Stronghold (2001 video game)

Stronghold does not use a rock paper scissors system for game balance, instead opting for a "soft-counter" system.

Combat in Stronghold is based on a strength and hit point system. There are a variety of unit types in the game, with each successive unit being stronger, and hence more expensive, than the preceding unit, in general. Even though the expensive units are stronger in combat, all units have abilities that are necessary to defend the castle, both melee units (such as the basic spearman and the stronger swordsman), and ranged units such as archers. The game also contains support troops such as engineers, who provide additional combat options such as constructing siege engines. Unlike some other strategy games there are no counters for units, and units do not take up space, allowing them to overlap each other. Several non-combat characters can fight against enemy units, although most have no ability to fight. Injured soldiers remain injured for the rest of the game—there is no healing system—and since the Lord is the central figurehead of the player's kingdom, despite being a powerful fighter, should he die, the game is automatically lost.

Fire plays a main role in the Stronghold storyline, as in certain missions, igniting pitch is almost necessary for survival. Also, there are certain trigger events that start fires. Fires spread very quickly, and a flaming building can ignite people or other buildings. Fires will only go out if all sources of fuel are consumed, or if the fire itself is extinguished by fire watches. Fires can spread over small boundaries of water.

In most RTS games, fire appears on buildings as an indicator of damage; for example, if a building is damaged enough it would catch fire, but not necessarily sustain damage from that fire. In some games, such as Starcraft, some buildings damaged to a certain extent will catch fire and continue to take damage from it until they are repaired or the fire destroys them. In Stronghold, buildings that are damaged by siege weapons or are torn down would not catch fire; instead, they lose hit points until they collapse, with the indication of damage being visible signs of cracks and damage throughout the building. However, boiling oil pots, if destroyed, would start a small fire where they were built.

Contrary to many RTS titles, where fire plays a secondary, "eye candy" role, fire in Stronghold is an actual gameplay element. For instance, the player is subtly encouraged to build wells against enemies that like to use fire attacks.

An in-game map editor was included with the game. Rather than incorporating a proprietary scripting language, the editor has a WYSIWYG interface designed for use by all users.

Stronghold was a commercial success, with global sales of 1.5 million units by 2004.[3] It received a "Silver" signification from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[4] for at least 100,000 copies sold in the United Kingdom.[5]

On Media Control's sales chart for the German market, Stronghold launched at #1 among computer games for the month of October 2001.[6] The Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD) presented it with a "Gold" award in late 2001,[7] indicating sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland.[8] By the end of the year, the committee upgraded it to a "Platinum" status for 200,000 sales.[9] Stronghold remained in Media Control's top 30 consistently through May 2002, placing 14th that month and 10th in April.[10] After a 19th-place finish in June, it dropped to 27th in July, while its new Stronghold Deluxe edition debuted that month at #12.[11] Deluxe proceeded to place seventh and 13th in August and September 2002, respectively.[12]

In the United States, Stronghold debuted at #6 on NPD Intelect's computer game sales rankings for the week of October 21.[13] Holding the position in its second week,[14] it placed 15th for the month of October overall.[15] It was absent from NPD's weekly top 10 by its third week of release.[16] Stronghold ultimately sold 220,000 copies and earned $7.8 million in the United States by August 2006. At the time, this led Edge to declare it the country's 95th-best-selling computer game released since January 2000.[17]

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic 81/100[18] Review scores Publication Score AllGame [19] CGM [20] CGW [21] Eurogamer 6/10[22] Game Informer 9/10[23] GameSpot 7.6/10[24] GameSpy 89%[25] GameZone 8.3/10[26] IGN 8.7/10[27] Next Generation [28] PC Gamer (US) 82%[29]

Carla Harker reviewed the PC version of the game for Next Generation, rating it three stars out of five, and stated that "Both sim and strategy players will find something to like in Stronghold, whether it's a long military campaign or just creating the largest, most well-run castle ever."[28]

