Mount&Blade - With Fire and Sword Review @ AtomicGamer

Dhruin

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AtomicGamer has a mixed review of Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword, awarding a score of 7/10:
As someone who spent dozens of hours in the first two Mount & Blade games' campaigns, I had high hopes for this new stand-alone game, but I'm torn. While the starting price of $15 is lower than Warband's was when it was released, you can now find the latter for less than ten bucks. With Fire and Sword adds difficulty without an equal level of satisfaction for winning, and the inclusion of firearms makes the results on the battlefield feel much more random than we've gotten in the past games in the series. If you're looking for a new multiplayer experience unlike any you've played, this is a good place to start, but if you want a complete, exciting, and altogether more "winnable" campaign, you might be better off sticking with Warband.
More information.
 
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Mount & Blade is made primarily for hardcore European players

Interesting statement. Europe does have more PC gamers, but this implies that even American PC gamers prefer simpler, easier games since the game is PC exclusive. I wonder if there's any truth to that and the reason in that case.

Also, I'm sick of the apologetic tone in reviews of games that can't be facerolled through...as if the gamer is assumed to be frustrated and "ragequit" whenever a challenge appears. Film critics don't rate movies depending on whether they think the majority would "get" them or not, why are game reviews often written like some sort of buying guide for the reviewers version of the "average" gamer?
 
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Interesting statement. Europe does have more PC gamers, but this implies that even American PC gamers prefer simpler, easier games since the game is PC exclusive. I wonder if there's any truth to that and the reason in that case.

Also, I'm sick of the apologetic tone in reviews of games that can't be facerolled through…as if the gamer is assumed to be frustrated and "ragequit" whenever a challenge appears. Film critics don't rate movies depending on whether they think the majority would "get" them or not, why are game reviews often written like some sort of buying guide for the reviewers version of the "average" gamer?

Because game reviews mostly are a buying guide for the average gamer? I'm sorry, but what do you expect?

And there is a difference between offering a challenge in a game and a frustrating game. A game with a difficulty level isn't a problem, a game that leads to frustration is designed wrong.
 
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Also, I'm sick of the apologetic tone in reviews of games that can't be facerolled through…as if the gamer is assumed to be frustrated and "ragequit" whenever a challenge appears. Film critics don't rate movies depending on whether they think the majority would "get" them or not, why are game reviews often written like some sort of buying guide for the reviewers version of the "average" gamer?
The reviews for the previous M&B games have been very awkward. It seems to me that the vast majority of game reviewers got very confused when trying to write about a game that consciously ignored most of the rules set by the mainstream, but still attracted a lot of attention without the safety of universal praise. It's a big indie game that not everyone likes, but those who do like it completely ignore those issues that would make any mainstream game bad. Figuring out why it works might be tricky for those used to the standard 'mathematical' process of judging games ( +1 for graphics +1 for story -1 for combat: 1+1-1=1 point… etc…). Film critics don't get fall into such traps so easily since they are used to films trying to pull the carpet from under their feet.

Thankfully there seems to be a trial mode again so I can safely ignore the reviews for it.
 
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Because game reviews mostly are a buying guide for the average gamer? I'm sorry, but what do you expect?

Well, if games are reviewed like books, movies or music, that is usually viewed as "art" and a review of it is usually a done by someone who can appreciate it without taking into account if the "average" person would understand it or not.

If games are reviewed as products, then they should be judged in the context of the intended customer. Other niche products (like specialized software for instance) don't typically get judged negatively because the average person wouldn't want them.

But computer games are apparently supposed to appeal to everyone or they are bad products.
 
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Well, if games are reviewed like books, movies or music, that is usually viewed as "art" and a review of it is usually a done by someone who can appreciate it without taking into account if the "average" person would understand it or not.

If games are reviewed as products, then they should be judged in the context of the intended customer. Other niche products (like specialized software for instance) don't typically get judged negatively because the average person wouldn't want them.

But computer games are apparently supposed to appeal to everyone or they are bad products.

Because guys reviewing movies usually know a lot about movies. They have probably gone to film school and know the classics by heart. Guys reviewing games seem to be braindead cheetoh munchers who got pulled away from the latest COD for five minutes to write a review about a PC game.
 
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