Stronghold HD

This game crashes a lot, it's pathetic

Stronghold is one of the main defense-oriented games that came out in ye olden times simulating the construction and defense of a castle. The economic and military aspects of this game are absolutely fantastic and a ton of fun! Building a thriving economy and powerful military is extremely satisfying HOWEVER, when playing the campaign, beware of the scripted random events and a completely wonky difficulty curve. The biggest offender will be fires that completely obliterate your stronghold in literal seconds. This is an extremely frustrating mechanic that doesn't give you time to counter it unless you have Starcraft-like reflexes to delete the burning buildings before it spreads. For example, I was playing a campaign mission where a random fire happened. I got the notification, hit the delete building button, and by the time I found the fire, all of my farms had already burned down, my bakeries were half gone, my peasants were suiciding themselves into the fire, and my mill had lost half its health. This took about 5-10 seconds to occur. So again, a great game with some supremely frustration mechanics. Be prepared for many restarts on an otherwise really fun time!

say less come one .. this is the start

Masterpiece!

Good game but I think Stronghold Crusader Extreme Edition, which includes Stronghold Crusader HD is the go to Stronghold game. Improved graphics, more stable, more units, it's just better all around. It'd be nice if they included the levels from the original Stronghold while adding the new features but I don't think that's included. Still, get Stronghold Crusader Extreme edition, it'll provide a better experience overall. I had my old saves from a long while back when I owned the original and they work with the new one, I'm on 'The Big One' last mission in the warchest trail and I still love this game, so addictive, a true masterpiece.