Mount and blade is a blend of a sandbox RPG and RTS. You start of as a one man army on a horse in the middle of nowhere with pretty crappy equipment. Although I found it interesting that you start with better equipment and a small army if your history says you’re a noble.

Gameplay:

Like most RPGs, you move around the map and intercept enemies. Before a battle, the player is given several choices: attack, surrender, run away and leave some soldiers behind or tell your soldiers to attack without you (auto combat). These choices are a big plus for the game and empower the player. Battles don’t look very impressive, but the core game makes up for these shortcomings.

Battles are real time. They are something akin to Oblivion but better. The player is equipped with a sword and bow. Battles take into account several elements. Weather affects the trajectory of arrows, skill stats effect a players precision with the bow, charge bonuses are awarded based on how fast you were traveling when you make contact with your weapon, you can shield or attack specific body parts, and order and manage NPC during a fight.

All this depth never becomes overly complicated. The game is well thought and simple to learn. The game stays manageable even as it moves up to larger 50v50 matchups. Perhaps the graphics were pared down so that most machines could handle this many units.

There are 5 provinces in the land of Calradia and most of the time they wage war. A player can approach any king and attempt to become their vassal. Of course like any other self respecting king, he will laugh in your face and mock your puny equipment. After some delivery quests, village raids, leveling up and amassing more people in your army you’ll be a hot shot. The king will grant you a village to run and protect. You will also be at the King’s service to wage war and increase his empire. But who needs a big old king anyway? Mount & Blade allows the player the choice: conquer for a king or conquer for yourself. Amassing your own army and starting your own province is the much harder route, but it is very rewarding. You can make your own province where you can collect taxes, train units, and build in cities, forts, and villages, though the structure selection is limited.

Sound

The sound and music in the game is nothing fancy. Music is good, although I prefer to put on my own. Sound effects are pretty good but nothing special since there is almost no verbal communication and voiceover work.

Conclusion

When the developer, Taleworlds said Mount and Blade was a sandbox game they really meant it. Not only does it offer a huge amount of freedom but is also very mod friendly. There’s also a great attention to details that really matter such as persuading lords to join your cause, momentum of attacking, etc. Of course no game is perfect and there are some things that are lacking in this game.

There is currently no multiplayer but it is planned for the future and will be able to sustain 32+ players. More depth could be added to sieges. Right now, they aren't exactly sieges since there are no catapults or ballistae to destroy the walls or gates. A major improvement would be if the player could manage the town in a RTS mode and not just by clicking to build something. This would add a lot of strategy in defense. As mentioned above the graphics are not exactly top-notch either.

Despite these deficiencies, Mount and Blade is a great strategy game. The game is everything s sandbox game should be and more. This game consumed my time for about 2 months now and I still get can't enough (I have tried out different mods and the native expansion mod is by far the best I played).

Verdict: 91%

If you are a fan of medieval epics, RPGs and strategy games, this is the game for you period.