Bladestorm: Nightmare

The player starts the game by creating a customizable mercenary character. The player character must lead squads of troops to be effective; unsupported, the mercenary is very vulnerable. Over the course of the game, the player will improve the character by acquiring better arms and armor, improving leadership abilities, and learning how to command numerous unit types.

The gameplay takes place on battlefields in different regions of France and the Low Countries. At first, the player can only fight in the Normandy region, but as the game progresses the player can eventually fight in Brittany, Flanders, Champagne, Aquitaine, Gascony, the Île-de-France, and Auvergne. Battles are broken down by days (which last 10 real-time minutes), during which time the player can fight as he or she chooses. The player's objective is to fulfill the contract he or she accepted for that particular battle, typically by capturing a number of strategic locations for his or her side. Fighting frequently for one side in a particular region will result in that side dominating the region; as this reduces the opportunities to for capturing locations and gaining experience, players are subtly discouraged from favoring one side too much and benefit from maintaining a rough parity between the French and English.

The game opens with a scene showing two anonymous mercenaries fighting each other during a clash between French and English troops. They converse as they fight, setting the tone of the game as they discuss the nature of mercenaries (who change sides as it suits them), how there is no real right or wrong in the war, and how time seems to be standing still (even though the game covers events across the entirety of the Hundred Years' War, the game does not strictly follow chronology; for example, the player can fight alongside Gilles de Rais in one battle and with John Chandos in the next).

The player character, a mercenary leader in the making, fights in battles to advance the plot. Much of the game's story comes from overheard conversations in the tavern between battles. While most missions do not contribute to the plot, the player will often be given the chance to fight in famous battles, typically on the side that historically won. These special battles are usually accompanied by cutscenes that build on the story arcs of the various characters in the game.

The game met with mixed critical reception. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 65.44% and 63 out of 100 for the Xbox 360 version, and 60.17% and 58 out of 100 for the PlayStation 3 version.

Brett Todd of GameSpot gave the game a score of 5/10. He said that "Fresh ideas can't save [the game] from mediocrity." Some of his complaints were that the campaign "just recycles the same style of battles over and over again," there was "no strategic depth or arcade satisfaction," the game suffered from an "ineffective artificial intelligence," and "dated visuals and sound." On the positive side, he said that the game featured "easy-to-use controls for commanding companies of troops," and he thought the game had a "great idea to blend arcade action with squad combat."