[Update #2]: The long wait is now finally over - Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord has now arrived onto Steam Early Access!

With the PC Gamer Weekender event officially underway we've finally received a glimpse at the much anticipated medieval ARPG, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord.

The footage might not have been filmed with the best of cameras, or microphones for that matter, but the video Youtuber "Lê Ngọc Thuận" posted should give you an idea of what sort of direction Bannerlord is taking the series in. Take a look:

[Update]: Both of the videos have been taken down for seemingly no reason. As such I'm afraid the whole "30 minutes of gameplay" part of the title is no longer valid, but I can at least share with you one of the most recent gameplay previews. It's about 13 minutes long and should give you a pretty good idea of what Bannerlord looks like in-game. Enjoy!

[Old commentary]: The first thing I noticed, outside of the audio being bust, is that the combat is incredibly similar to that found in Warband. This isn't a negative by any stretch given that Warband had excellent combat, its just that I'm somewhat puzzled they don't seem to have added any new bells and whistles to play around with. However, this was only a short gameplay preview with most likely an inexperienced player behind the reigns so I'd recommend reserving your judgement until Bannerlord is closer to launch.

That little quibble aside I think its safe to say that Bannerlord is progressing quite nicely, and most importantly isn't ignoring the elements that make the series fun in favor of simply bolting on a bunch of new features, cohesion be damned. How it will pan out in the end, and whether it will be better than Warband, I don't know but its well worth keeping a lookout for as it certainly has potential for greatness.

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is set to release sometime in 2016 though no official date is available just yet.

As a final note, you can create Einstein in the character creator!