You are thrown into what I evaluated as quite a surprising world map; it’s not quite as pleasing to look at as the initial character display and there is not much in the audio department to compliment your exploration. You maneuver across the land with no real idea of what to do in a real-time strategy style point and click fashion and sort of mindlessly make your way around the ugly landscape until the decision comes to visit a town, and the joy returns as the 3D rendition you created is surrounded by brilliantly designed walls, grass, water, huts, objects and people. It’s fantastic to look at and more than makes up for what the shoddy world map, it’s smooth and well designed with an elegant amount of detail to boot and it all finally makes sense, the world map is very much just a navigation tool and doesn’t require the beauty that is shown in the towns and castles.

The one thing I found lacking in these environments was background music, there is very little to please the ear and it seems to have been almost completely ignored as you are gifted with a repetitive score that doesn’t play a big enough part in the M&B stage show, take into consideration that there’s no voice acting and you’ve got what is basically a 3D book with minimal atmospherics and I personally think a game such as this requires a great depth to it’s audio. The sound effects save it a little and are very much existent, there is just about enough instrumental wonder to ensure you aren’t sat at the screen listening to your hair grow and they manage to add some character with the standard effects that come with battles and interacting with objects or environments.

As I’ve previously mentioned this is a complete free-for-all and you’re left to do whatever you want, it develops quite slowly as there are many tasks to complete within a vast world which you have to discover alone. It takes a lot of patience and effort to get to grips with everything, the many towns are scattered everywhere and as you gain your first friend and first quest it’s not long until you’ve gathered several and become lost as to what you need to do and where your destination is.