Battle Brothers: Beasts & Exploration DLC
Overhype Studios
Back in March of 2017, a little hidden gem called Battle Brothers burst onto the indie gaming scene. Personally, since I’m not into “cutesy” type graphics or anything that looks too cartoonish, I didn’t really dig the game’s chess piece-like depictions of its various characters and monsters. But, alas, Battle Brothers quickly grew on me and here’s why…
Battle Brothers is essentially a medieval mercenary management (try saying that three time really fast) simulator. You begin the game with a small band of rather scurrilous characters—each with their own quirky backstories and idiosyncrasies—and then look around for missions that are posted on town and village bulletin boards. Once you take on a mission that appeals to you, you roust your mercenaries from their drunken slumbers and set out to accomplish whatever objectives the mission entails.
One thing that I quickly learned about Battle Brothers is that it’s hard…damn hard. A lot of your early missions will seem like a cake walk when you read their descriptions, such as having to drive a small band of bandits from the outskirts of a town, or kill some Orcs that are harassing a trade route. However, once you locate your designated enemies you’ll find out that they are just about as tough and skilled (if not more so) as your motley crew of mercs, and so, the hunters usually end up becoming the hunted.
In this regard, Battle Brothers reminds me a lot of Darkest Dungeon because of its rogue-like sensibilities. One thing I learned was not to get too attached to any of my mercs because they’ll all eventually get slaughtered. But, that’s something I liked because it forced me to be more strategic in my implem
Even when I outfitted a couple of my strongest mercs with the best gear and weapons my party had, I ended up losing them to one enemy or another. But if you prepare yourself for a little disappointment and know that eventual death is a part of the game, you’ll probably enjoy it if you like X-Com style, isometric strategy games.
Just when I thought that Battle Brothers couldn’t get any harder, Overhype Studios just recently released a new DLC out of nowhere which makes things even crazier. Just a mere few months ago, they announced that they’d be shutting down their development of Battle Brothers, and instead were beginning work on a new project. However, it appears that they couldn’t resist the urge to give fans a little bit extra.
The “little bit extra” in question turns out to be one humdinger of a DLC titled Beasts & Exploration. Here are just some of the features:
Legendary Locations – Hidden legendary locations offer new possibilities, lore, unique opponents, and unique rewards for the daring adventurer in a world that is 25% larger.
New Opponents – Five challenging new beasts populate different parts of the wilds, and three fearsome bosses guard valuable treasure. All of them come with unique mechanics and loot.
Crafting – Trophies from slain beasts can now be crafted into cloaks, armor plating, armor for your war dogs, shields, potions and other items to customize the look of your hardened mercenaries and benefit them in combat.
Customize your Gear – Wear cloaks, shoulder guards and more for additional benefits with the new armor attachment system, and use the new paint items to paint shields and helmets in the colors of your company.
New Weapons and Armor – A collection of new weapons and armors allow for new play styles and character builds.
New Contracts, Events and Ambitions – Engage in profitable beast hunting and exploration. Immerse yourself in leading a mercenary company with even more illustrated events.
New Music – Two new music tracks accompany you on your adventures.
New Achievements – Challenge yourself with new achievements.
As far as the “new opponents” are concerned, you have some really interesting ones, such as a gigantic Yeti creature called The Unhold, which, like many wild beasts is extremely territorial. This creature just loves to knock smaller foes around and excels at displacement, with knockback skills that ignore primed spears and allow it to fling your poor mercs over its shoulders.
Then there’s the creepy, hideous, wart-covered hags called Hexes that can charm your more simple-minded mercs into thinking these witches are single, gorgeous medieval ladies. “Should every last man on the battlefield be mind-controlled by a Hexe, the coven will have them all commit suicide in order to end the battle,” wrote Overhype Studios in a recent development blog.
In all, the Battle Brothers: Beasts & Exploration DLC is a fantastic expansion to the base game, and functions as a last hurrah for this underground hit. It has enough emergent gameplay, interesting lore, and devilishly fun mechanics to sate any fan of isometric, tactic/management games.
SCORE: 79%
Battle Brothers: Beasts & Exploration DLC features great graphics that make its mercenary management gameplay truly shine. However, you want to have a pretty beefy gaming PC or gaming laptop in order to play it at a decent framerate. So, you may just want to invest in a decent gaming rig:
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