Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War

by Tecmo Koei

Product Features

• Lead a mercenary force- Immerse yourself in the role of a mercenary commander. Lead a broad array of
• Real-time action- Control entire units in real-time. Issue offensive and defensive commands through
• Conquer armies on a grand scale. Clashes are widespread throughout varied terrain. Richly-crafted ba
• Your fortune is limited only by your ambition. Establish a reputation as a formidable warrior and le
• Heavy Metal Thunder- Amass a battalion outfitted from an arsenal of over 400 weapons, armor, and oth

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000Q7TGL6
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches ; 2 pounds
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: November 6, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,787 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #9 in Video Games > Xbox 360 > Strategy
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Xbox 360

Amazon.com

In the 14th century a quarrel over English succession to the French throne escalated into what history would call the Hundred Years' War. This ongoing war had exhausted the standing armies of both sides and there was a growing dependence on mercenary soldiers. Take charge as a mercenary leader and contract your army to the English and French. Watch the battle begin as arrows rain from above, knights charge on horseback and cannoniers fire volleys at heavy infantry. The style of action enables you to defeat large numbers of soldiers with one chosen attack command. Establish a reputation as a warrior and a leader and watch as the toughest of men will battle at your side. Outwit your opponents and overwhelm them with force to be the last one standing.

Features:

• Lead an array of troops from varied nations, including heavy infantry, longbowmen, cavalry, cannoniers, and castle siege specialists
• Control entire units in real-time by issuing offensive and defensive commands through an intuitive user-interface. Each soldier is independently animated and fights and reacts in a realistic manner
• Battlegrounds span varied terrain from southern France to settlements along the English Channel
• The Free Mission system lets you contract your army to France or England. Achieve your mission objectives and more profitable battle contracts will be presented to you.

Product Description

When you consider Heavy Metal, you can imagine what a field of war was like in medieval times. Imagine a war that spanned a century! This is history. Visit the frierce struggles of two countries and enter the battlements or do you dare?
In the 14th century a quarrel over English succession to the French throne escalated into what history would call the Hundred Years' War. This ongoing war had exhausted the standing armies of both sides and there was a growing dependence on mercenary soldiers. An innovative action style enables you to command whole units and defeat countless numbers of soldiers with one cleverly chosen attack command. Outwit your opponents and overwhelm them with dominating force to be the last one standing when the dust settles on one of history's greatest conflicts. And you are there! Fight to the death or try to overcome with strategic thinking. Relive Medieval history- Outwit your opponents or overwhelm them with dominating force. The fate of two countries is yours to decide

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True STRATEGY Game, November 15, 2007

By 

G. Christiansen (Avondale, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War (Video Game)

This game is absolutely brilliant. I am a Dynasty Warriors/Samurai Warriors fan and thought this would be very similar, but was surprised at how unique it is to anything I've ever played before. I have played a lot of games categorized as strategy that involved very little real strategy. This game truly is a strategy game! It is a cross between Dynasty Warriors and Total War (PC).

There are many different units you can lead in a battle. Some have advantages over others and are at a disadvantage when facing other units. It is like a rock, paper, scissors set-up. Yet there are helpful things on the game screen that allow you to see whether or not you will have an advantage or a disadvantage over an enemy. This keeps you from having to have a whole advantage chart memorized.

One thing I really liked is your character gains experience only with the types of units he has commanded during a battle. In that way, you get good at leading certain types of troops based on your experience at leading those troops.

I am in love with this game. The learning curve is really not that steep, though at first it might seem to be. This is definitely a unique game when compared to everything else currently out there, and might set the standard for a new style of real time strategy. A definite must play for fans of strategy games!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bladestorm a very pleasant surprise, March 6, 2008

By 

Heirnymous Bosch (Massachussetts) - See all my reviews

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War (Video Game)

I like this game. Most of the games that I play are of the PC strategy type, i.e. Civilization, Total War etc. I also like RPG's like Morrowind and Oblivion. I see this game as sort of a hybrid of the two types. Bladestorm feels more "light hearted" and just fun. It's totally open ended. You don't have to create units and build castles etc. you just use what's already there.

I was very pleased to find that you can go into options and change camera view to inverse. I think the graphics are excellent. It's really rich and beautiful on a wide screen HDTV.

The voice acting and music is pretty rediculous, but doesn't detract too much from the gameplay.

What this game has, that really makes it different is the "first person" relation to what's going on on the battlefield. You can't get that "bird's eye view" that you get in Total War. You see the battlefield the way a participant would. There's till plenty of opportunity to employ tactics,i.e. keeping archers back and on higher ground if possible, charging with cavalry in open fields etc.

Another interesting thing is the fact that you can't just "button mash" in battle. Each type of unit has it's abilities, each taking a certain amount of time to regenerate. Using abilities well in combination can be very devistating. You have to wait for the "power" to regenerate before you use it again. The same is true for defensive manuevers, i.e. raising shields. You can raise shields for a certain amount of time, until the power runs out. Then you have to wait for the power to come back again.

The AI is kind of a "mixed bag." The good thing is that they don't just stand around waiting for you to attack. They will attack you. The bad thing, is that both the enemy and your allies don't have much finesse in how they attack. They just charge in with no regard for coordination etc. Sometimes it's not very pretty.

The most important thing to learn in this game is where you are in the battlefield. You need to establish your sense of direction. The map shows arrows indicating which directions the armies are advancing. That's a "sure bet" for how your character might proceed. You can't control every group of units right away. You can only control the ones that are available to be controlled and that you have "books" for. As you realize successes, you gain skills and "books" which will give you access to more types of units.

There's a sense of accomplishment when you take an enemy base or complete a contract. You can purchase armour, weapons, recruits etc. with your earnings. There's an over-all sense of direction in that you work on increasing your fame, skills and wealth.

I think it's a good game.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Game with outstanding replay value!, December 23, 2007

By 

Paul (Michigan United States) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War (Video Game)

I've owned this game for about a month and have played it regularly. I would best descibe it as playing one of the soldiers in a Total War game because there is a large scale battle going on while you control one character or unit to complete the objectives and win the battle.

Pros: Great grapics; the in-game graphics are great and very detailed. The individual soldiers within a unit are somewhat unique looking and are not 20 copies running around. Also, the lighting as the time of day progresses is very good and impressive. The artwork and design are also great, giving a Japenese styled image to European soldiers and characters.
The story/plot is interesting but not consuming. Short conversations and cut-scenes between battles provide plot while keeping the emphasis on gameplay. The voice acting was also impressive.
Gameplay is great and a lot of fun, you can take your character anywhere on the battlefield and choose to complete the mission objectives or make your own path.
Character/unit development keeps the game interesting as your charater develops new skills that allow you to control different units.

Cons: Gameplay can be pretty repetive, a lot of time can be spent performing the same actions again and again. But I say the game has great replay value because you can choose to focus on different units as you play through the game which gives it a different style and feel. For example, if you focus on cavalry the entire game you might get tired of running your knights into enemy formations all day, but using different unit classes provides new challenges and experiences.

Overall I would say this is a great game and would highly reccomend it to anyone who is a fan of stategy warfare games.

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