Developer TaleWorlds Entertainment have detailed upcoming features for Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord ahead of the game’s 1.0 release date.
The Turkish studio has been busy working away on the medieval sandbox sequel, having dropped more than a hundred updates since the game first hit Steam.
However, there’s a long way to go before Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord reaches version 1.0. TaleWorlds didn’t give any news on the game’s release date, which is provisionally locked on Q2 2022.
The team are picking up speed once more now that social distancing measures are easing and more staff are being reintroduced to the studio in phases. In one of their biggest blogs ever, TaleWorlds have outlined a whole bunch of features fans can expect to see in their journeys through Calradia. We’ve handpicked some highlights:
1. Battle Terrain System
The feature will provide a more strategic and unique experience for each and every battle by associating specific scenes with campaign map regions rather than terrain types, while also taking into account party positioning and orientation within the region to influence the initial battle setup.
2. Order Of Battle
During battles and sieges, you will soon be able to arrange your troops into neat regiments, formations, and battle lines. This will add a new layer of strategy, bringing the planning phase of battles more in line with RTS games like Total War.
3. Cutscenes
Mount & Blade 2 is very much a game where you forge your own stories instead of following dense storylines or narrative threads. However, TaleWorlds plan to start adding cutscenes to underline some of the more cinematic moments during the player’s campaign, such as witnessing the birth of your child.
4. Sally Out Missions
These new missions will add some further diversity into Bannerlord’s siege gameplay. Defending armies will soon be able to break a siege by sallying out to face their attackers. While these scenarios do exist in Mount & Blade 2, a future update will gives these battles their own specific battlefields.
5. Ranked Matchmaking
The matchmaking system will allow you to play the game in a more competitive setting and be assigned ranks based on your performances in both Skirmish and Captain multiplayer game modes. This system will be much stricter than the current match finding system when it comes to pairing evenly matched opponents against one another, allowing you to test your skills against other players on a more even footing.
6. Progression System and Skins
The multiplayer progression system will reward you simply for playing the game! You will be able to use your hard-earned points to unlock skins for your troops and sigils for your profile. Eventually, this will be expanded with further customisation systems that will reward you for your multiplayer engagements and escapades!
It’s been quite some time since we last delved into Calradia. As we approach the release date for version 1.0 we’ll no doubt return, hopefully immersing ourselves in the campaign and online multiplayer thanks to all these features and improvements.
Source: Steam
