To get this game go to and go to the downloads section, it’s only a 70 meg download for the whole game so you don’t have any excuses not to. You get the full game, but its limited so if you like playing it you can pay to have it unlocked.




Mods!
There are loads of mods already out for Mount&Blade that add a lot to the game, from Lord of the Rings to Samurai style combat, again check about half way down this page for a list of these mods (most are for the latest versions of the game):


A more complete list of all mods can be found here Mount&Blade Unofficial File Repository




What is Mount&Blade like?
I’d never heard of this game until recently so I had no idea what it was, turns out it’s a combat game based on medieval warfare that uses a huge array of medieval weapons, shields and armour from regions across Europe, the steppe and the Middle-East. I'm not going to do it justice here so the best thing to do is download it and play yourself.


I’ve always liked games based on melee combat and this is by far the best PC game I’ve played in that regard, but it has a lot more to offer than just combat; you can ambush war parties traveling between towns, track trade caravans and attack them, besiege a town, trade goods and slaves, wager on your ability in an arena match and more. Pick any soldier from a battle in M2TW and imagine playing as him in a smaller skirmish, that’s what this is like. You can customize your man to be the equivalent of any of the unit types in M2TW and more too. Theres a huge RPG element here as well, you get better with a certain weapon the more you play with it, but theres cheats to bypass that if you just want to concentrate on the combat.


This is not a case of going in with a sword flaying around killing all that moves either, the game requires that you use your head in combat. Proper blocking using a shield or your weapon is essential if you want to live, as is determining the right time and angle to hit your foes from, you position the camera in order to attack or defend from a certain direction. It’s a slower form of combat than other games but it feels more realistic and allows you to think it out, it’s all about planning and strategy, picking fights you can win and the tactics you use in that fight rather than clicking a mouse button like a lunatic and hoping for the best. You'll probably get slaughtered a few times before you get the hang of it, but its well worth sticking at it.


As the name might suggest mounts play an extremely important part in this game, and are executed brilliantly; while on horseback you have to judge speed, turn rates and any momentum you can carry into an attack, which is added to your weapons damage adding to the realism. Archery from horseback is tough too, as you would expect it should be. Your horse can take damage as well, being shot out from under you resulting in you being flung to the ground and reduced to ground combat, where you could easily be mobbed and killed unless you have backup. That’s where your warparty of several men comes in, you’re just another soldier so you need plenty of backup. You decide what type of equipment they carry as well as giving them orders in a battle. The commands are simple, follow, wait, charge, etc but are effective and can be aimed at particular subgroups of your men, such as archers or cavalry. All of that combined gives a realistic but very enjoyable game that’s addictive as hell.




Why pay to unlock it?
Mount&Blade is a work in progress and is by no means finished. There is still alot of work to be done on it, but what is done so far is very entertaining. You can download the entire game for free from the link given and play it until you reach level 6 with a character, after that you pay if you want to continue and unlock the full game. Its probably the best $18 I ever spent. The game is still in early beta, but when you consider it’s a Turkish couple who are making it on a nonexistent budget as regards game development, you’re basically paying so that Mount&Blade can continue development, if the game so far is anything to go by it's worth paying for development to continue.