Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword

Good real history setting, but feels too much like a mod. Game would needs stronger and more visible plot element to differ itself from basic M&M formula. [June 2011]

It loses some points for being an outdated modification packaged up and sold as a standalone expansion, but Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword is definitely worth the $15.

An affordable, bottomless action-RPG that loves freedom. [Aug 2011, p.68]

Even though With Fire and Sword can be considered a mod for the original game, it does bring some nice features. The firearms are well integrated in the gameplay, the economy is a lot livelier, and the graphics update is a welcome addition. However, there is still need for balance, particularly in the case of the sieges, and I cannot understand why some fun aspects of Warband were left out, so I fear that many players will go back to the original game, once the fascination for firearms has ran its course.

There's still a lot of good here, and if you haven't played Mount & Blade before then this is a fine place to start, but for fans of the series, Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword simply isn't a must-have expansion.

Gunpowder brings more tactical options to the fun and interesting Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword.

It's not as good as Mount & Blade: Warband. There may be a story driven campaign, but less complexity. The captain mode isn't what it's meant to be and there are still some bugs to fix. And there are better and free mods, so why pay for that one?

It would have been great if there had been a story and a greater variety concerning the quests. The well-made battles with many different weapons and troops are the only reasons for continuing playing.

Rather satisfying post-medieval combat sim hidden behind jank, bugs, and general awkwardness. [July 2011, p.64]

With Fire and Sword is a definite purchase if you want to play Warband's multiplayer with a Ukrainian flavor.

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.

The third episode of Mount & Blade has a setting and characters well defined, but lacks something that can truly renew the gaming experience.

As engaging, addictive and fun as the previous games. Unless you really don't like firearms, it will appeal to fans of the series, and even newcomers might appreciate the improved degree of direction you're given at the beginning.

An above-average game from a time period that's really hard to find in current games. It is defected by several unfortunate design decisions and by sticking too much to its literary original. However, Henryk Sienkiewicz's fans and those 17th century warfare lovers should not hesitate to try it.

With Fire and Sword is an expansion that adds very little to the Mount&Blade experience. It's still a solid game, but one would expect more innovation. Still, the hectic battles on horseback leave the player with a brutal appreciation for medieval combat.

The swordfights and expansive customisation options are interesting, but the repetitive gameplay and superficial conversations and choices make Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword only convince partially. The world does invite you to finish your journey from being a local hero to an international army-leader, but it doesn't turn out to be especially good or special.

But if you can ignore the plain looking game world and suspect AI and buy into the mercenary fantasy, there's enough fortune and glory here to give a warlord reason to make it a home.

This new addition to the excellent indie Turkish franchise constitutes the best and most complete choice for newcomers. Unfortunately, the veterans of the franchise won't find anything radical different that haven't already seen in previous installments.

The worst accusation I can hurl at With Fire & Sword is also the kindest compliment I can pay it. Despite the new setting, infernal weaponry and bespoke story quests, most of the time the game plays just like Warband or the original Mount & Blade.

Its biggest problem is that its core conceits fail to contribute to what the series is best at. If you're a newcomer, Mount & Blade: Warband is easily the better bet. Veterans will get a brief kick out of this powder keg, but we suspect they'll be reaching for the familiar steel soon enough.

Everything it does has been done before, either in the earlier games or in the free mods on which this latest title is based. It's by no means a bad game, but its lack of ambition combines with the failure to improve old faults to create a merely average title.

WFaS still has the core of a Mount & Blade title, but it fails to distinguish itself as a standalone game. Everything feels too much like a retread of old territory, and it's questionable whether the addition of guns really benefits the single player combat system. The multiplayer side of things is as excellent as ever, but (Captain mode aside) unless you're eager to roleplay as a 17th Century Swedish musketeer, it makes more sense to just pick up Warband on the cheap and apply a suitable firearms mod.