When comparing Deus Ex: Human Revolution vs Mount & Blade: Warband, the Slant community recommends Mount & Blade: Warband for most people. In the question“What are the best PC RPGs?” Mount & Blade: Warband is ranked 20th while Deus Ex: Human Revolution is ranked 27th. The most important reason people chose Mount & Blade: Warband is:
The game has one of the most realistic medieval combat systems ever, and it flows very well. There are different ways to control swordplay as well as archery, blocks are done using the mouse and moving it in the direction of the enemy's weapon and clicking the right mouse button. Archery is very realistic is well and there is always a sense of accomplishment when you kill or even hit a target.
Specs
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Pros
Pro You can take a lethal or pacifist approach to missions
You have total freedom in how you approach missions, mainly with whether you want to take the silent approach or go in guns blazing. Going with weapons such as stun guns, picking non-lethal knock-outs, and sneaking around through vents and hidden passageways makes up the pacifist methods. The more violent ways of playing include using deadly guns and abilities, killing enemies when you take them down, and generally running head-first into each mission. You don't have to stick with one or the other; if the situation calls for it, you can change things up as needed, keeping things interesting as you go along.
Pro Conversations feel dynamic from your dialog choices
Speaking with major NPCs feels natural thanks to the dialog options you get to make. Each character has their own personalities and worldviews, so selecting certain options gives you the chance to move the conversation forward, make the person hand over something you need, or persuade them during debates.
You can choose to appease someone who has a dominant personality in order to get what you want from them, or you can intimidate someone with a weaker personality. There's even a cool cybernetic implant you can get that lets you read someone's personality and reactions to you to determine the best options to pick. This gives discussions a lot of weight and impact, making sure that your choices matter.
Pro Tons of ways to customize your playstyle
Unlocking and upgrading abilities gives you a great chance to tailor how you approach missions and explorations. There are certain perks that lean more toward stealth, like an invisibility cloak, and others that are more lethal-oriented, like a flashy area of effect ability that lets you take out surrounding enemies all at once. And there are other skills that give you a leg up in exploring levels, like boosting the amount of fall damage you can take to prevent death and reach secret locations. One player's build may be completely different from someone else's, adding replay value to experiment with unlocks.
Pro Amazing futuristic themes and visual style
Deus Ex: Human Revolution has a great aesthetic that fits with its setting and themes. The visuals have plenty of bright golds and harsh blacks, and many recurring instances of hard geometric shapes to match with the prevalence of augmented humans with cybernetics. Along with this rapidly expanding technology, the story delves into the angle of what would happen if corrupt corporations became more influential than the government, bringing up some tough parallels to the current year in the real world. The unique look of the game goes so well with the subjects it tackles, creating a cohesive and stylistic whole.
Pro Cool soundtrack
The music in Human Revolution is an amazing mix of synthwave and other electronic sounds. Each track that plays in the different locations you explore, such as Montreal and Singapore, make you feel like you're in a futuristic version of those places.
Even the more atmospheric tracks go a long way to set the mood in any given place, like the somber yet thoughtful track that plays in the main protagonist's home, giving you a moment to breathe after playing through the game's tense and exciting missions. The soundtrack absolutely does its job of setting the stage for wherever you're at while creating emotional memories of where each song plays.
Pro Impressive & realistic Combat system
The game has one of the most realistic medieval combat systems ever, and it flows very well. There are different ways to control swordplay as well as archery, blocks are done using the mouse and moving it in the direction of the enemy's weapon and clicking the right mouse button.
Archery is very realistic is well and there is always a sense of accomplishment when you kill or even hit a target.
Pro Have your own army to command into battle
You can build up your own army and command them into battle, Total War-style, only with you leading directly and taking place in the battle. There are tons of different commands for you to give out to your army.
Pro Deep economy aspects
Buying and selling items in the single player game can be deeply rewarding but will take a lot of time to learn the ins and outs in order to maximize profit.
Pro Old but gold
This is an old game, but it's also a very, very good one.
Pro Deep RPG mechanics
There are so many deep rpg mechanics in this game it's insane, you can level up with tons of different skills, improve weapon proficiency, as well as basic stats. There's also buying new weapons and armor, horses, etc. You can also upgrade your companion's skills, their weapons and armor, and their stats as well as weapon proficiencies. Basic infantry can also be upgraded to higher positions, upgrading them with better weapons and armor, as well as increasing their skills. There's also a morale system in place when you need to keep all troops happy, make sure you're well stocked with different varieties of food, etc.
Pro The BEST Mounted Combat of any game
Yes, this game has, hands down, the best mounted combat of all time, riding across the battlefield on your mighty steed and felling an enemy is one of the best feelings. All weapons work on horseback, barring very heavy crossbows, and they are all fun. There's your traditional jousting with a lance in tournaments, but you can also use a greatsword, a sword and shield, a bardiche. With mounted combat like this, other games with mounted combat will seem completely obsolete.
Pro Realistic weapons and armour
The armour and weapons are based off real life weapons and armour.
