After the release of the first entry in 2008, which we covered last time, TaleWorlds continued listening to feedback from the community and in 2010 it was time for Mount & Blade: Warband, a sort of semi-sequel.

At a quick look, it didn’t offer many new features: Slightly fancier graphics, a new faction, some UI improvements. Peek deeper though, and you’ll find a first step towards a tutorial. A scripted mission, guiding you into this new world you are about to explore (without pulling any punches along the way, at least for people new to the series). A bit deeper even, and you’ll find a still lacking, but at least now existing political system, allowing you to build relationships with one of the many lords, kings and queens. And then finally the option to start your very own faction.
All of these changes and additions in Warband were certainly needed and the singleplayer experience was a much better one for it, but wait a second… why did I just deliberately name drop singleplayer, you might wonder.

With the release of Warband also came another push from the modding scene, releasing alternative maps and new weapons at first, but soon afterwards modifications that would completely face lift almost every aspect of the singleplayer (personal favorite: the floris mod pack). They also returned RPG elements and more from the singleplayer experience back into the multiplayer, and made so called total conversions which not only changed the setting into the Wild West, feudal Japan, Middle-earth, Star Wars, etc., but also added completely new mechanics. Oh, and that 64 player limit for online gaming? It’s up to a whopping 222 now and you don’t even need any mods, since it’s done server side.

The first 3 pictures in the slideshow are taken from moddb.com and show the mods A Clash of Kings (Game of Thrones), Star Wars - Bear Force II, and 1860s Old America

The modding scene is highly active until this day and, with the support of TaleWorlds, even managed to successfully release two paid add-ons and one standalone:

In 2011, we got Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword. Like the previous release it was based on the original 2008 title, but included some of the improvements featured in Warband and, for the first time in Mount & Blade history, a story mode.
Based on the book ‘With fire and Sword’ by Henryk Sienkiewicz, you were thrown into the historical 17^th century Poland, and got to try out some more advanced weaponry, like early rifles and bombs. Unlike the other entries, I’ve never actually played With Fire & Sword, but other critics praised its eased entry for newcomers, while criticizing the lackluster inclusion of guns and overall little new for the franchise veteran.

2012 saw the release of Napoleonic Wars, a multiplayer-only DLC for Warband, set during the name giving 19^th century Napoleonic Wars, with combat centering on realistic musket warfare, including player organized line-battles. It’s an amazing concept for a game, there is a very healthy community around it, but keep in mind: like the base game is not necessarily the RPG for the Fable player (especially since they’ve turned that into a Kinect horse riding game), this is not a shooter for the COD, the Battlefield, the Halo or the Unreal Tournament crowds. Battles take long, movement takes long, aiming takes long and reloading takes long. You need to have a very methodical approach when going into it, otherwise you will be bored fast. In short: Ritalin is your drug of choice in this.
Still, like with the base game, this is an experience you will find nowhere else. Seriously: tell me of one shooter that allows you to run around the battlefield armed with nothing besides a drum or a flute.

Originally released in December 2014 and therefore the latest piece of DLC for Warband is Viking Conquest, which offers a story mode covering the Early Middle Ages in north-Europe, the traditional sandbox, and a dedicated multiplayer mode. Besides the story mode and setting, its most alluring feature was probably the ship combat; however this was also one of its biggest issues, thanks to an AI that was not fully optimized for the task of seafaring (or maybe was a bit too liberal in the simulation of Viking alcohol consumption). A free content update, called Reforged Edition, was recently released, including a new story, new features, more companions, and bug fixes. Our very own Trey Valeska called it one of the best games in years, so head over to his review (once he's done) for more details on it.