AMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War from Koei, makers of Dynasty Warriors, takes its cues from the historical war of the same name. The French and the English are going to arms over the rightful successor to the crown and France is ravished by war. You play as a mercenary looking to make a quick buck and possibly gain some fame and glory by accepting contracts from the French or English. Unlike Dynasty Warriors, you won't be button mashing until your thumbs fall off. Bladestorm is more tactical in the approach, you either need to be cleaver with strategy or amass a larger army to win your objectives.

What's Hot
While virtual France might remind you a lot of virtual China, in terms of layout and familiar HUD, Bladestorm does a great job at sticking out as a different kind of game than Dynasty Warriors. The combat has a unique approach that seems like a medieval version of rock, paper, scissors, mace, bow, broadsword, cavalry. Surprisingly, battling through the ranks of enemies is simple and easy to pick up because it requires limited use of control input. Amassing an army to charge on enemy forts might make you scream a battle cry. For Western audiences, this game will make a stronger connection as the Hundred Year's War is more familiar than ancient wars in the Far East.

The customization component to Bladestorm might get overlooked but there are tons of options to dive into. There are over 400 choices of weapons and armor. You can also add skill points to your commanding presence to be better equipped in battle. On the surface, there might not seem like a lot but there definitely is.

Bladestorm has some decent presentation values. The voice acting is not overly cheesy and the background music keeps a "war opera" feel rather than generic tunes that don't make sense in the context of the game. The musical score was completely unexpected and is enjoyable to listen to. Graphics look pretty good and true to Koei's tradition, you'll see more enemies on screen than ever before. Fog is obviously everywhere but it is used effectively to look like it was added on purpose rather than a way to keep draw distances at a minimum to fit more people on screen at a time.

What's Not
While Bladestorm successfully differentiates itself from the Dynasty Warriors formula, the combat keeps the same repetitive flavor. Combat's lies in the execution of the controls. It's too overly simplified. While that makes it great for newcomers to this type of game, there is quite a bit to be desired. You feel disconnected from the action because you hold down R1 and tap the face buttons to kill the warring faction. While screenshots and videos look like an extraordinary battle is playing in front of your eye, the gameplay doesn't reflect that.

The missions will also start to sound and play familiar. It doesn't matter if you pick the French or English; they have the same objectives that involve capturing a fort or plot of land. Invisible walls can stop you from coming up with a brilliant plan and shouldn't invisible walls be something of past generations by now? A few animations, the cannon animations come to mind, are not up to standards the game sets for itself.

Final Word
Dynasty Warrior fans who are tired of the same battles and faces can find something to enjoy with the tactical approach to large scale battles. The customization is admirable and there is quite a bit to sink your teeth into. The approach is interesting enough for others to check it out but be warned: the fighting looks intense but in reality is muzzled due to the mechanics of trying to command a squad instead of one super powerful general. For as action-packed as Bladestorm seems, it comes off as a mellow experience and the controls make you feel unengaged from the overall battle thus weakening the strategy portion. The gameplay has neat ideas, but the controls, that keep you at a long distance, are what ultimately hurt Bladestorm.