game has great replay value because you can choose to focus on different units as you play through the game which gives it a different style and feel. For example, if you focus on cavalry the entire game you might get tired of running your knights into enemy formations all day, but using different unit classes provides new challenges and experiences.

Overall I would say this is a great game and would highly reccomend it to anyone who is a fan of stategy warfare games.

One small step for Koei...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: March 07, 2008
Author: Amazon User

You all know the name Koei. "Dynasty Warriors", "Samurai Warriors", "Warriors Orochi" "Dynasty Warriors Gundam" and all the sequels and alternate versions that go with them. All great action/strategy games, but that is an easy achievment because they are all EXACTLY THE SAME GAME! Before "Warriors" there were a dozen or so "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" games which were pure turn-based strategy. I was a fan, but again, where's the creativity; where's the diversity? So, making historical fiction fun: Koei's strong point. Innovation: not so much. "Bladestorm" marks an ever-so-slight deviation from the "Warriors" games by focusing on a rock-paper-scissors style of stategic combat rather than a one-against-1000 button mashing festival. The setting has changed from feudal Asia to feudal Europe so no more Lu Bu and Cao Cao; now we've got Joan of Arc and Edward the Black Prince to contend with. You create your own mercenary and proceed to fight in the legendary 100 Year War alongside the French and British forces as historical events unfold around you.

You may choose your battles and fight them as you see fit: either going straight for your objective and a quick payout or capturing extra bases and defeating commanders to gain fame. Gameplay consists of you commandeering a unit (assuming you've obtained the proper battle manual for that unit type) and leading the charge to defeat the enemy forces and achieve the objective(s) set before you, which is usually capturing and/or defending a base or bases. Depending on what unit you are commanding (infantry, archers, calvary, etc) you can attack the enemy in several ways, but it is a good idea to pay attention to how, when, and who you attack as some each unit type has strengths and weaknesses against other unit types. For example: pikes and archers beat calvary, calvary and halberds beat infantry, infantry beats scouts and rapiers, scouts and rapiers beat archers, and so on. The variety of units (all upgradeable) is awesome and keeps the game fresh dozens of hours in as you attempt to collect all of the manuals and manuscripts needed to master each type. There are plenty of weapons and skills to upgrade your favorite units with and you can even hire your favorite soldiers types to show up at your beckoning so that you're never really SOL as long you came into battle prepared. I love it. I'm sure that the numbers of camels, elephants, vikings, and ninjas fighting in the 100 Year War were quite limited, but hey, there's no bad excuse for adding ninjas to ANY game.

There is a massive number of hours of game here (I'm past 40 at this point with no end in sight) and the gameplay remains challenging throughout. Some missions are easy and some will have you throwing things at your television and taking solace in knowing that Joan of Arc deserved what she got in the end. Man, that b!+ch is tough! The missions do get repetitive and the game certainly makes you wait FAR too long to advance the story along, but there are few moments in gaming more satisfying then watching your troops cut down an enemy unit like so many shafts of wheat in "Bladestorm".

This game plays like a hybrid of "Kingdom Under Fire" and "Dynasty Warriors" so if either or both of those games tickle your fancy, consider this a must-play. The story is strong, the graphics aren't bad, and it is a nice deviation from Koei's recent indiscretions. Even I'm worn out by all the "Warriors" games now, give us a break already. "Bladestorm" deserves much more attention then it has gotten and if you're looking for a different kind of strategy game then don't miss out on it.

A fresher Dynasty Warriors style game, but missing Three Kingdoms saga

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Bladestorm is not just Dynasty Warriors in Europe with a attempt to be a hybrid of third person action and real-time strategy, but perhaps it would be better if it was...
It looks like Dynasty Warriors and you control a central figure who leads the troops into battle, but from there the two series diverge somewhat.

The game focuses on the famous war between England and France, but youll play a custom-created mercenary who can fight for either side.
On the battlefield, your performance (and that of the troops under your command) is reflected in real-time morale of both sides. Youll be able to control a variety of different unit typesfrom cavalry and basic sword-wielding grunts, to archers, and more advanced strike units.

You cant run around attacking at will by yourselfyour character does the same attacks you issue your troops to do. While the action is fast-paced, the gameplay isnt twitch-based. Once you get used to this odd style of gameplay the game makes sense, but unfortunately, its still not very interesting. The battles quickly start to feel repetitive, and the sides arent very different. The biggest problem, however, is the poor AI of both sides. Like most Dynasty Warrior games, the challenge is in overwhelming numbers and most of the action just feels mindless.

The visuals are decent, though again, it looks only slightly better than Omega Forces other titles. Characters are remarkably well detailed, but the locations are rather bland. The English voice acting is often laughably bad and the soundtrack is mostly forgettable.

Really feel that this pretty much just a recycling of their old games, combining kessen strategy with dynasty warriors action, and sticking a new (and rather uninspiring) surface of england vs france. This time they've just thrown away the storyline of Three Kingdoms and The Greatest of Heroes (DW Three Kingdoms) which is probably half responsible for the love from the millions of DW fans in the first place.

