5. Mount & Blade: Warband

When medieval games come to mind, you usually think massacres of epic proportions. Action role-playing game Mount & Blade: Warband offers exactly that, and more.

After customizing your character, you explore a sandbox world riven by strife. Your choices are legion; you can join one of six warring factions or start your own; muster a bandit army; or offer your services as a mercenary. As you rise in power, you’ll be rewarded your own fiefdom, and, consequently, larger armies and more brutal technologies. Lords can be persuaded to become your vassals, or you can grant your companions lands, thereby turning them into vassals.

Marching to the drums of war

Combat lets you command troops in battle, and features nice touches such as shields stopping arrows even when you’re not in a defensive stance, and soldiers with low morale fleeing for their lives. Meanwhile, multiplayer paves the way for large scale slaughter.

But the game isn’t just about carpeting the lands with your enemies’ entrails. For instance, if you’re one for romance and poetry, you can marry for love instead of political gain.

Innovative, complex, and chockfull of variety, Mount & Blade: Warband is one of the best medieval war games of our time.

Riding the pale horse

Here comes the cavalry!