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Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War brings to life the intensity and drama of a war-torn Medieval Europe featuring a rich tapestry of legendary characters including Joan of Arc and Prince Edward, the Black Prince.

Utilizing a next-generation game engine, the game’s armies collide on the battlefield at an unprecedented scale. Countless numbers of men consumed with ferocious intensity converge on screen, where tactics and cunning combine with valor and might to determine who is left standing at the end of the day. The game puts players in the role of a rogue commander and gives them direct control of mercenary units in fierce clashes with English and French forces. You must adjust strategies as skirmishes evolve, and then deploy the unit best-suited to handle the challenge. Game progression is wholly dependent on a player’s decisions and accomplishments on the battlefield.

Genre: Real-Time Strategy

Publisher: KOEI

Developer: Omega Force

Online Play:

Local Play:

November 8, 2007 –
The Hundred Years’ War, the brutal, tragic conflict between England and France over claims to the French throne, is a subject greatly lauded and retold in fiction, film and (perhaps more recently) videogames. KOEI has entered the ranks of those that attempt to capture and depict these exhausting, blood-soaked times with Bladestorm: The Hundred Years’ War, its newest title developed by Omega Force. While it suffers from a number of serious problems that many other KOEI games face, Bladestorm is surprisingly enjoyable. Were it not for the technical and presentation-oriented flaws that plague it, this could be one of the best KOEI games we’ve seen in a while, delivering a refreshingly different experience than the Dynasty Warriors series, which has been intensely stale as of late.

Bladestorm is a strategy-based title that puts you in direct control of a mercenary working during the Hundred Years War. With the ability to align with either the French or the English, you can select specific contracts for either side depending on who you want to fight for, who pays the most coin, and which side is more likely to emerge victorious. During battle, you fight by taking control of a squad of soldiers and command them on the field. We’ll explain the combat system more thoroughly soon, but for now, let’s discuss how the game is set up.

You begin with a few cutscenes (the opening one being admittedly impressive), then you’ll find yourself in a small, cozy tavern talking to the Barkeep. It’s through this dialogue that you create your character and are grounded in the setting and style of the war. Character creation isn’t the worst, but you’re given very limited control of the design. You can choose your character’s gender, facial type and voice. The facial types are just preset – you only have a handful to choose from – but they look fine enough. From then on, the tavern serves as your hub to the game, giving you the ability to change settings, keep track of story and characters through a Diary option, recruit squads, buy equipment, level up your mercenary, and even gossip with the locals. That’s one handy tavern.

When you actually accept a contract, that’s where the meat of the game comes in. You, as we mentioned before, can fight on either the side of Price Edward of the English, or Joan of Arc on the side of the French (these characters will appear later in the game). When you enter battle, your main objective, generally, is to capture particular towns or fortresses on the map. But fighting alone will get you absolutely nowhere, so you’ll need to command squads of soldiers, of varying types. The fighters range from swordsmen, archers, mounted knights and scouts to elephant troops and engineer based units. There’s a lot of diversity here in the unit type, and Bladestorm plays very differently depending on who you lead.

The Black Prince.If you take the time to actually study and take advantage of the combat system, Bladestorm can be quite fun. Main attacks are carried out by holding the right bumper. This puts your soldiers in the attack state, and they engage nearby enemies on their own. The face buttons are used for special, unit-exclusive attacks like thrusts, shield defensives and even magic-based techniques. By balancing movement, selective attacking, and timing your special moves right (which reset on a timer) you can dominate the battlefield.

A huge chunk of the experience comes from leveling up your character, which simultaneously benefits whatever units you have under your command at any given time. You have a book for each type of combat, like Swords, Maces, Knives, etc. Within each book, you can level up particular stats, increase your ability to command, and the like. By leveling up these traits, you not only become stronger but you also become a more effective, more deadly leader in battle. This system is extremely deep and you can pour quite a lot of time into leveling up your mercenary.

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