Mount and Blade has been around as an internet distributed product for quite a while now so its amazing to see it finally get a retail release. At heart its a military simulation of early medievel combat with an emphasis on cavalry based combat. The developers Turkish background gives it a flavour we dont often see in old Europe. Graphics arent cutting edge and its a little rough around the edges but nobody else is doing anything close to this. At once it harks back to the old school difficulty curves of many older games while offering the free-roaming sandbox play thats characteristic of more modern titles. If you ever wondered what it was like to be in the middle of a Total War skirmish this is probably as close as youre going to get. I think a comparison to Elite isnt that far off the mark. Its a single player only game with no real goals apart from those you set yourself. For most people your ultimate goal is going to be accumulating wealth and power but you can choose to concentrate on conquering or trading as your mood takes you.