Mount & Blade is an indie game developed by a small team. As the name suggests most of the game you will be riding a horse and chopping enemies through a fictional feudal setting. And by fictional I mean realistically so. No elves, dwarfs or goblins in this one Unless you download one of the dozens of mods.

Talking about mods; the interesting thing about this game is that it was available for purchase (about 20$) since the first beta versions. This eventually led to a devoted modding community, who kept the game alive and breathing as it emerged from early versions to this date where it is in its last beta version (0.960).

Basically in the game you are a lone adventurer whose skills vary from trading to horseback archery. The loneliness does not last long in the game as the first sensible to do is to recruit soldiers. Throughout the game you lead your bunch of mercenaries to pillage villages, besiege cities and fight against bandits and/or noble lords. You can also chose to keep your squad smaller and perform small quests for village elders and feudal lords. M&B is not only based on managing your army but also leading them in the field of battle, and getting hands on with the hacking and slashing of the enemy. And believe me it is really fun when you lead your knights to flank the enemy when your infantry holds them busy. (or you can outnumber a bunch of villagers and mock them circling around them while poking at them with your bardiches or halberds just to watch them tumble around trying to not get trampled underneath your warhorses...HAHA...BWAHAHAHA ....BWAHAHAHAHA....). Currently the game does not have a main story but it is full of consistent quests and challenges and they all affect your general standing in the world (so think twice before besieging that border castle).

However the game is not perfect. The user interface is somewhat cumbersome and sometimes plain awkward. Managing your special recruits (whom you can level up and adjust skills as well as inventory) becomes a chore after a while. There can still be some bugs around as the game is still beta.

The current version (0.960) will guarantee you at least 50 hours of medieval hack and slash, strategy, diplomacy, feudal village management and tactical warfare as well as equitation and marksmanship in a stunning open ended rpg. Give it a try: the M&B also has a demo in which you can play up to level 5.

I think M&B is a masterpiece of independent gaming and sets an example for all aspiring game developers.


http://www.taleworlds.com/