Mount & Blade: Warband - Viking Conquest Reforged Edition

Disclaimer-- I'm writing this all AFTER installing the hotfix. This is not the day one version. This is basically just a pretty version of the Brytenwalda mod, with a bajillion glitches thrown in. The biggest problem is that the game is super glitchy. My little dude was thrown off of the boat in the opening sequence by absolutely nothing at all a few times, which was frustrating. There's a campaign battle where the big bad Vikings land on the beach of the town you end up in, but 4 out of 5 times I've played it one or two Vikings glitch up into the air where their boats started, and just hang there, almost impossible to kill. There are other problems, like the illustrations, which were not done by someone who is good at drawing. At least not good enough for a finished product. If this was a free mod, great, but this costs basically as much as the original game. TL:DR -- This is a ridiculously glitchy version of Brytenwalda that you have to pay money for.

While I love Viking Conquest I could not recommend it less. The Combat, graphics and addition of campaign are the 3 things that make this mod bearable. it's a paid mod that lacks content while u got tons of free ones that are filled with content. I love it becuz i love the boat battles ,being a viking and the combat engine improvements. Otherwise, don't waste your money on this bug fested non-optimized paid mod that shouldve been for free.

I went into this DLC with somewhat high, but not unreasonable hopes, and was disappointed. VC should not be labeled as official DLC. It's kind of a messy mod at best. I'll start with the positives. There are some really cool additions to the M&B gameplay. I love the ability to issue a shield wall command and other (admittedly clunky) formation commands to control the battle. I also think the VC story is engaging with fun twists and turns. Some little adjustments, like the addition of work places (farms, salt mines, etc.) and the naval aspect are really cool and have a ton of potential. Finally, I love the historical setting. Unfortunately this mod (I mean DLC...) is just too much of a mess to really enjoy. The UI scaling is terrible compared to the original Warband, to the point where a large army list doesn't even fit on the screen. The CPU/GPU demand is bloated beyond the original Warband, which is not a negative in and of itself (games are allowed to get an overhaul with DLC), but the payoff just isn't there for such high system demand. Not to mention the aforementioned gameplay additions which are good, fun ideas, look really shoehorned into the original game mechanics. It looks like nothing was newly created, but rather existing features were copy/pasted then tweaked to appear to be new features. The effect is pretty underwhelming. For example, the player passes through resource textures as (s)he cuts wood, mines salt, etc. Some changes to the original game are a misstep as well, like the need to prove yourself before being able to hire soldiers. It's an interesting idea that adds a ton of challenge to the early game, but there aren't enough mission types that can be completed by a solitary soldier to make this change engaging. Instead, it feels like a grind, trying to find feasible sources for money or renown. Overall, I sadly cannot recommend this DLC. It's packed with good ideas and a great setting, but the execution leaves a LOT to be desired.

I'm not sure if this is the beta release, or the official launch from Taleworlds, because the game is absolutely horrible. I have always loved the Mount and Blade games, but this one is virtually unplayable. There are so many bugs in the game I wouldn't even know where to start. I sincerely hope that Taleworlds will be releasing an updated version of the game, because this one is really bad.

Just download and play the Brytenwalda mod instead. Its made by the guys who made this dlc, but is much better, and free. In fact I'd argue Brytenwalda is better than vanilla Warband in every way, so just go it.