Stronghold

Unlike AoE and Warcraft, the medieval villages and castles in stronghold do a pretty good job of
looking and behaving realistically. Thanks to the excellent design of the game the added spice of economic management is less of a chore than in other similarly 'deep' titles.

The presentation is outstanding. The isometric 2D graphics engine widdles all over the latest 3D RTS graphics, with smooth unit animation, trees that blow in the wind and some of the best animal animation I've ever seen in a game (watch the wolves hunker down when shot at, or the hunting dogs sniffing the ground, and gasp). When a villager (say, a fletcher) enters his workshop, the side of the building becomes transparent and you can watch as he goes through the various processes involved in making a bow.

Sound is equally good. With proper recorded medieval mandolin and vocal music.. which adds loads to the atmosphere. I'd have to say that anyone with an interest in the middle ages will *adore* this game for its ability to immerse you in the sights and sounds (but thankfully not smells) of the time. There is also a healthy slab of slightly gritty humour throughout too.. which is more than welcome.

Battles are suitably chaotic to watch, there doesn't seem to be a limit on the number of units that can be present on-screen, and again, the sound effects are extremely effective at communicating the carnage of battle. A full-blown siege in Stronghold feels very much like a scene from the film 'Excalibur'.

What the game has in depth it predictably lacks in scope however, there is a relatively small selection of infantry and archer units available, and the action takes place in a very small historical time-frame. There is no open-field warfare either, despite the engine being more than capable. Nor do the military units have a complex stats system that gives them bonuses against certain other units (the classic 'rock-paper-scissors' of many of the popular RTS titles). The action revolves entirely around castles.. building them, attacking them, defending them..

This is where some gamers may be put-off Stronghold, and others will really warm to it.. The fact that the units are badly mismatched forces you to best use the terrain and to design your castles to best utilize the units you have. Take archers.. these are pathetic units that suddenly become deadly when put in the right places in your turrets or on your battlements. The decision to make infantry capable of demolishing stone walls has come in for some criticism, its just not very realistic. However,
realism does not a great game make. In reality, castles were nearly impossible to penetrate, even with just a handful of soldiers in them, and most sieges were prolonged affairs were starvation was often the deciding factor. By making the castle walls penetrable, the game designers have balanced the game toward the attacker, so that the defender has to utilize as many soldiers as he can muster to end the siege quickly. Likewise many people would want to see a game mode where opponents can build castles on the same map, and others would suggest that doing this would make the game descend into the usual 'grab the mines and build more men' of just about every other RTS on the planet.

Another point of contention is the number of bugs in the game. Its true there are a number of bugs.
However, I've not yet encountered a really nasty one and a patch is due for release any day now
which should hopefully address them all.

The fun in stronghold battles is in the careful preparation of your defenses, followed by a
period of sitting back and chuckling as enemy infantry are burned to a crisp by your pitch ditches, skewered by your pit-traps, savaged by your war-dogs and mowed down by your arrows. Of course, things don't always go so smoothly, there is a bewildering array of siege weaponry available for attackers to use against your carefully placed ramparts.. including the classic 'cattle with plague' ammunition.

..And thats about it, theres an (excellent) 21 mission campaign, a dozen 'economic' missions for those who balk at battle, another dozen or so missions of a similar style to those of the campaign and a choice of nine (not twelve, unless your one of the lucky few that pre-ordered from the US) historically accurate castles to either attack or defend. Oh yes, and theres a free-build option where you can build the biggest castle you possibly can without the threat of invasion (yawn).

As it stands, Stronghold is good value for money and is great fun, but it needs some additional meat before it gets on my 'favorite games' list. I can't see a random map generator working, but there is a map editor.. its a fair prediction that there is going to be many many more scenarios available for download over the internet, and I reckon this will give the game more lasting appeal. The only other thing that might possibly go into a patch would be some way of 'testing' the castles you build in the free-build mode.. an 'attack now' button with maybe the option of the strength of the attack would be a great feature (hint hint). I also detect the
distinct scent of expansion packs too...

The graphics are crisp with good animations, the interface is clear and easy to use and the sound is spot on. Never before have I heard such realistic arrow effects. When an archer launches the final killing blow, the sound of the arrow's speed as it pierces it's targets armour is very convincing and realisitic. The voice samples are also clear and varied.

The most appealing feature, for me, was the actual castle building tools available. The amount of castle defence functions are ideal and offer the player the ability to customise their own defending style. This can range from having only weak walls but plenty of killing pits or no walls and just pitch ditches. I found myself gleaming with pride after constructing thick walls with strong gatehouses with moats and ballistae.

The game offers enough functions to keep the most experienced players happy and yet allows novices to be pleased with clever tutorials. However, certain missions can prove frustrating but this adds to the sense of accomplishement in the end.

My main concern regards the lack of a skirmish mode where a player could have the option to battle AI opponents but there are other options available instead that increase the game's long-term appeal.

Overall, the brutish reality of medieval England proves to be a great gaming experience (You definitely wouldn't want to live there). If you love violence, hate violence or would rather have a bit of both then Stronghold is perfect, it caters for every game fan of the genre. (Game ran perfectly on 1.7ghz, 256mb RAM, 16MB Graphics)