Indy-game Gone Good!
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A]First off, the most important thing to keep in mind about M&B is that this is a game created by a smaller company. This isn't a big budget production.
B]The second thing to make a note of is that the game tries to focus on the medieval combat experience.
More on A:
The first thing you'll notice about M&B is the graphics - you'll instantly start comparing it with all other titles out there, naturally. Compared to say the newer FPS titles such as the newer edition of Crysis, M&B does not stand a chance. However, the graphics are sufficient, functional and light on most systems allowing many of the lower-end systems to run the game properly. When Crysis first game out, a lot of us couldn't even run it on the higher settings, so the point of it being there at the time was rather moot in our case. The game sports shiny armor and well-created cities, villages (You're able to walk around in these areas at your leisure), snowy/spring terrain, interiors such as taverns and castles, in addition nicely created and proportioned/scaled horses (many types, fast/armored etc) compared to the environment. It all blends into the game graphics and never looks out of place. I've heard it time and time again when it comes to the beta versions of the game, people try the game, think the graphics look old - but as they play, they get used to the graphics and actually start enjoying it for what it is. It's not trying to be photo-realistic, they never claimed it to be - the focus has been on functionality - to have a graphics engine which could render all the troops on the battlefield without causing your computer to keel over.
There's a physics engine in the game, which is especially noticable as people fall off ramparts/walls in castle/city fights and when people fall off horses and so on.
There's a lot of armor and weapons with their appropriate attributes, such as weight, reach (short-sword as opposed to a spear) etc and it all has an impact on your combat performance on the battlefield. It's all interesting, and you can play around with different weapon load-outs until you find something that suits your play-style. You'll be able to carry 4 slots of weapons; I.E (Bow/Arrows/Sword/Shield). You can quickly change between these while in a fight, and you can also pick up equipment dropped by others on the battlefield as well as horses (not armor pieces though).
You'll be able to recruit heroes (named soldiers which level up and progress as they earn xp; you'll need to outfit them and equip them yourself). These'll fight longside you in battles and its a blast to see one riding around clubbing people in the head with the new Morningstar you just bought him. You'll also be able to recruit other soldiers of various types, be it archers, spearmen, knights etc - these will also level and gain experience, so there is an incentive to keep your men alive. The men also need to eat, so you need to keep your inventory stocked with varations of food - the more variation the happier and deadlier will your men be when they're fighting.
There is a set number of Kingdoms in the game, which you can either choose to work for (do missions for the King, help the Lords serving under the King), or not. As a trusted man of the King of your choosing, you'll after earning his trust be able to be the Lord of your own castle and keep/city as well as the village(s) under its protection. It'll be your responsibility to safeguard it, and you'll be able to build improvements on both the castle and village to aid you in this task. In return you'll receive the tax earnings. You can be the Lord of more than one estate at the time. Your King decides whether or not to grant you the ownership. The other Lords ride around doing the same thing you are, trying to capture other castles and so forth, if you have a good standing with any of them you can rally forces and attack combined.
More on B:
The main focus of the game is on combat, the intensity and directness of medieval combat.
There are quests in the game, for example to join the rebellion against one of the Kings and earn your place as a Marshal servering under the new King is possible, and could be considered one the main quest (mainly as it is the closest thing you can come to being a King yourself). There are smaller quests also, but these do tend to get repeated a lot; bring/kill type quests; often issued by people in taverns, the king, lords or by the heads of whatever villages you happen to rule over. Doing quests/combat deeds etc will earn you reputation status and respect or disrespect depending on what the circumstances are. You may have to earn reputation to gain advantages of prices, higher tally of people wanting to join your army/warband/group and to get Lord status over a city or castle.
For the quest-lovers, I can understand that there aren't many quests with a deep story and wide implications, however I think the game as it stands now, tries to give the player freedom instead of feeling obligated to do quests to get ahead. The innovative thinking on multiple aspects of the game, from combat/horseback/castle sieging to RPG elements (speccing skills/equipping both you and companions) and to see it all play out in fluent and direct combat should be the main appeal.
We can only imagine what this game could have been if they had the budget; A lot of the bigger companies could learn a thing or two about creating a fun and at the same time casual game. You play as you like, as much as you like, and set yourself your own goals of what to achieve, how and with what means to achieve it.
In short:
This game is worth checking out. You'll most lightly like it and wish for more.