Developer Koei has become quite prolific at releasing their Dynasty Warriors games over the years. They have released so many for each console I have completely lost count. So when this title landed on my doorstep for review I was little apprehensive. For the first time in recent memory Koei has stepped out of the Feudal Chinese Dynasty (asides from the Gundam Version) era battles and tried something new. Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War tells the real story of the battle in which the French and the British fought for control over France. There is some historical accuracy, as figures like Joan of Arc are playable characters, but there is that classic touch of Koei fantasy added. So is this just another Dynasty Warriors game in a different time period?

Gameplay and Controls

You start off in the main hub area, which is a tavern. This is where you receive contracts and missions; find new mercenaries; purchase upgrades; and so on. As you are basically a mercenary for hire, you can pick whether you want to fight for the French or the British and do some fine tuning before you set out on your missions. This is where you create your character that you will be controlling your armies with. Do not expect character customization options found in games like Mass Effect or Oblivion; its very simple and straightforward as all you choose is your character’s face, gender and voice. There are not a lot of variations in your choices, so you will most likely skip through this portion quickly and get into the main game.

When I first entered the battlefield, I spent a few minutes just playing around getting used to the controls and the environments. My initial impression was that “this is just Dynasty Warriors all over again.” Large sprawling environments, tons of characters going at it on screen and a few strategically placed building up for grabs; it is hard to tell the difference. Blade Storm game-play can be summed up by saying “Its Dynasty Warriors with less suck!”  The primary difference is that it is a strategy action game, whereas Dynasty Warriors is pretty much a button masher. You still command large armies and different unit types (archers, swordsman, elephant riders and more), gain control of important buildings and get rewarded for completing missions successfully. However, now you do need to spend more time thinking how you approach a battle, what type of attacks you use and what type of units you should deploy in specific situations. After playing through, it is definitely refreshing to see Koei trying something different with this particular game. Unfortunately it does carry over some of the Dynasty Warriors shortcomings, but more on that later. 

Essentially you control the commander unit that you created earlier. They will be able to quickly join and command a single group of units and switch to another group on the fly. So let’s say you take control of your infantry unit by pressing the X button and you realize that you are approaching an enemy cavalry unit, which will slaughter your infantry in no time. Simply approach another group of your units better suited for the situation and press X, and you are given immediate control of that group. Koei has gotten rid of the button mashing portion of Dynasty Warriors and gives you an attack gauge that depletes after each attack / action, so you have to smart with your choices. You can perform a charging attack while on horse that will quickly decimate enemy ground units but once the attack is finished the gauge is depleted as well and you have to wait for it refill, which can initially take some time. Each group of units has several attacks, some better suited against certain enemy units. As the commander you can tell your units to enter defensive mode or let them decide what to do on their own. Mission types are quite similar; it never goes beyond defeating enemy units and capturing bases, to gain more control over the large maps you fight on. Naturally, as you complete missions, defeat enemies and so on, your character will level up. This opens up new abilities, weapons and magic based attacks, and gives an incentive to continue playing. Your character can get pretty powerful and it is quite fun to see a large number of enemies fall instantly. As you continue through the mission and gain experience and money you can spend them on your troops. You will be able to outfit them with newer weapons and armor, and upgrade their abilities to make them more effective in battle. You do get some control of where you unit’s strengths are so there is an RPG element present. But to really get the most out of Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War you do have to put in a good deal of time.