Stronghold (game series)
| Stronghold | |
|---|---|
| developer |
 Firefly Studios
|
| Publisher |
 Take 2 Interactive God Games 2K Games Gamecock Media Group Firefly Studios 7sixty THQ
|
| Designer | Simon Bradbury |
| First title | Stronghold (2001) |
| Last title | Stronghold Crusader 2 (2014) |
| Platform (s) | Windows , OS X |
| Genre (s) | Real time strategy game |
Stronghold ( English for " fortress ") is the name of a computer game series that has been published mainly for Windows PCs . Since 2001 the company Firefly Studios published a series of real-time strategy games that deal with the topic of medieval castle building . In addition to the strategic placement of ramparts and towers, a functioning economy is in the foreground. The games continue to offer extensive castle siege options .
Characteristics of the series
In contrast to most competing products such as Die Siedler , Empire Earth or Age of Empires , in which the age varies or is part of the concept, all parts of the series take place in the Middle Ages. This mainly results in the distinctive characteristic that in Stronghold you will not consider your opponent by upgrading your skills and advancing into the more advanced age, i.e. with better technology - as in Empire Earth or Age of Empires - but purely through the more efficiently functioning economy and more effective military tactics must bribe. The economic system is structured in a simple way, especially compared to that of the settler row. The only major challenge is maintaining satisfaction and procuring the necessary basic raw materials.
Stronghold attaches great importance to realistic castle construction. That is why the player is given many choices, especially when it comes to wall design. With numerous traps and defense devices, it is one of the more extensive games in its class in this regard. The units can also be moved freely on walls and towers, which enables further defense strategies.
Games overview
Stronghold (2001)
In Stronghold is the first part of the series and at the same time to the first titles published by the British development studios Firefly Studios that of former leading designers of the Games Developer Impressions Games ( Lords of the Realm , Caesar series , Pharaoh , Master of Olympus - Zeus ) Founded. The title was released for Windows in 2001, an extended deluxe version and port for Mac OS followed the following year. The game enjoyed great popularity and good reviews when it was released. In addition to the successor Crusader, it is considered the best part of the series.
Stronghold Crusader (2002)
Stronghold Crusader was released in September 2002 and is the sequel or a stand-alone add-on to Stronghold , which transports the player to the time of the Crusades .
A completely new desert landscape was conceived for the graphic design. The game principle, on the other hand, was largely taken over from its predecessor. The two biggest changes are the Arab units available in a separate mercenary camp and the skirmish battles that are now made possible by a shared map with enemies and allies. In addition, some adjustments have been made for the economic section, which make the player significantly more dependent on trade and thus make the construction of a marketplace.
Stronghold Crusader received mostly positive reviews and, along with Stronghold, is one of the classics of the series.
Stronghold Warchest (2003)
Stronghold Warchest is the expansion to Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader , which was originally only released in North America . Its innovations are now also part of Stronghold Crusader Extreme . There are eight new opponents or allies in War Chest, three of which were already available for download on the Stronghold homepage before it appeared . The character Sir Longarm was already part of the original version of Stronghold . Furthermore, the expansion offers 30 new missions, which, as with Stronghold Crusader , are arranged according to the level of difficulty. In War Chest the historical characters King Phillip , and Kaiser Friedrich as well as the Sheriff of Nottingham appear.
Stronghold 2 (2005)
Stronghold 2 is the third installment in the series, which was released on April 29, 2005, and is the first in the series to have a freely rotating 3D engine.
In Stronghold 2 numerous new functions and buildings have been added, which should give the game a better game depth. Completely new ideas, such as a banquet system, which alone is responsible for ten additional buildings, were added. However, the enormous accumulation of innovations and thus also a significant increase in game complexity is an often-mentioned point of criticism. Apart from that, Stronghold 2 was received positively. Nevertheless, the series with the following parts developed back in the direction of the game principle of the predecessor.
Stronghold Legends (2006)
In 2006, the fourth part of the series, Stronghold Legends, followed .
It is roughly based on Stronghold 2 , but shifts the subject to fantasy , sagas and legends . Apart from the changed theme and the newly added units and buildings, the gameplay in Legends has been adjusted to the original from the first parts. For example, there are no more rat plagues or epidemics. You have also built in three different races (Gut, Ice and Fire) from which you have to choose one. The choice depends, among other things, on construction availability and the selection of special units. All in all, Stronghold Legends received moderate acceptance from the trade press, but could not - as hoped - build on the success of the early parts.
Stronghold Crusader Extreme (2008)
In May 2008, Stronghold Crusader Extreme was released , a modified re- edition of Stronghold Crusader from 2002. The new and improved version offers not only minor changes in content but also a significantly increased level of difficulty, which should be a new challenge even for experienced Stronghold players.
The gameplay was almost completely taken over from Crusader . The main goal of the development was to enable huge mass battles of up to 10,000 units. In addition, a new type of building has been added to enable large armies to be built up more quickly, and a special command bar for special actions has been added.
The changes were received rather negatively, because they made the game too difficult and confusing. In addition, it was criticized that a game that was almost six years old at the time of publication was offered with comparatively few innovations for a nonetheless regular retail price.
Stronghold 3 (2011)
Stronghold 3 was released in October 2011 and is linked from the plot directly to the first part.
Stronghold 3 should return to the core content of the series after the very extensive predecessor of the main series Stronghold 2 . As with Stronghold Legends, some cuts and simplifications have been made. The new engines are mainly responsible for new functions, above all the physics engine developed by Havok .
