Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is finally getting a closed beta

Soon pc gamers can (at least temporarily) dawn their barrel helmet and project their toxic masculinity all over the fucking place. It's still very limited, 6V6 and no bots, but better than nuttin, suppose.

The absence of a release date didn't stop me from picking Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord in our PC Gamer 2019 Fantasy Draft, and my decision could soon be vindicated. TaleWorlds very casually slipped the mention of an upcoming closed beta into a recent developer blog update, like it was no big deal after seven years.

It is a pretty big deal, though. Mount & Blade is one of the best RPGs of all time, and the sequel is promising to be an even richer blend of roleplaying, strategy and simulation, but it's yet to be shown off outside the controlled confines of events and previews. What exactly the closed beta will entail has yet to be announced; all we know at the moment is that the "upcoming" closed beta will be detailed in a future blog update. Given TaleWorlds' hesitance about announcing a release date too early, I suspect that the closed beta won't be far off.

The update itself was concerned with multiplayer skirmishes, where players can beat each other up in 6v6 battles. You'll also be trying to capture and hold points, like in Captain mode, but there are no bots, just you and the other players. Because these battles will be asymmetrical, with powerful armoured knights charging into pitiful serfs who've just been tossed a sword, spawns are tied to the quality of your class. Every player gets a set amount of points to spend on a class to spawn as, but you'll run out of points faster if you keep going for the best warrior.

With the closed beta looming, brush up on the game by checking out everything we know about Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord.

Soooo, which will be first in 2019? Squadron 42 or Bannerlord?

Sorry but this game will be outdated by the time it releases

Definitely not going to be Squadron 42.

Oh well. Time to see what else to play in my game collection for the time being.

But anyhow, I hope Bannerlord delivers.

I WILL DRINK FROM YOUR SKULL!

@davillain-: the graphics and physics already seem dated. Hopefully it releases this year otherwise I dont see how it can hold up graphically with games coming out on PS5 and other next gen consoles.

I've been waiting for this game forever but I wish it had graphics like for honor...

Mount And Blade was dated looking from the start with a shoe-string budget. Created by two people (man and wife) Armağan Yavuz, and İpek Yavuz as the defination of "passion project". It made up for it's lack of AAA production values with substance.

Most people buying this, myself included won't give a shit if it doesn't look like the latest Ubisoft tat.

I loved the original Mount and Blade, warts and all. I've never played such a charming, immersive game in all my life. It was incredibly naive in its ambition, yet somehow it managed to do just about everything well enough to actually pull it off. Just pure fun; no fluff, no bullshit, no fat.

Pretty much this. Thank god for PC gaming, otherwise games like this would not exist.

@uninspiredcup said:

...

You're a Scot (right?) and iirc you seem to study a bit of Robert the Bruce, so let me ask you: what did you think of Outlaw King? I enjoyed it, personally, just want the opinion of someone more educated on the subject. As entertaining as Braveheart was, I guess it was a pretty terrible portrayal.

@mrbojangles25: Educated? Haha, nice one.

In regards to the movie, it has alot of stuff to like. The opening with Warwolf did happen. Edward I won, they surrendered, but he wanted to show off his new toy, so ordered them back in the castle and used it anyway. It's a very good opening and I like the portrayal (Stannis) as an actual human than a mustache twirling villain. He did die on his way to deal with Robert The Bruce and did demand his bones be boiled held up at battle. His brothers were all killed and his wifey hoisted up in a cage. Showed was a mental fucko Douglas Black was. In general it just got a lot of shit right in it. And had a downbeat subtler tone.

Most of the complaints are directed at the very end where he has a sword fight with Edward II and then lets him go. It's pretty dumb, The Battle Of Loudoun Hill itself is really well done and it the movie does follow most of the events loosely, but that ending was nonsensical, even just applying movie logic to it.

LESS TALKING MORE RAIDING!

Finally some signs of life, holy crap. I'm sure the wait will be worth it tho. Just please don't pull some Epic store bullcrap on us.

Just so you know there is a SQ42 (and SC) roadmap that you can find on their website. SQ42 is currently scheduled to hit beta (won't be public) in Q2 2020.

Yeah, I'm waiting too. Idk what faction I would choose.

@kweeni: Now that you mention it, I need to get up-to-date cause I been left out of the loop due to too many gaming stuff and life.

@davillain-: To be fair if you don't follow a game it does make the wait much easier.

@uninspiredcup: I knew it was created by a small Turkish team... But only two people, a husband and wife? That's very impressive. They managed to create a better RPG than most of the big AAA studios.

It sold at least 6 million units in 2015, which I think is more sold more than alot of AAA games, or at least comparable. They'll at least be taking in more money as they spend basically nothing on marketing or budget. At least according to baby guessing economics.

Succeeds wholly deserved. Reminds me of the old C64/spectrum computer days, where people in their room would make games for fun than for profit.

Doubt a game like Mount And Blade could ever come from a AAA studio.

I ignored this thread because I thought it was just another April Fools joke but wow this is great news!

Same but once I saw that picture I knew it was serious.

If Squadron 42 and Bannerlord both appear in 2020 ... that will be one hell of a year.

Examples of the kind of games no longer made by big publishers or console developers.... they take no risks....

Didn't realise it sold so much.

The bedroom programmer is still alive with the indie scene.

The game's graphics was way outdated during the time it was released but it didn't stop me and my brothers from playing it. One of them is still playing it till now with mods of course.

All of these games look five-six years older than they actually are. That's fine.

I'm gonna break your legs, nice and slow.