Mount and Blade is a game of enormous potential fun. It doesn’t have great dialogue, the characters could be replaced with cardboard cutouts, and the graphics look as though it ran on the PS1, but that didn’t stop me from putting 255 hours into the game.

­­­­­­­It is a game that replicates what it would feel like to be a singular soldier in an RTS. You move with large groups of individual NPC’s across a battle field to combat another group of NPC’s. Not all of the characters have names, but there are many types of soldiers and a good amount of visual variation between them. It really does make you feel as though you are part of a gigantic medieval battle.

­­­­­­­The combat is actually very deep and requires a lot skill and know how to be successful on your part. You need to know when to run away and when to fight and how to fight the enemy in front of you. If your enemy is on a horse and you only have a pike, kneel as they pass you and impale the beast.

­­­­­­­There is a ton of variety between everything; for instance your character can be modeled in many different meaningful ways. If you choose to, you can be a female, but the medieval time frame this game is designed around was not made for women. You will have a significantly harder time finding acceptance, men, and money as a woman. You can also choose what sort of family background you have. If you are a commoner, some lords will have a great disdain for you and oppose you climbing the social ladder.

­­­­­­­­The game is a satisfying RPG strategy troop/town-management game that is $10-20 on Steam. If you do plan to try out the game play Mount & Blade: Warband during a Summer/Winter sale for your best deal. It is a great game that will engross you and make you return to it time and time again.