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| From: KOEI Corp
Category: Video Games
Buy New: $94.99
New (3) Used (6) from $48.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 7075
Platform: Playstation 3
ESRB: Teen
Media: Video Game
Edition: Standard
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 12 - 20 years
Operating System: Playstation 3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 0.1 x 0.1 x 0
MPN: 0162
Model: 00162
UPC: 040198001625
EAN: 0040198001625
ASIN: B000HCJ6QU
Release Date: November 6, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-7 of 7 | | « PREV | | |
 A must have for the PS3 KOEI fan January 3, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
As of this writing, I have played about 30 hours of the game so far.
This game revolves around the 100 years war. These were a series of conflicts between the French and the English from the 14th-15th centuries. You play as a voiceless mercenary, male or female, as he/she attempts to carve a name for them self by taking contracts from either the English or French.
The game play is very similar to Kessen III, where you control one individual unit at a time. You can lead a variety of units, from Horses, archers, spearmen, swords, long spearmen (like pikes), among several others. They each have their own special attacks, which can greatly help in winning a battle.
However, you do not get to actually keep a unit for yourself in that you will mainly be taking a troop from whatever side you align yourself with in a given battle.
Instead of having one singular unit with its own skills, you get to build up your skills with whatever unit you choose based on the `books' you have. These books are named after the various units you get to control. You can assign skill points in each book based on how much experience you have with that unit. You can expend these experience points to upgrade various attributes such as attack, defense, etc. These skills are applied to a unit when you command them.
Unlike Kessen III, however, you play more as an individual than as a warlord. You do not get to issue orders to all the troops your side has on the field. You control only the unit your main character is in. Furthermore, you are allowed to separate yourself from your unit and fight (or runaway) as an individual. This can be very useful if you want to kill an enemy commander quickly or wish to abandon your men be slaughtered.
On the more technical side, the graphics are clearly superior to what you find on other KOEI games on the PS2. The music is very period-appropriate, with the voice-overs being mercifully more competent than you will find in any dynasty warriors (some of the French men need more work). The sounds come alive, such as the clanging of armor or the screams of dying soldiers. The troops are responsive to your commands, and the load times are not too bad. They are better if you choose the install option.
Most of the above is what I liked about this game. However, there are a few things that bother me about this game.
The text is one. I do not have an HDTV over 30 inches, just a regular 27 analog. Even so, the text should not be this small and hard to see (and am I the only one noticing this trend in recent video games)?
It can be argued that the game play can get repetitive at times, if crashing your troops into battle is considered repetitive. I personally like leading a group of troops to their victory/doom.
The 10 minute time limit for a battle is a little annoying. I would have preferred around 20 minutes, which would give you plenty of time to play through a battle. If you are using a slow unit like cannons or some sort of heavy foot soldiers, you will spend a good chunk of your time walking to your destination.
And while the mercenary experience can force one to fight for both countries in separate battles, I would have preferred the option of sticking to one country if given the chance. It hurt me (not as much as I hurt them) to have to turn my sword on my French compatriots to move the story along. This is a minor point, however, since you can quickly achieve your victory objective without doing too much harm to the French (or English, if that is your cup of tea).
All in all, this is a specific game for a specific type of gamer. If you enjoyed the Kessen series (not including the second one), the Three Kingdom series, or liked playing games such as Kingdom Under Fire; the Crusades, than I suggest picking this game up. If you do not like real-time strategy games or prefer more War Crafty-type ones, then ignore this title. Bladestorm is not for the average gamer.
***FOR A QUICK RECAP***
The Good: Fun military game play, good graphics, a variety of troop types to choose from, the option to fight as an individual, age-appropriate music, teaching those English or French the what-to.
The Bad: Small text, having to play both sides eventually, 10 minute time limit
The Ugly: The Black Prince looks exactly like Akechi Mitsuhide; Running into a wall of long spears with horses ; most of the French accents.
 awesome and long, good value for money November 30, 2007
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
If you like the dynasty warriors series then you will probably like bladestorm too, if you stick with it long enough to get the controls. It is similar to a DW type game in many ways but is definitely not the same. In this one, you control and fight as a whole squad instead of one hero. You can change squads in the middle of a battle whenever you want. This game has a good leveling system and if you want to max all the different squads it is going to take a long time. I have played for over 50 hours and i still have a long way to go. The strategy isn't all that great but if you want to try something new and different in a DW/SW vein get this game.
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