At its worst – which is basically any indoor location, most towns, and the overworld – it looks like it was released a decade ago. At its best, Warband looks like the missing link between Morrowind and Oblivion. In this sense it is very similar to the Elder Scrolls games, except not even remotely technically groundbreaking. The game definitely nudges you in certain directions, but following those suggestions or completely forging your own path is ultimately up to you. In Warband, like the original, you take the role of an individual on a fictional landmass known as Calradia, and are basically free to do whatever you want.
Being a stand-alone, you don't need the original game to play. Warband is the stand-alone expansion to the original Mount and Blade, released towards the end of 2008. But like beard-girl, Warband has a really good personality and if you close your eyes when you kiss you can pretend that the facial hair is just a scarf or something. If games were women, Mount and Blade: Warband would be that girl with a hormone disorder that made her have kind of a beard. Mount and Blade: Warband is not the prettiest game on the market.