The game received "favorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[18] The graphics were praised by a number of reviewers; GameSpot said of the graphics, "The buildings look good, but not great, and the same can be said of the units", adding that "The animations are well done."[24] IGN disagreed to a degree, saying "Animations are a bit choppy", and commented on the overall state of the graphics: "This isn't the prettiest game ever by a longshot, but it's good enough that your eyes won't burn."[27] GameZone gave high praise to the graphics, saying that the environments were "wonderful" and commenting on the good animation of the characters.[26]

GameSpot did not say much on sound, but noted that the "Soundtrack is dramatic."[24] GameSpy was neutral on its review of sound, saying that "...the music is nice, if not especially memorable", but also commenting on the "poor voice acting."[25]

Stronghold was a nominee for Computer Gaming World's 2001 "Best Strategy Game" award, which ultimately went to Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns. The editors called Stronghold "extraordinarily creative and unique".[30]

The second installment, Stronghold: Crusader, was released in September 2002. The gameplay is similar to the first game, but with enhanced RTS elements and with all maps and missions set entirely in the Middle Ages in the Middle East. The focus was radically influenced by fortification and siege technologies developed during the Crusades. The entire campaign, as well as the 'Conquest Trail' game mode, takes place during the Third Crusade.

Unlike the original Stronghold, however, there are four separate, linear campaigns. The game does take history into effect: Saladin and Richard I of England are present as the game's AI characters for the player to side with or against, together AI personalities. In addition, the player is allowed to play either as an Arabic lord or as a European king with little effect except which units the player begins.

A combination pack of Stronghold and Stronghold: Crusader, called Stronghold Warchest, was later released with all patches applied, new maps, and a new campaign trail and AI characters in Crusader.

The sequel, and the third game in the series, Stronghold 2 was released in April 2005. The game engine was enhanced to provide fully three-dimensional graphics. Other changes include new military and peace campaigns and the addition of crime and punishment. It also included many new characters and changed the walls and towers that can be added to a castle. However, the series' unique real-time map editor was replaced with a still-life one.

Upon its release, many players were outraged by the game's frequent crashes, lag (even while playing offline on a computer with exceptional hardware) and overall bugs. Firefly Studios paid much attention to the gaming community's complaints, and promised fixes in later patches, the majority of complaints stopping with patch 1.2. Patch 1.3.1, released on Oct. 28, 2005 brought a "Conquest Trail" to the game, similar to that of Stronghold: Crusader. Stronghold 2 Deluxe was later released, containing all patches and new content.

Critically, the game has received generally mixed reviews, whether from the bugs present in the initial release or the gameplay. To promote Stronghold 2, a ten-level Flash game was created, called Castle Attack 2. The aim of the game was to balance building a castle and defending it.

The fourth game, Stronghold Legends, contains 24 missions, spanning three different campaigns: King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Count Vlad Dracul, and Siegfried of Germany. This sequel contains a new feature that allows the player to control human and mythical armies. Creatures like dragons and witches can be created in Stronghold Legends.[31]

The fifth game, Stronghold Crusader Extreme, is largely the same as Stronghold Crusader, but with an expanded unit cap, allowing thousands of units to be on screen at once (instead of hundreds in Stronghold Crusader). It also includes an updated version of the original Stronghold Crusader game with new AI and maps.

Stronghold Kingdoms is the first MMO-style game developed in the Stronghold series. In this free-to-play game players can anticipate a world filled with elements from the first game of the series.

Stronghold 3 is a 2011 real-time strategy game developed by Firefly Studios and published by SouthPeak Games. The game is the seventh in the series after several spin-offs, a remake and an MMORTS. It is the sequel to Stronghold, released in 2001, and Stronghold 2 released in 2005. Unlike previous games in the series which were published by Take-Two Interactive, the game has been published by SouthPeak Games, the new parent company of Gamecock Media Group, publisher of Stronghold Crusader Extreme.

Stronghold Crusader II is the latest title in Firefly Studios's Stronghold franchise of "Castle Sim" RTS games, and was released on September 23, 2014.[32]

Stronghold: Warlords is an upcoming real-time strategy game in development, and published by Firefly Studios which was revealed during E3 2019. The release date is set on september 29th 2020. [33][34]