Mount & Blade : Warband is a standalone expansion to, you've guessed correctly, Mount & Blade game. It's superior to its predecessor in every single way, with more units, factions, bigger map, more quests, improved combat, improved graphics.. The list goes on, and there is no reason to buy the vanilla game if you can only get your claws (hands?) on Warband.
Sandbox Incarnate
The action takes place in region called Calradia, which is home to six kingdoms : Vaegir, Nord, Rhodok, Swadian, Khergit Khanate and Sarranid Sultanate. Each one having their own lands, cities, tittles, units and culture (mirroring the ones we know from medieval history books) Each having dozens of vassals serving under one ruler (be it king or sultan) Most of the vassals rule cities, castles or simple villages on their own, but not all of them, because the lands are limited, and human greed is not.
You start the game by answering a few questions about your characters background, and choosing a place to start on the map. Depending on your answers your initial statistics will vary. After embarking to the kingdom of your choosing you are ambushed (a mini-tutorial added in Warband, recommended for first-timers) and regardless of whether or not you decide to investigate the bandit problem and help the honest merchants, you begin your journey. Journey to where? This is for you to decide. Starting as a pure nobody has its downsides, obvious ones too, but the upside is that you can choose which kingdom to join, or maybe try to start your own?
So what is this game about, really?
Stabbing people in the face, commanding soldiers that stab people in the face for you, conquering, sieging, winning tournaments, getting yourself a wench, dueling lords, usurping tittles, trading, flanking, ruling, managing, sneaking into towns, assassination, training troops, healing the wounded.. and stabbing in the face in really huge battles.
The two mouse buttons combat system is really solid and.. wild. Let me explain : You attack with left mouse button, but you also have to move the mouse in the direction you want to strike from. Moving the mouse forward (or "up") will result in an overhead swing. Move the mouse to the right and you'll swing from the right side. Blocking works the same way, except you press the right mouse button. The exception is shield, which blocks attacks from all angles (but only in front of you, AND you can still get hit in the foot or stabbed in the face, over your shield)
You can also chamberblock the attacks, and use feints to work around enemy blocks. There are also ranged attacks, which require some practice before beign truly deadly, and the cavalry trademark : Couched spear charge, which will kill everything in its path.
It's all about right timing and positioning... and numbers.
Did i say numbers? I did! You can command quite a force! Ofcourse you will start with rather poor leadership skills, no renown whatsoever and no means of paying high wages, but as time goes on and you slaughter, besiege and conquer, your army will grow up to hundreds of warriors under your command, and you can also persuade vassals to accompany you with their forces for some really enormous battles. Your troops are already geared, but their wages, their hunger and their morale are for you to manage.
Commanding on battlefield is quite easy. You can either move the troops around on a minimap (beware, there is no pause button!) or shout the orders while leading a charge into enemy lines. As the battles rage your troops, aswell as you, will gain experience, and become even better at the only thing that matters.. Stabbing. There are dozens of differend units avaliable for each kingdom, and many "neutral" ones. You can ofcourse use Nordic warriors in a war against Nords, as some of their infantry units are tougher than brick walls, but their morale will take a serious hit.
Speaking of morale, you have to remember that just like orcs in Tolkien books, your troops won't like eating bread over and over. Retreating from battles or taking heavy loses will hurt even more.. Ofcourse getting your entire army obliterated, and yourself shackled and imprisoned in a dungeon is much, MUCH worse than having low morale.
It may happen. The beauty of mount & blade is that even if your army is the strongest, biggest and meanest among all commanders, nothing stops the enemies from combining two, three or twenty armies to hunt you down. You'll need a kingdom, good relations with everyone or superb stabbin' skills for a massive conquest.
RPG elements?
Your character has quite a few statistics, skills and weapon profficiencies. Statistics are, as always, strength, dextirity, intelligence and charisma.. But the skills are plentifull! Examples starting from simple trading, through leadership, first aid, surgery and wound treatment, to riding and persuasion. You will be able to increase all of these as you gain levels, and you will gain them by fighting or..
Quests! Ofcourse! RPG's are all about quests, ain't they? Sadly it's one of m&b:warband's weak points. Quests, although plentiful, quickly get repetitive. During war you'll keep getting a quest to train soldiers for a lord, or defeat enemy commander and take him captive. Village Elders will constantly ask you to aid them with cattle or grain. Toss in a bandit infestation every month and you see the big picture. Ofcourse there are many more differend quest types, but while doing them you'll know that it's not what M&B is about.
There are some NPC's in M&B, and they have their own personalities, but it's all added on top of everything. With only a few unique dialogues, and like/dislike triggers. THey are, however, a valuable resource, as they help in leading and managing your troops.
And last, but NOT least : Inventory. There are hundreds of items to choose from. Stronger armor will make you take even 0 damage from some weaker blows, but will make you move slower. Heavier sword will deal more damage, but will require more strength and may be slower. Better axe may turn out to have shorter range. Swift horses will die from just a few arrows.. Et cetera. There is room for experimentation. However after a while, when armies start gaining massive size, its best to go for heavy armor.
Graphics, Music, Anything Else?
The graphics improved greatly over vanilla M&B, and are quite solid. With up to four hundred people at once on the screen (if the battle is bigger, then its divided into stages between which wounded fighters heal a bit.. depending on medical abilities.), all swinging, screaming and bleeding, it all looks spectacular!
Music that plays during both campaign and combat fits perfectly, although the tracks quickly get old.
Overall Mount&Blade features the best medieval combat system i have ever seen in a computer game, so intense, that i could squeeze coal into diamond with my butt cheeks during the fight sequences, and so chaotic, that a killing blow can come from EVERY direction. It's a sandbox game, as free and open as it gets..
..And sadly gets borring faster than other games, with no long path to follow. No surprises along the road. So it's a short ride, but one of the best nonetheless.
Final Words (Lord Stworca's story with some pictures)
Lord Stworca, who after winning series of tournaments became vassal of Vaegirs, sieged a few dozen castles & cities, killed thousands of enemies on his own, and not once lost a battle in service to his liege. He led mixed army of elite Swadian Knights, Rhodok Seargants and Crossbowmen, and a personal guard of two dozen Sword Sisters. It took him months to train such an army, but on the field they proved unstopable.
Defense of Narra was when everything changed.[url="http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/2310/mb10i.jpg"]His liege and allies deserted him, left him to die..[/url]
[url="http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/3303/mb11y.jpg"]He[/url]
[url="http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/7994/mb13d.jpg"]Did[/url]
[url="http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/9862/mb16n.jpg"]Not[/url]
After emerging victorious he declared independance and paved the roads in HIS kingdom with enemy skulls. Becoming the mightiest and the richest of all rulers. But the war never ended. He started to age, but did not want to die in his bed, thus he started seeking glory with only a handful of soldiers. His final battle, and final victory, was with only [url="http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/7285/mb21q.jpg"]fourteen of his loyal guards versus 901 khergit cavalry[/url]. After [url="http://img145.imageshack.us/slideshow/webplayer.php?id=mb23g.jpg"]many hours of battle[/url] he ended the lives of over eight hudred enemies with his own sword, spear and jevelins, and was the only one to leave the battlefield alive.
Afterwards he realised that there is nothing more to gain, no more challenges ahead, nothing else to experience, and retired, letting others rise, shine and fall in the lands of Calradia. And even though he could foresee every event along the road, and after some time it was all routine with bigger and bigger battles every time...
He didn't regret a single minute of his career
9/10
Gamebanshee's 4,5/5
Stworca
So I'd say there is at least *one* reason. (..if you are pressed for cash then there are two reasons, because the original is cheaper.)