An updated release date for its upcoming title ‘Bladestorm: Nightmare’. The Hundred Years War epic will be unleashed across Europe on 20 March 2015 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. There will also be a PlayStation 3 digital only version available at the same time.
Koei Tecmo also released a set of assets, offering a first glimpse at the character edit mode and showcasing the Troop Command battle system that makes this title stand out in the strategy genre.
In Bladestorm: Nightmare the player is called to create a mercenary and accept missions that will advance the English or the French cause in the course of the Hundred Years War. The successful completion of these missions depends on a variety of elements that put the player’s fighting abilities, strategy, tactical and leadership skills to the test. The Mercenary does not ride to the field alone, but as the commander of an army unit chosen to fit each individual situation as some missions are better fought with foot soldiers, others with lances, archers, light cavalry, or a combination of melee, ranged and mounted units.
Furthermore, in Bladestorm: Nightmare the battle system has been updated to allow simultaneous control of up to four army units. This gives the game even more strategic edge, as the units can be repositioned at any time and ordered to take certain actions that will help the mission succeed (e.g. attack from a certain angle, hold a position, or group with another unit to name a few). The player can choose to switch to command any of these units in real time, combine them in a 200 soldier troop for a charged attack, or issue orders to each and any of them using the battle map interface.
Finally, the new assets reveal some information about the new Nightmare mode, an all-new and original fantasy scenario involving battling and controlling armies of mythical creatures. In the opening sequence of this mode a group of Mercenaries in possession of a sword able to control monsters arrive in war-stricken Gascony only to find the combined forces of England and France under siege by an army of demonic forces. As the leader of the group, the player fights through this army to rescue the defenders and decides to investigate the origins of this new threat.
Bladestorm: Nightmare is a strategy game where the player takes the role of a mercenary and chooses to fight either for England or for France in missions inspired by real events and battles of the era dubbed ‘the Hundred Years War’(1337-1453). Revisiting one of the lengthiest and most politically unstable periods in European history, Omega Force has developed this title in a way that allows the player to assume command of different kinds of army units, while it also offers them the opportunity to develop their own unique character, increase their fame, gold, and army and complete various missions irrespective of sides and loyalty.
In ‘Nightmare’, as the war between England and France wages on as a mysterious battle horde of outlandish creatures appears led by a seemingly turned-evil Joan of Arc. The army is comprised of Dragons, Giants and Demons of various kinds and infinite numbers and the kingdoms of England and France momentarily cease fire and join forces to drive this evil out of the world. This mode allows the player to take control of an additional 32 playable characters, based both on fictional and prominent historical figures of the time. With their assistance the player’s character can try and control the demonic armies, restore Joan of Arc to her former self and save the world from evil.
This fun new twist diversifies the classic strategy elements of the game, and effectively splits ‘Bladestorm: Nightmare’ into two parts; ‘Bladestorm’: the historically accurate account of the 100 Years’ War, and ‘Nightmare’: a fictional fantasy scenario that unfolds in the same world.