Well, you can get rid of the music with Alt+M (although it’s there for the atmosphere and, therefore, only hectic during fights; the first level is basically a non-stop fight).
I think that for games of that era it was expected that you would have had the manual and would have read it. It would also explain that Ctrl (as opposed to Shift) is used to draw the sword…
Oh, and don’t judge PoP2 by the first level. Most of the game is completely different (although in the late levels you get fighting sections that are just as long, and are much harder).
