Mount & Blade takes a refreshing look at what is perhaps the most competitive genre across both pc and console gaming, it is an indie developed game with plenty of new ideas which are clear to see within minutes of playing.

Your first task is to give birth to your character, using a system seen previously in The Sims and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion you utilise the tools displayed to completely alter the appearance of the base character. Every facial feature can be moderated to the way you want it and you are given complete freedom and depth to how much can be changed, everything from the width of your forehead and the shape of your jaw can be stretched, reduced, and moulded to your desired shape and form. These features then combine with some base eye colours and hair shapes to bring together your 3D persona, ready for the tasks that await you.

The character creation doesn’t stop there; you are then taken through to a section in which you decide the various traits and skills of your creation, there are many to choose from including the standard attributes such as strength, speed, and agility as well the options which declare what kind of weapon you are best with, your skill as a sneaky thief, or even your ability to charm people as you haggle for goods.

As you begin your journey you are given an event from your childhood and a choice as to what your response to it was at the time, this is followed by another dependent on your response and this becomes the back story to your life in the present whilst determining your personality and goals in life. This only determines your character’s personality and has nothing to do with any form of story because the beauty of M&B is that the entire journey is completely open, everything unfolds as you make decisions and complete quests thus meaning that the story is different every time you start a new game giving maximum replay value.