If complex, turn-based tactical SRPGs are your thing, then Battle Brothers will be right up your street. Add in a sprinkling of the fantasy, a dash of medieval combat, and a whole dollop of the jeopardy that permadeath brings, and this one looks like a real goodie.
Now available on both Xbox and PlayStation consoles, Battle Brothers has been around for a number of years now – a PC release came all the way back in 2017 and a Switch release in March of 2021, picking up a number of positive reviews along the way. You will be leading a mercenary gang in a medieval fantasy world gripped by the typical faction-based warfare of the time, and your aim is to of course conquer the lands. In a gameplay sense, this translates to venturing across a procedurally-generated open world, and taking on enemies of your choosing in turn-based combat.
Progression will enable you to recruit new members to your party, and obviously levelling up and upgrading of party members will be your main priority, what with each belonging to a certain class with unique abilities. Each character has their own relevance to the plot and an in-depth backstory, providing another reason to interact with all that you encounter upon.
Further features of Battle Brothers, as detailed by developers Overhype Studios, include:
- Fight complex turn-based tactical battles with historical equipment and brutal injuries.
- Permadeath. All characters that die in combat will stay dead – unless they return as the undead.
- All characters come with their own background stories and traits. Want a stuttering ratcatcher, a greedy witch hunter or a drunkard disowned noble?
- Character development without a restrictive class-system. Each Character gains experience through combat, can level up and acquire powerful perks.
With the cold weather really setting in now as we welcome in the new year, what better way to hibernate than by getting your teeth into a meaty SRPG? If Battle Brothers is the title you want to do that with, then head on over to the Xbox Store, where for £22.99 you can purchase the base game on Xbox Series X|S or Xbox One. Additionally, for £50.99 the Battle Brothers – Complete Edition can be bought, providing you with the base game and all additional DLC expansions, of which there are three – Beasts & Exploration (£8.79), Warriors of the North (£7.99) and Blazing Deserts (£12.99).Â
Battle Brothers is also available now on PC, PS5, PS4 and Switch. Keep an eye out for our review.
Game Description:
Battle Brothers is a turn based tactical RPG which has you leading a mercenary company in a gritty, low-power, medieval fantasy world. You decide where to go, whom to hire or to fight, what contracts to take and how to train and equip your men in a procedurally generated open world campaign. Do you have what it takes to lead them through bloody battles and to victory? The game consists of a strategic worldmap and a tactical combat layer. On the worldmap you can freely travel in order to take contracts that earn you good coin, find places worth looting, enemies worth pursuing or towns to resupply and hire men at. This is also where you manage, level up and equip your Battle Brothers. Once you engage a hostile party the game will switch to a tactical map where the actual fighting takes place as detailed turn based combat. Manage a medieval mercenary company in a procedurally generated open world.
