Stronghold HD

I never got to play this game when it came out and I forgot it existed until GOG gave it to me for free. I usually can't stand RTS games but first off the charm in this game is awesome. Getting to build your own castles is really fun, and the economy system seems to makes sense. I kind of wonder why some dudes with spears can wreck my castle while getting skewered with arrows but more often than not my side comes out victorious. I find the economy side more satisfying than combat but that's just me. It's a fun game and I would recommend it, especially to newcomers like myself.

This game has some cool things, but don't goes far from a castle simulator. It's a lot repetitive and sometimes it becomes a bit boring. If you want a castle simulator, take it, but that is it, the game focus in castles. Just don't buy it with Age of Empires 2 in the mind like I did.

This game is not for players who are gifted with the ability of never having to restart a mission. Because you will. The interface is quite dated and can be a challenge to use. However the biggest challenge is in solving the puzzle of properly managing the fine balance of population, production and military. Each of those 3 pillars feeds of or is dependant on the other. You need the production and population to drive the military engine, but the military engine also needs to protect the production. The population must be fed by the production, but too many idle people will eat all your food. You will find that you either enter a slow death spiral or one where you can build up your capabilities to complete the mission. There is very little room for error. If you find yourself in the death spriral, better restart. Positioning your keep and defensive structures is very important and if done incorrectly will also require a restart. In summary: not for the golden ones for whom everything is easy, but a really rewarding and enjoyable game for those who like challenges.

I played it for the first time quite recently, and i would say the voice acting, the animations all make up for a still funny and enjoyable game. The only trouble is the controls which sometimes can be frustrating (you can rotate the map by steps of 90 degrees, and when you build walls, especially wooden one, you are never quite sure there's an hole inside !)

I'm a fan of RTS games and history, which I used to think lived in separate universes. As soon as I saw stronghold I knew it was for me. Yes, there are other RTS games that are historical in their milieux, like Civ and AoE, but this one is definitely the one that stole my heart. Do yourself a favor - get it and enjoy. ~ Thanks GOG for letting me play it in Win7 64 ~