Mount & Blade
2008 · Taleworlds
Has it aged?Why ↓
Mount & Blade is a medieval warfare sim where you fight with swords on horseback. That puts you in the part of a medieval battle worth playing: riding into the fighting yourself, rather than admiring an army from a distance.
Calradia is a land at war, offering great riches and even greater dangers to adventurers and mercenaries that flock to shed their blood on its soil. With courage and a strong sword, an unknown stranger can make a name as a warrior. Free-form sand-box gameplay.
The publisher’s description, from its Steam store page.
What it looks like
the trailer, then the store's own shots
The verdict
Play it for mounted sword fighting, with its eccentric mods as a second attraction. The 2011 Gangs of Glasgow build trades feudal warfare for urban violence; the High School Of The Dead mod documented in 2013 brings zombies and improvised weapons into city streets. That willingness to turn a medieval battlefield into something completely inappropriate is more enticing than another faithful castle.
Play it if
You want to fight on horseback, and you enjoy exploring mods that replace a game's setting with something wildly different.
Skip it if
Anyone who dislikes mounted melee combat. If Gangs of Glasgow is your attraction, its deliberately offensive treatment of sectarianism, knife crime and drug abuse may also be a dealbreaker.
Common questions
- What does Gangs of Glasgow change?
- The build covered in 2011 relocates the medieval warfare to an exaggerated Glasgow, with football-related violence, police cars and stadiums. Its comedic framing does not make its treatment of real social problems harmless.
- What is the High School Of The Dead mod?
- The mod documented in 2013 adds school pupils, zombies and civil unrest. It includes a freely explorable city hub where factions fight with improvised weapons, including brooms.
- Is this the same game as Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord?
- No. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord was announced in 2012 as a separate sequel, not another name for this game.
What everyone else said
we link, we don't reprintHas it aged?
How does it hold up today? Based on recent reviews, how opinions have changed since launch, player activity and updates.
% positive each month, last 4 years.
Reviews via Steam ↗Peak: 267 in Jul 2014.
Player counts via SteamCharts ↗A little less liked than at launch, but still well liked.
The developer posts no update notes on Steam, so we can't tell.