
	Platform PlayStation 3 Genre Action Developer Omega Force Publisher Koei ETA TBA
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Bladestorm: The Hundred Years’ War

Koei has made a name for itself over the last 20 years or so for its games that have embraced Chinese and Japanese history. Whether it’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Nobunaga’s Ambition, or Dynasty Warriors, each series has won over a huge amount of fans. Interestingly, as Koei takes the plunge onto the PS3, the company isn’t playing it safe, and going with one of these already popular franchises as one of its first games on the console. Instead, we’ll see an entirely new game called Bladestorm: The Hundred Years’ War.

Looking at the trailer for the game, one can see that it will pit players in a battlefield filled with thousands of other combatants. It looks quite similar to Dynasty Warriors in this regard, except that it’s on a much larger scale. Moreover, the game takes place in Medieval Europe, not Asia (hence the whole Hundred Years’ War thing). Players will be able to choose which side of the war that they want to fight on between England and France. The war saw sweeping changes in military strategy and weaponry in Europe. Heavy cavalry was rendered obsolete with the introduction of the longbow, and fixed defensive positions of man-at-arms. This also brought social change in those who fought wars, as

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feudal lords were no longer as important, and mercenaries stepped onto the scene, which also allowed for permanent standing armies in Europe, something that had not been seen in the region since the fall of the Roman Empire. Hopefully Bladestorm will touch on some of these historical issues in game, and not just be a grand, sword-swinging opera.

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Word on the street is that Bladestorm won’t be a straight ahead action game, but will instead incorporate various strategy elements from games like Kessen, and attempt to make them work in a real-time setting. How this will manifest itself remains to be seen, as the game is still in a very early stage of development. All we really know is that the battles will be on a grand scale, and players will have to use their head when engaging the enemy.

By the look of things, we’re still a ways off from seeing a completed version of the game, but it is being developed by Omega Force who are the same folks that brought us Dynasty Warriors. That being said, we at least know that the game is in the hands of a developer with quite the pedigree, so it should be well worth keeping an eye on Bladestorm.

Jeff Nash

March 27, 2007