Despite the simplified game principle, Stronghold 3 was mainly criticized for numerous bugs. In order to counteract the criticism, the developer therefore released several patches and a Gold Edition of the base game that was expanded to include these updates.
Stronghold Kingdoms (2012)
| Stronghold Kingdoms | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Studio |
Firefly Studios
|
||
| Publisher |
Firefly Studios
|
||
| Senior Developer |
Simon Bradbury , Eric Ouellette |
||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
17th October 2012 | ||
| platform | PC ( Windows ) | ||
| genre | MMO strategy game | ||
| Game mode | Multiplayer | ||
| control | Keyboard , mouse | ||
| system advantages preconditions |
|
||
| language | German | ||
| Current version | 2.0.8.1 (gold) | ||
| Age rating |
|
||
With Stronghold Kingdoms the first free appeared in October 2012 MMO Strategy Battle of the series. It is in 2D and should graphically tie in with the first part, which was partly realized by the same engine. In order to be able to play, you need the free downloadable Stronghold Kingdoms client, on which you have to log in with your account.
Gameplay
The units have been reduced to farmers, archers, pikemen, swordsmen and catapults. Research is one of the most important parts of the game, so you can research new units and buildings, improve them and increase their effectiveness. There are also new buildings, such as a carpenter, which you need for the now crucial honor points. Other buildings have been simplified. Wheat field, mill and baker are now combined in one. The village as such cannot be attacked directly, but will be plundered if the castle protecting it does not withstand. Villages can only be conquered by other players. Players can attack each other, especially when factions or houses are fighting for dominance in areas. In addition, there are regular attacks from computer-controlled siege camps and castles.
Development history
The first work on the game began with a small development team in 2007, the early alpha phase started in early 2009, after which testers could play in a closed setting for the first time. From November 2010 an open beta ran for almost two years until the game was officially released on October 17, 2012 when it reached gold status. In this way, the players were able to understand the development of the game, how it matured from its simple and half-baked early version to a medieval simulation that is becoming more and more complex due to constant updates.
reception
Stronghold Kingdoms received moderate to good ratings. ( Metacritic : 75 out of 100). Above all, the press praised the good economic and research system. On the other hand, the confusing graphics and the urge for discounts in the form of fee-based mini-transactions were viewed negatively.
- Playtesters: 75% (March 8, 2011)
- GamingXP : 68% (March 27, 2011)
- GamingMedia: 7 out of 10 (March 13, 2011)
Stronghold Crusader 2 (2014)
Stronghold Crusader 2 is a continuation of the classic 2002. It is based, like its predecessor Stronghold 3 also on the Vision Engine of Trinigy and focuses back on banter stressed game mechanics. It was published by Firefly itself and was released on September 23, 2014.
Stronghold Warlords (2020)
Firefly Studios has announced that the branch following Stronghold Crusader 2 will focus more on simulation-based content, as was already implemented in Stronghold 2 .
Web links
- Stronghold series at MobyGames (English)
- Official Stronghold Kingdoms website
- Stronghold Crusader 2 official website
- Unofficial German Stronghold Wiki
Individual evidence
- ↑ Stronghold on fireflyworlds.com (English). Retrieved July 17, 2012.
- ↑ Article about Stronghold at gamestar.de.Retrieved on July 23, 2012.
- ^ Review of Stronghold Crusader on 4players.de.Retrieved on July 26, 2012.
- ↑ Stronghold Warchest on stronghold.heavengames.com (English). Retrieved July 18, 2012.
- ↑ Brief explanation of Stronghold Warchest on stronghold.heavengames.com (English). Retrieved January 3, 2012.
- ↑ Information about the DragonFly engine from Stronghold 2 (English). Retrieved August 6, 2012.
- ↑ Critique of Stronghold 2 on rp-online.de.Retrieved on July 23, 2012.
- ↑ Stronghold Legends on spieletipps.de.Retrieved July 17, 2012.
- ↑ Conclusion from Stronghold Legends on gameswelt.de.Retrieved on July 28, 2012.
- ↑ Presentation of the new additional promotions from Crusader Extreme on fireflyworlds.com (English). Retrieved January 27, 2013.
- ↑ Stronghold Crusader Extreme on ign.com (English). Retrieved February 17, 2013.
- ↑ The article “Focus on the economic campaign” on onlinewelten.com. Accessed on August 6, 2012.
- ↑ Stronghold Kingdoms on spieletipps.de.Retrieved December 29, 2013.
- ↑ Stronghold Kingdoms on gamestar.de.Retrieved on July 16, 2012.
- ↑ Interview with Simon Bradbury about Stronghold Kingdoms ( memento of the original from October 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on warcry.com (English). Retrieved August 24, 2013.
- ↑ Article about Stronghold Kingdoms on gamasutra.com (English). Retrieved August 24, 2013.
- ↑ Metacritic : Average rating (English), based on 19 articles. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
- ↑ Conclusion from Stronghold Kingdoms on gamestar.de.Retrieved on July 29, 2012.
- ↑ Rating of Stronghold Kingdoms on gamecity.ch ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
- ↑ Reviews of Stronghold Kingdoms on computerbild.de. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
- ↑ Stronghold Crusader 2 release date announcement . Retrieved June 3, 2014.
- ↑ Introduction of Stronghold Crusader 2 at Gamestar
- ↑ Firefly Studios: Excited about FUTURE Strongholds? In: @fireflyworlds. October 6, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017 .
- ↑ fireflyworlds: Stronghold: Warlords - E3 Reveal Trailer. June 10, 2019, accessed June 12, 2019 .
