![]() It has a tendency to resort to one of the stronger examples of quick-save design applied to an RTS I've seen. Its most grating problems come not from its systemic decisions, but rather its specific ones. The real fun is based on the construction of the city and the running of the settlement, with the war as a second interest (compared to a "pure" RTS, it can often seem lumpen). Add to this multiplayer and the ability to create and play user-maps, then there's an awful lot of game to play especially so considering that the pace tends towards the glacial. Cleverly divided into two sub-menus to avoid overwhelming the player, the peaceful modes include free-build and a fully developed campaign based around construction, while the war-modes include a skirmish-style Kingmaker mode, real-world sieges to fight, and a full story-lead campaign centred around combat. whether they hunt, demonstrate generosity to serfs, or chase after surfeits of lampreys.) But what mostly proves memorable is the surprising array of ways in which you can play the game. There are many additions to the game in terms of things to build or admire, with a huge array of possible castle designs, and a whole honour system to accumulate this useful resource dependent on the actions of your lieges. Essentially, if popularity drops beneath 50, people start leaving your settlement. While there are a serious amount of resources which are manufactured (for those disappointed in the recent pseudo-Settlers, this is a far better candidate for your attentions), the balance between the positive and negative aspects of your rule is what decides whether you keep going or fall over. This balance between happiness and unhappiness is actually the core of the economics in the game. If it really builds up, you start seeing pestilence, which really ruins everyone's day. Understandably, as no-one likes the famous medieval complaint of poopy-feet. Fail to do so, and everyone's happiness falls. As your community grows, they'll start leaving cheerful piles of muck over the place, which needs collecting. "Gong" is one of the things you'll find yourself worrying about in Stronghold 2. For those who can't afford a trip to York and the Jorvik Viking centre, this is the closest you'll get to seeing hunters hunting, fletchers fletching and gong-collectors. Much like the original, and recent management game Children of the Nile, there is a huge amount of detail thrown into the activities of the individuals. Thanks to the graphical advances, the actual castle and its surrounding support structure seem more convincing than ever. unless you've been using the top-down plan view like a good little medieval architect. The only problem, apart from the fact that it's all a tad demanding when enormous catapults rocks start reducing stone walls to individual chips, is that it's a little easy to miss a one-square gap in your defences, which an opposing army immediately marches through. Haven't been keeping up to date with meaningless tech buzzwords since 1993 ). Rather than flat sprites, we're introduced into a world of vibrant polygons with both Gourad and Phong shading (Note to Technical Editor: Check this. Despite its half-sequel Crusaders, Stronghold is very much in a niche of its own, with no competition worthy of the name. Firefly noted that somehow no-one had bothered to do a citadel-construction game since the ancient Interplay demi-classic Castles (or, if you were to be particularly lenient, Atari's Ramparts. Most of which originates in the founding stone. ![]() As such, despite the many places where it conspicuously misplaces brick, it garners affection. Stronghold 2 features lots of suitably Teutonic construction married to conspicuous consumption of lampreys. Believing that a chirpy niche RTS/Management game can outsell the Biggest Game In The World in the right marketplace and that lampreys really are that moreish just makes the world a better place. Like most of my favourite facts, I'm not actively interested in discovering whether either is actually true. ![]() One would be enough, but the idea that four bluebloods would chomp down upon piles of slithering eels to the point where their guts just burst is completely bewildering. ![]() Secondly, apparently four monarchs listed cause of death is by consuming a "surfeit of lampreys". Despite its regressive tech-base and distinctly unglamorous premise, the economic powerhouse of central Europe far preferred to make economic houses of power than join the rest of the world in beating up prostitutes like good little consumers. Whenever someone mentions Stronghold, two facts immediately jump to the fore of my consciousness.įirstly, the original Stronghold apparently managed to outsell Grand Theft Auto III in Germany.
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