Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War
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| Developer(s) | Omega Force |
| Publisher(s) | Koei |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360[1] |
| Release date(s) | PS3 Xbox 360 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time tactics |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: T (Teen) PEGI: 12+ |
Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War is a historical fantasy video game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. It was published by Koei and developed by Omega Force.
The game is loosely based on The Hundred Years' War between the Kingdoms of England and France in the 14th and 15th century.
Just like the Kessen and Musou series' from Koei, certain liberties are taken from the original history. For example, unlike what happened in real life, it is possible to save Joan of Arc from being burned at the stake.
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[edit] Gameplay
Players assume the role of a rogue commander with a group of mercenary units who can align themselves with the French or English sides, depending on the situation. Units include infantry, cavalry, archers, elephants, cannoniers and castle siege units. The commander's reputation will affect things like the quality of troops available and the difficulty of the missions. Individual troops will also strengthen as they gain combat experience.[2]
The gameplay is fairly similar to Kessen III & Samurai Warriors 3, also published by Koei.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Kingdom of England
- Edward, the Black Prince
- Hal (Henry), the future King (Henry IV of England)
- Sir John Chandos
- Richard Beauchamp (Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick)
- Sir John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury
- Sir John Fastolf
- Sir Henry "Hotspur" Percy
- Iamarl (original character)
- Branwyn (original character)
- Philippa (original character, although she could be named after Edward III's queen – Philippa of Hainault)
- King of England (Edward III)
[edit] Kingdom of France
- Joan of Arc
- La Hire (Étienne de Vignolles)
- Gilles de Rais
- Phillippe Le Bon (Philip III, Duke of Burgundy)
- Marie (original character)
- Arthur De Richemont (Arthur III, Duke of Brittany)
- You Ji (original character)
- Bertrand du Guesclin
- Jean (original character)
- Christine de Pizan
- King of France (Philip VI of France)
[edit] Mercenaries
- Magnus, a friendly and well-respected mercenary
- Georges, the brother of Marc, nicknamed "Sudden Death".
- Marc, the brother of Georges, nicknamed "Iron Wall".
- Karen, a motherly mercenary whose personality changes when in pursuit of money.
- Diane, a foul-mouthed mercenary seen talking with Karen much of the time.
- Naran, a smooth-talking Mongolian mercenary seen talking with Georges often.
- Yoshimasa, a loyal and honest mercenary from the far east.
- Shakti, a foreign mercenary.
- William, a cowardly mercenary.
- Sir John Hawkwood, the legendary mercenary.
[edit] Reception
The game was met with a mixed critical reception.
Brett Todd of gamespot.com[3] scored the game a 5/10. He said that the game's "Fresh ideas can't save [it] from mediocrity." Some of his complaints were that the "Campaign just recycles the same style of battles over and over again," there was "No strategic depth or arcade satisfaction," the game suffered from an "Ineffective artificial intelligence," and "Dated visuals and sound." On the positive side, he said that the game featured "Easy-to-use controls for commanding companies of troops," and he thought the game had a "Great idea to blend arcade action with squad combat."
However, Dave McCarthy from eurogamer.net[4] seemed to enjoy the game. He gave it a score of 8/10. McCarthy said "It's... a very, very good videogame: another brilliant evolution of Koei's unique interpretation of the real-time strategy genre, and every bit as satisfying as previous efforts. What it lacks in terms of the speed and immediacy of, say, Gundam Musou, it makes up for with strategic range, design ingenuity, and conceptual novelty..."
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War Xbox.com Japanese game info page" (in Japanese). Xbox.com. http://www.xbox.com/ja-JP/games/b/bladestome. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- ^ "press release". http://www.koei.com/company/pressitem.cfm?id=D035E818-2595-4DC8-95F436326C40BDB3.
- ^ http://gamespot.com/
- ^ http://eurogamer.net/
[edit] External links
- BLADESTORM Official Site (Japanese)
- BLADESTORM Official Site (North America)
- BLADESTORM Official Site (United Kingdom)
- BLADESTORM Official Site (France) - in French
- BLADESTORM Official MySpace Profile
- KOEI Warriors - Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War section
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