GCP – Episode 97 - 08/10
GCP – Episode 96 - 07/20
Interview with Frictional Games - 07/14
GCP – Episode 95 - 07/13
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Retro Review: Stronghold & Stronghold CrusaderPosted June 28, 2009, Comments (0) |
Remember when isometric perspective games were all the rage? Back when 3D accelerated graphics were still being realized, and gameplay was the main focus of developers? Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader fit the encapsulation of “fun gameplay” more than anything else, which is the more than what a lot of 3D accelerated games can offer. Developed by Firefly Studios in the early 2000s, these first two games in the Stronghold series came out during the final years of the sprite and isometric heyday. But that doesn’t mean they went out fizzling; they went out with a bang.
The best way to describe the Stronghold games is “castle building simulation”. While they do take elements from real-time strategy, they’re more simulation than RTS. You spend most of your time on your stronghold’s architecture; constructing essential buildings to progress your kingdom, and maintaining a steady economy and defense. Micro-management plays a small role in the games, with the extent of it mainly telling where your units to where to go.
Stronghold (2001)
As the campaign progresses, you unlock more structures.
Taking place in England during Medieval times, you play as a ruler of a kingdom. There are two gameplay modes: Military mode & Economy mode. Players will most commonly be playing Military mode, as it contains most styles of gameplay. In this mode, there is a Story, Siege, and Invasion styles. Story is your typical story campaign. Siege and Invasion are what their names imply; you either defend your stronghold against an invading army, or you siege an enemy’s castle. The second mode, Economy, removes all aspects of fighting from the game, and focuses mainly on building up a stronghold’s treasury and property; the goal to reach a certain number of resources.
As stated before, the main goal is to build a fortress to house your population, and reach a certain goal. The goal depends on the game modes previously described. Since the campaign touches on all aspects of the game, it’ll be easiest to explain the game in that way. You play as the son of a king that was murdered on an expedition to proclaim peace between the other lordships in the country. You become the ruler of a small county, and attempt to claim the rest of the country’s land from the other lords. The campaign starts off easy, showing the basics of the user interface, and maintaining your kingdom. But in true gaming fashion, the difficulty gets progressively harder. Almost to the point where you will be replaying missions numerous times to get the perfect strategy down to complete the respective mission.
Your architecture will be crucial to surviving attacks like this.
I recommend being careful with your resources.
A vast amount of other structures are available to build as well, all with their own special uses (chapels, watchtowers, breweries, and inns, among others).
Amongst the construction of these structures, you must maintain a successful economy as well. For your population, food should be a steady commodity. If not, your popularity will begin to decrease, and eventually, your people will leave, thus resulting in you losing the game. Taxing your public is optional, but recommended when you know how to properly handle your townspeople.
The musical and graphical assets in the game are both exceptional. Whimsical medieval-era style music fills the player’s ears, and doesn’t get repetitive. It makes for good listening out of game, as well. The graphics are also quite notable; the animations are all seamless, smooth, and beautifully colored, with good environment art. England’s greenery is very well shown in Stronghold. My only complaint with the graphics are the lack of effort into making more than one angle of them viewable; if you rotate the camera, you will always see that same side of the sprite.
The main gripe I have of the game is the AI; specifically that of the enemy. They aren’t really the smartest AI ever programmed. When the inevitable attack on your stronghold occurs, the enemy will generally only attack the portion of your foundation closest to them, not necessarily the weakest. If you put ten layers of concrete defenses, they will attack that instead of the single-layered wooden defensive wall right next to it.
Stronghold is a great game, and I highly recommend playing it, despite the minor AI problems.
Stronghold Crusader (2002)
New environment, same gameplay
In case medieval England isn’t your thing, there’s Stronghold Crusader, which takes places during the Crusades in the Middle East. Crusader improves upon Stronghold in a few aspects, though the updates aren’t groundbreaking. The most notable changes are the “mercenary” crews, where all you need is the finances to buy them, thus alleviating the constant search for unit resources. You can even go a risky route by not building any form of weapons-builders, and rely solely on mercenaries, if that’s what you prefer.
Just as with Stronghold, there is a story-campaign mode, with assorted skirmish campaigns. It lacks the Economy mode from the original, but makes up for it with a larger number of skirmish maps.
At the core of the it, the gameplay is essentially the same as its predecessor. I recommend getting Crusader if you’re yearning for more castle-building action, but in a different setting with several new gameplay options. There’s no real visual improvement, just changes to suit the environment. The same can be said of the music; its Middle Eastern sound suits the surroundings.
There are improvements to the AI, making the opponent smarter to skirmish against, but it shouldn’t be a crucial factor in your decision about whether to purchase this or the original.
Overall, both games are worth picking up, as the gameplay contained in each is wonderfully addictive. With an ageless and devoted active modding community, the games’ constant flow of custom missions will keep your interest perked. The upcoming release of Stronghold Kingdoms retreats back to the Stronghold and Crusader style of gameplay combined with the genre of an MMO.
You can purchase both Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader with no DRM for the cheap prices of $5.99 and $9.99 respectively at GOG.com.