Don't Believe GameSpot! They don't know what they're talking about. Mount&Blade is the best RPG I have ever seen.
You start the game by choosing your gender.
Then you choose the profession of your father, how you spent your early childhood, what was your profession, and what is the reason for you to set out as an adventurer in Calradia. These choices determine your starting stats.
Now you are sent to the character screen.
From here you choose your name, your proficiencies with the different types of weapons, your attributes and skills.
When you're done with your background, you are showed a face editor that crushes even the Sims 2 editor into dust.
You can choose your hair style and colour, your beard, your skin (Would you like to look like a Mongol, a Middle-Easterner or a North-European, to name a few?), your age, and of-course your facial details, from the width of your head to the distance between your eyes.
When your character is complete, your thrown into the land of Calradia, a land torn between endless wars of rival kingdoms, a haven for knights and mercenaries, cutthroats and adventurers.
Guess what? You can be any of these.
You start on the world map with no definite purpose, only carrying some food, a sword, a crossbow and an old shield, in addition to about a hundred Denars and a simple horse. You can visit towns, villages and castles, talk to their inhabitants, recruit soldiers and buy goods from them. If a lord is present he may have a quest for you. You will usually be asked to deliver a letter to another lord, or collect a debt owed to some lord by another one. Not very creative quests, that might put some players off, but don't dispair! You will get far more challenging quests as you make a name for yourself in Calradia by defeating enemy war-parties and gaining renown.
Now, to the battle system.
To tell the truth, I've never seen a better one. Not that I played a whole lot of RPG's in my life, but this battle system still is very impressive. One of the main features is the realistic mounted fighting. You can choose from a large veriety of weapons, armour and horses, each with their own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.
For example, carrying a large pike will not allow you to ride a horse or carry a shield, but will allow you to attack your enemies from a much greater distance than a sword, while riding on a horse will limit your ability to use larger shields or aim your ranged weapons effectively (this effect can be reduces by training your character in the Horse Archery skill), but will give you speed, momentum and elevation, not to mention the speed bonus on your attacks.
The second great feature of the fighting system is how you actually fight. Depending on your choice of weaponry you can direct your attacks into thrusts, side swings and overhead swings with your mouse. The same goes for parrying your enemie's attacks.
Even the weather has an effect on the battles, as rain reduces the effectiveness of crossbows and fog limits your visibility.
You can also issue several simple commands to your party, such as Charge, Follow me, Hold this position, Dismount, Fire at Will, etc., etc.
Learning how to fight properly can take some time, but once you get the hang of it this game become a real joy to play.
Visuals.
Really good. On par with even some of the latest full-budget games.
Calradia is a beautiful land, covered with mountains, grasslands, steppes, rivers and forests (which actually make a difference on the battle map, much like in Medieval 2: Total War)
The real beauty of the game shows when you enter the battle map, or have a stroll in a town, castle or village.
You can see many bushes, trees, and rocks. The water looks pretty good, and the sun is an incredible sight at dawn or dusk (yes, the game has a day\night system). At port towns you can also see longships on the horizon (since all those towns belong to the Kingdom of Nords (an Anglo-Saxon type country).
Audio.
Ear-candy. Very fitting Gothic-like soundtrack.
Final Word.
Great game. Really. If you love completely open-ended RPG's, this is your game.
Stay away if you prefer definite storylines, as may get bored quickly.