If you've been stomping your orcish and undead hordes through castle after castle in Total War: Warhammer, then you probably think it's a breeze taking fortresses from on-high. If you get into the thick of the fray though in a game like Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord, it gets a lot rougher and a lot more difficult.

Bannerlord has been in development for close to four years at this point, with developer Taleworlds building on the medieval strategy/tactical elements from the original game. The graphics are improved, the menus are better and in particular it's put a lot of time into sieges, making them more dynamic and giving players a lot of new options. [yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iObwq1WaxQ8′]

This was showcased at E3 this week, where Taleworlds showed an expanded siege demonstration from start to finish. In the video we see everything from catapults and battering rams, to our player scaling ladders and siege towers. Of particular note for Mount and Blade: Warband fans, is that the AI tactically defends its castle, hoarding troops at choke points and retreating to strongholds when the walls fall.

They also use the battlements to hurl down boiling oil and use large, mounted crossbows for added damage on the attackers.

There are still some classic Mount and Blade hiccups in there, like units getting caught in doorways, but the game is looking more polished than ever, which may mean it might release at some point in there near(ish) future. It's slated to debut at some point in 2016, so fingers crossed it appears before too long.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Mount and Blade: Warband could very well be my favourite game of all time. Bannerlord is shaping up to give it a good run for its money. 

Become a Patron!