Great Artstyle, Melodic Music, Fun Sieging, And Simply Amazing Castle Building.
User Rating: 9.3 | Stronghold PC
I don't recall many other castle building simulators being this good.... hell..... I don't recall many RTS games being this good. If you are used to hoarding up resources and sitting back creating impregnable defenses, this is for you. If you are used to building up an amazing army and then throwing it at an array of castles, this is for you. If you like surprising your enemy with a decent force at the beginning of the game....... not so much for you. Lets review - Your father who used to be the King over the land has been killed, and four characteristic opponents reign over each corner. The Lords you are pit against are; The Rat, The Snake, The Pig, and The Wolf. Duc De Puce (The Rat) is a clumsical foe who cannot do more than send small amounts of the most basic troops over a long period of time. The Snake is sneaky and isn't worthy of anybodies trust, and is probably considered the second hardest opponent. Then there is The Pig, a fat, mean, disgusting man who relys on brute force and dull strategies. Last, but the opposite of least, is the Wolf. The Wolf is pure evil, and has amazing defense and a powerful offense. Each character has their own castle style, their own strategies, and their own backstory. You start off simply getting an economy going, and after that you start taking over the lands (You can't pick which you choose to storm though). I would have to say the game isn't too easy, nor too hard. It is for sure, just right. Then there is the economic campaign. It isn't exactly hard or anything, because you can't lose. It is basically just there for those who want to toy around with the economy so you can see what will get you what you need when your in a skirmish. I should describe how the game actually works - You gain peasants over time depending on your amount of homes and how much the people like you (Depends on how much you feed them, if you have taxes, good things/bad things, crowding, ect.). There are no builder units and everything is built instantly. There are a half a dozen basic resources that you have to worry about; Wood, Stone, Metal, Pitch, Food, and Ale. Once you build a building, a peasant (if avaliable) will walk over to the job site, and will start workin! There may be only one way to accumulate wood, stone, metal, pitch, and ale, but there are many ways to get yourself food. It mostly depends on what type of economy you want to have, and how fast you want it started and running on its own. Once you have the proper resources, you build weapon shops (around 6) which create weapons over time and deliver them to your armory. You can also purchase siege weapons and other types of offense/defense using gold. The concept is extremely fun. What I love about this game is that how well you defend your castle depends on your creativity. Will you make a maze using moats? Will you create an island typed castle? What about a huge reinforced wall instead? Or an old fashioned 4 sided castle? It is all good fun. So...... Gameplay (9) - The gameplay is all around solid and fun, but I find the good things/bad things system a bit lacking of point. The feature from Crusaders where it tells you if your castle is sealed should have been included also. Graphics (8) - 2D RTS Gaming hasn't looked better. With the trees swishing, the waterfalls .... fallings, and all of it looks great. Great Animation. Sound (10) - Great Music! Very addicting to listen to. The sounds of every thing blend well together. Value (9) - Great multiplayer and lots of singleplayer content. Invasion Modes, Siege Modes, Skirmishing, Economic Modes, Ect. Reviewers Tilt (10) - I had a great time with this game. The introduction was good for when it was made and it represents the game the theme is going for. ---------------------------- 9 . 3 -----------------------------------
