Stronghold: Warlords

Note: This review is for people who have played other Stronghold games and is focused on differences between Warlords and earlier titles. Although this is a 3d game, it is by far the closest thing we have to original Stronghold and Crusader. A 2d grid was added to which buildings and walls adhere while being placed, exactly as they did in original 2d games. This way, building is no longer clunky as it was in other 3d games of the series, and developers really nailed the feeling of castle building in 3d at long last! It's fast, natural and cost-efficient (unlike in Crusader 2 where you had to spend fortune on a single wall). All of the features from originals which were removed in other games (fear factor, religion, mercenaries...) were re-added with exception of moats. With additional Warlords systems, this is THE most complete game in the series feature-wise. The only lacking aspect are skirmish maps (of which there are 9) and free build maps (3) but this is mitigated by the fact that game comes with a powerful map editor. Campaign is very long with over 40 fun and unique missions. Gameplay is polished, smooth and without bugs. The only issue I came across is pathing in very tight spaces (similar to Crusader 1 pathing around gatehouses). No bugs that plagued Crusader 2 are present here though. Balance on release has flaws, warrior-monks are overpowered for their cost (example), but developers heed player feedback on discord and will probably fix it soon. AI does not cheat like in Crusader 2 and on hard mode proves to be a bit more difficult than Crusader 1 AI. Facing multiple AI at the same time is challenging. Warlords are an amazing addon that make most resource-deprived maps more enjoyable and give you tons of tactical options. Overall, this was a very strong release with potential of being the best stronghold game yet with a few tiny tweaks and updates! Worth every penny, and probably the only 3d Stronghold game I'd recommend to die-hard 2d fans!

I've been a big fan of the stronghold games, particularly the first one and Crusader, the wheels fell off after that, but this game left a lot to be desired. Didn't measure up. the graphics are good but graphica alone don't make a good game. The "sand-pit" seemed too small and everone (friend and Foe) were living next door to each other and player building took up far too much space. Need to keep it within the original style but still could have set it in Asia. Good premise but failed miserably. I returned my game and GOG were good enough to about that.

I bought this game in retail version for the Special Edition and on gog ... cause that's how excited i was for this ... until i played it. Graphics in the trailer looked good but are horible in the release ... keep in mind i have everything set on Ultra, it looks like a 2003 game ... doesn't feel like a 2021 game. But ok graphics aside i have no big issue with that tough was expecting better, let's talk about gameplay and game design. Maps are way to little, literally the biggest map is like playing on a 2 player map from back in the original Stronghold. You can't chose what type of game you want to play like in the older game, like Economic or War type ... interface is all over not that intuitive like in the older games, it looks like it was made by a 2nd grader for a class project, the interface graphics itself is bad with elements that don't make any sense. The " CGI " videos look like it was made in 3dsmax again from back in 2003.I know there is the pandemics crysis but with the amount of free tools we have now a days like Blender and such i'm pretty sure in one month all those " CGI " stuff could have been done alot better, many would say they liked to preserve that original feel ... well maybe they should have made a 2d isometric version of this instead of this 3d sandbox demo.I really want to support this and i really would like more games from this genre, guys you can do better and i believe in you but you must admit this isn't the game stronghold should have been. Look at the Multiplayer lobby ... the game just launched and it's literaly empty ... crickets. I remember when other Stronghold games launched and it was packed ... if at launch it's so empty i don't and will not presume late into the game's launch it will get better unless you do a major patch that changes this. I really don;t know if u where presured to release this as fast as you could for financial reasons but you are shooting your own foot with this ... please make it better.

I was a bit hesitant to guy this game at first because the developers have dropped the ball on the last several releases of Stronghold, but I have to admit that they did a great job. It's actually kind of cool to play in the Asian countries as it managed to mix up the gameplay a bit. The combat is fun and they added a lot of new features and abilities. So far I only have three complaints. #1. I wish I had the ability to zoom out more on the map, because the view is too close. It feels like I'm talking to a close talker for hours on end. You can deal with it, but you'd prefer a bit of distance. #2. I do like the idea of capturing the warlords to use as a part of your own kingdom, but I wish I had the ability to turn off that feature, especially in skirmish mode. #3. There aren't enough maps to chose from in skirmish mode. I don't know why, but there's only about 10-12 maps to choose from. It would be nice a better variety.