Pro Endless quests
Yes, you heard me right, now, while the quests may be repetitive, there are TONS of them, and this game does not run out of quests... EVER. You could be playing this game for over 100 real life years and still have quests. They are all set quests, but there will always be lords that need help, guild masters that will give you tasks, farmers that need their village saved. The quests do not run out, and you'll be happy knowing that you'll still have as much quests to do as when you started.
Pro Tons of amazing mods
There are hundreds of mods for Warband for singleplayer AND multiplayer, including full conversions, more choices, better diplomacy, new modes, weapon mods, and more.
Pro Incredible realism
While you go about your life in the game, you'll see little tabs on the side and be updated about the state of the world, even about stuff you aren't involved in, you'll see who is fighting who, who is at war, who won and lost a battle, who won a tournament. You can be attacked by anyone at any moment while traveling throughout the world, having a small, or big army can determine whether or not the enemy sees you as a threat. It feels like a very believable world.
Pro Tons of stuff to do
This game is a medieval enthusiast's dream, you can build up a huge army and fight for yourself, become king, be a vassal for a king, choose to be a wandering tournament fighter, a wandering fighter who takes down bandits, a bandit pillaging villages as they see fit, you can get married, and even get involved more deeply into the politics of the world. You can even join a group of rebels to try and overthrow a king, they will, in turn, then be the king of their respective realm. You can go to taverns, and feasts, as well as set up your own feasts after getting married. You can build your own mills, velvet factories, etc, and be a wandering merchant. You can even be a slaver if you wanted to, whenever you defeat bandits or others, you can capture them and sell them to random brokers, which gives you money. The possibilities are endless.
Pro Very interesting companion characters
The companion characters are relatively interesting, from the ever hilarious Rolf, to the sad story of Deshavi, they all have their own quirks that make them interesting and a joy to have on your team, they'll interact with other companions, both in good ways and bad ways, and they'll even comment on their homeland when you ride near it. You even have the option of making every single companion a lord should you wish it.
Pro Being able to make your own personal backstory
Before the game even starts you get to choose every little bit of your character's backstory, are you a noble who was forced out of their home and thus started your journey? Or... are you a street urchin who wanted to see the world?
You get to craft every meticulous detail, including who your father and family were, who you were as a child, etc. It's very interesting and can get you invested in your character.
Pro Deep character customization
There are some missteps in the character customization, but for the most part it's pretty extensive, you can customize your character's entire face structure.
Pro Multiplayer
Multiplayer is a part of M&B with Warband and allows for battles as large as 200+ players with tons of different class choices for each player, making for a varied online battle each time. There are also different modes and maps. Warband has a very innovative feature in it's multiplayer that lets you create your own character and have just as much freedom over their customization as you do in single-player!
Cons
Con You must be lethal during boss fights, even on a pacifist run
It's really disappointing that the game doesn't let you take a purely pacifist approach. You can sneak around all you want while making sure to only perform silent takedowns, but the moment you step into a boss room, all of that role-playing goes out the window. You have to kill the boss, no questions asked. It would have been nice to have the option to outmaneuver them instead and lead them into non-lethal traps. Thankfully, the devs addressed this issue in the sequel, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, but you still have to deal with it here.
Con Boring main protagonist
Adam is such a dull lead character. He's stereotypically gruff, he barely ever shows any emotion, and he seems quite disaffected by the game's events. Even though most of his arc revolves around his quest to save his ex-girlfriend, it's hard to get invested or care about either of them, since you don't see them interact that much except during the start of the game. Though there is a silver lining to his personality, since his unconcerned attitude leads to one particular line of his that's turned into a running joke online. But other than that, he's not a remarkable protagonist that you find yourself rooting for on a personal level.
Con Stiff character animations during cutscenes
It can be distracting to watch two characters speak during a cutscene. Aside from maybe Adam, everyone has such stiff and repetitive gestures and movements. Mouth movements don't sync up with voiced lines, making it look like the characters are just miming and faking their way through conversations. Depending on your tolerance levels, it's possible to tune out these annoyances and still enjoy the scenes.
Con No real story
The game does not have any real story, there is some semblance of a story early in the beginning of the game, with you choosing to possibly help out a merchant, but after that, there is no real story, you basically make your own destiny, but there is no set story that the game gives you, and therefore, there is no real narrative.
Con Subpar graphics
Definitely not one of the best looking games out there, and age is not helping it either.
Con Horseback Archery is difficult
Doing archery on horseback is very difficult to pull off, not impossible, just very difficult, the realism is appreciated, though it's a bit too hard to hit a target when riding a horse.
Con Music is repetitive and boring
You will quickly get tired of the music, there is no real WOW factor songs in there, it's all passable at best.
Con Repetitive quests
Most of the quests you'll be taking will be repeated over and over, like "take out this bandit hide-out", "scout out these villages", or even super boring ones like "Follow me, the marshal, until our campaign has ended". It does get repetitive and boring when these quests are done over and over.
Con Brutal and unforgiving
You get captured, and that is it, your entire army is gone completely, you will lose all your gold, and a lot of the companions you had, you may even lose some of your inventory or equipment, this is especially bad when you play under the "Realistic" save settings, as the game automatically saves after every event, which means you've lost everything and there is nothing you can do about it.