The visuals are heads and shoulders better. If the original Warband’s jump was equal to your highschool varsity champion’s long jump, Viking Conquest is Mike Powell’s.
The new features that the Viking Conquest DLC brings just completely blows it out of the water. It was a very impressive jump with a lot of new features that made the game all that much more fun and enjoyable. Then came Warband in 2010 where all the RPG-esque stuff got expanded to the point where you could marry ladies and create your very own kingdom.
Some fun, extra side RPG-esque stuff was the cherry on the top. The Mount & Blade series first hit the scene back in 2008 and while it wasn’t particularly visually appealing, the kind of gameplay it brought to the table wowed the critics with its open-world sandbox that allowed you to head your own group of men, which could number up to the hundreds, and fight together with them on the battlefields as your own playable character.