Good Luck to Koei if they're going to keep coming up with such unoriginal games, but it is an improvement.

Bladestorm a very pleasant surprise

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 06, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I like this game. Most of the games that I play are of the PC strategy type, i.e. Civilization, Total War etc. I also like RPG's like Morrowind and Oblivion. I see this game as sort of a hybrid of the two types. Bladestorm feels more "light hearted" and just fun. It's totally open ended. You don't have to create units and build castles etc. you just use what's already there.

I was very pleased to find that you can go into options and change camera view to inverse. I think the graphics are excellent. It's really rich and beautiful on a wide screen HDTV.

The voice acting and music is pretty rediculous, but doesn't detract too much from the gameplay.

What this game has, that really makes it different is the "first person" relation to what's going on on the battlefield. You can't get that "bird's eye view" that you get in Total War. You see the battlefield the way a participant would. There's till plenty of opportunity to employ tactics,i.e. keeping archers back and on higher ground if possible, charging with cavalry in open fields etc.

Another interesting thing is the fact that you can't just "button mash" in battle. Each type of unit has it's abilities, each taking a certain amount of time to regenerate. Using abilities well in combination can be very devistating. You have to wait for the "power" to regenerate before you use it again. The same is true for defensive manuevers, i.e. raising shields. You can raise shields for a certain amount of time, until the power runs out. Then you have to wait for the power to come back again.

The AI is kind of a "mixed bag." The good thing is that they don't just stand around waiting for you to attack. They will attack you. The bad thing, is that both the enemy and your allies don't have much finesse in how they attack. They just charge in with no regard for coordination etc. Sometimes it's not very pretty.

The most important thing to learn in this game is where you are in the battlefield. You need to establish your sense of direction. The map shows arrows indicating which directions the armies are advancing. That's a "sure bet" for how your character might proceed. You can't control every group of units right away. You can only control the ones that are available to be controlled and that you have "books" for. As you realize successes, you gain skills and "books" which will give you access to more types of units.

There's a sense of accomplishment when you take an enemy base or complete a contract. You can purchase armour, weapons, recruits etc. with your earnings. There's an over-all sense of direction in that you work on increasing your fame, skills and wealth.

I think it's a good game.

Nothing out there like it.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Really, it's the gameplay that immersed me. Because of the free mission system, you have a lot of leeway as to how you approach any given fight. But you're always guaranteed a tense and action-packed experience. Stopping cavalry charges with a wall of pikes, protecting siege weapons against Viking axemen, ambushing crossbowmen with assassins, or pulling out my longsword for some solo hacking in a pinch, all for riches and renown. It's truly one-of-a-kind. Very easy to pick up and play, but takes both quick and deep thinking to master all its challenges.

The strategy is simple at first but gets deeper as the game progresses and more unit types are introduced. And there are a whole lot of units, from all over the Old World, not just Europe. We're talking Mongol horsebowmen, Abyssinian scythe-swords, Japanese samurai cavalry, Touareg spearmen, and more. That's not historically accurate, but that's Omega Force's brand of historical fiction, and it adds depth to the strategy. You get to command all these different units, switching between them on the fly in the thick of battle. I actually like how the game forces you to work with your allied units; it's pretty much impossible to win battles on your own, unlike Dynasty Warriors and most other battlefield action games. The AI holds up well enough to facilitate teamwork and keep throwing challenges at you in critical moments. Speaking of teamwork, multiplayer would have been cool but isn't there. The other notable weakness in the game is when it occasionally has you trekking across the battlefield to get to far-flung objectives, which gets boring quickly.

The graphics and presentation are conservative but they get the job done of putting you in the milieu. Story characters are archetypal but cool enough to rally behind (and equally as cool to beat down. How you like being stuck on the end of my pike, Prince Eddie?) Also, parents need not worry about kid-unfriendly content. The game is quite clean, despite descriptions of "visceral" fighting and "foul-mouthed" characters. All in all, it's a unique and worthwile experience for gamers of all kinds.

Strategic Chaos

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

When I first played this game I was awed by the stunning visuals and large scale battles. There are not many aspects of this game that you can change for the better, the only thing that I found that started to aggravate me after a while were the fighting controls, they weren't too bad so it doesn't make much of an impact on the game. This game has a good mixture of strategy and chaotic fighting so if you like either of those you owe it to yourself to get this game.

Great game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 22, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This a a good game, provides hours of entertainment. Is a good alt from the normal game from this company.

Not bad...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 26, 2008
Author: Amazon User

...but it could have been a lot better. I really wanted to like this game, but so much is stacked against the player that the frustration outweighs the fun.

The minimap is horrid. Finding where you are and where you are supposed to be once you are on the battlefield is very difficult. Also, finding more of your troops if you are cut off can be impossible. (Several times, I lost my unit and was unable to find another group to take command of.)

Enemy commanders will not die without extreme effort. I ran several over with a horse, but they got back up with near complete health.

Enemy units that you have almost no chance against (either because of level or weapon differences) cover the battlefield.

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