Description / test
Firefly Studios are working again to restore the old glory of the franchise, this time waiting to be rescued from China.
3/8/2021 17:00 | From Jerig | Description / test
the first stronghold The game was only twenty years ago, in 2001. At the time, we could still have a reality with strategy games better than the best (but they also had good times), but even so, the game managed to stand out from the crowd. This was due to the castle building mechanism, which was still unique at that time. The developer, Firefly Studios, has come across so much that, with the exception of one or two, he’s only developed this franchise for most of his career. This is after a year Crusader stronghold To this day, it is the most famous and most watched episode in the series.
Unfortunately, however, the idea ran out on the developers’ side here, which is reflected in the franchise sequences that have been published since. Episodes two and three were actually less successful, just as the remastered versions did not live up to their expectations. The last new episode so far is 2014 The Second Crusader Stronghold It was, fans have been waiting for the great resurrection since then. The studio finally announced in the summer of 2019 that they would face him again, but this time they would move into a new era and a new place. The Stronghold: Warlords It flies us to China in the Middle Ages, the era of the emergence of gunpowder on the battlefield.
a Stronghold: Warlords Immediately looks bold enough with his choice of subject matter. Although the Far Eastern culture is very trendy today among video game developers, only Shadow Tactics – Shogun’s Blades, a Sekiro: Shadows die twice, a Total War: Three Kingdoms Or the The ghost of Tsushima Think about his successes. So perhaps it is not surprising that the Firefly team chose this theme as well. In addition, they could present an important novelty in the medieval war: gunpowder. The gameplay also builds heavily on this innovation, although it tends to peak only in the second half of the campaign.
The campaign is divided into several chapters, each of which tells the story of another contemporary warlord: Thuc Phan, Qin Shi Huang, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (his only Japanese campaign), and Genghis Khan (or Genghis Khan in Hungarian). They are campaigns focused on war, while there are a series of missions that rely more on agriculture. Plus, of course, skirmishes and free building modes aren’t left out, as is the case with the usual multiplayer teams.
The gameplay reminds us of the good old stronghold times, or we can say the studio still doesn’t want / can’t change the twenty-year-old recipe. That is, until now, building our castle, supplying its inhabitants, establishing an army, and suppressing the enemy. With the exception of the economic campaign, the former is more important than the last two. Castle building, and so the entire gameplay in general, is derived from classic real time strategies. We have a central building (the current warlord lives here), next to which is a warehouse of raw materials and a grocery store. We need to build lumberjacks, quarries, and miners so that we always have enough building materials.
The basis of the food supply is to grow rice, but we also need to build vegetable farms, ranchers and even tea plantations. In addition, we must ensure that residents receive the largest possible amount of comfortable housing, and that there are the largest possible number of blacksmiths for each army in the army. In addition to all of these categories, there is the Castle Wall category and various protection systems. The construction of castle walls, gates, and towers immediately leads to nostalgia for the ancient past, and that is still the best part of this game, especially during battles, when it is decided to go smoothly in an unremarkable hole next to one of the castle walls in our castle which you thought was impossible. Enemy …
There are also novelties. The emergence of the aforementioned gunpowder gives us an interesting new tactical opportunity. In addition to traditional siege engines, rockets (no one should think about Sidewinders, of course), flamethrowers and similar units appear. On the defensive side we can install mines around the castle wall. But there is a more significant novelty than this: the emergence of neutral warlords. In addition to the morale of our people, who were also present in the previous parts, they will return. The first means that there are small settlements of a few buildings on the tracks, initially led by neutral warlords (perhaps loyal to the opponent). By subduing them or simply tempering them through diplomacy, we can win very important and useful allies. We cannot control them directly, but we can ask them for various benefits (food, raw materials, weapons, etc.) or even invite them to war. In this regard, it is important to collect diplomatic points, as we can spend them to strengthen our allies or to provide the aforementioned support.
And the morals of our people are just the survival of our castle, nothing more. For new people to move, we need to make the fort livable. We need to build good quality homes and produce enough food for everyone. Luxurious items like tea or clothes only enhance people’s comfort. Later on, we can also draw buildings specially for this purpose, like Zen Garden or Opera House. The better people feel, the more unbelievable the tax burden they bear. But our money comes only from tax revenues, and creating an army that costs money in addition to weapons and human resources. So we have to constantly maintain this very delicate balance, because if the language of metrics were somewhere inclined, our small economy might collapse in minutes. If the taxes were too high, we wouldn’t have residents. If we distribute the double head portion generously of all the foods and luxuries to everyone, our supplies will be depleted within minutes and starvation will come. On the other hand, if we did not collect taxes, we would not have an army to protect us from the enemy.
a Stronghold: Warlords Unfortunately, it did not overcome children’s diseases from its predecessors. Although it has no practical significance, it still draws a lot as the units still run across each other. You already took over the third part of 2011, and now, ten years later, it’s even more damaging. Especially when our forces of twenty to thirty units gather twice in a small two-meter land in a battle, and everything reminds us of an amoeba. Another serious negative is MI, which, to put it mildly, is not Napoleon. During the election campaign, the incumbent opponents did almost nothing. Sometimes they have a timeline of invading forces, or sometimes they can attack neutral warlords on the map according to a scenario. But they usually always wait for us to finally feed ourselves with enough strength to defeat them. They have no mobile forces inside the castle (although patrols are something that can be assigned to us as well), if we attack one side of the castle, they will not order the soldiers to stand peace there from the other side. If you switch to a higher difficulty level, even if only your opponent’s units have more power, you won’t get smarter than that.
The graphics are pretty much good anyway. This type will not fit, and it cannot be said that it is particularly beautiful. It is more like that. Nowhere is there a stunning graphic effect or a detailed pattern that pops up when zoomed in. But in return, it works stably and is usually bug-free. Sounds represent a similar level. The units on the map are spoken in Chinese (at least I think), but the warlords or other information is actually spoken in English. In this way, the atmosphere and efficiency are preserved.
a Stronghold: Warlords It was undoubtedly more successful than previous episodes of the series of tiring decades. But at the same time, I cannot say that it will be a strategy game that offers a great experience. It really lacks purposeful innovation, it’s just the few things I mentioned above. Everything else only returns the twenty-year-old money back. Of course, this isn’t necessarily a problem, as anyone who takes it will have a great time with her. Castle building is still very fun, just as the battles can be very exciting. But in all other respects Stronghold: Warlords Just a dozen games that can barely show anything unique. Looking at it this way, it is a must-buy for the committed and loyal franchise enthusiasts, and anyone else may want to invest in it at a decent discount within a few months. ■
Evaluation
Stronghold: Warlords
- Classic bastion atmosphere
- Difficulty good doses and novelties
- The castle building part is still fun
Negatives
- Not having really important news
- MI is not Napoleon
- However, units that walk past each other in 2021 will be more awkward
Comments (4)
Brass 2021.03.08. 18:11
“The developer, Firefly Studios, has come across so much that, with the exception of one or two, he’s only developed this franchise for most of his career.” – Htyja, whenever Firefly comes across any news / article, she always involuntarily leaps in to be the “one-book writer in game development.”
In fact, somewhere I admire that they can still stay on their feet somehow.
Writer of one book on game development
well, that is good. 😀 And indeed, although they’re not the only ones …
“Just as the redesigned spending did not live up to expectations.” – Well, I don’t know, Crusader HD with 8 ~ new warlord, better graphics, etc. It just added exactly what I needed, and I don’t think in any way that the original Crusader is the best for it.
However, I do not understand at all the moral side. Until now, people had to be fed, in return there were some taxes. If they could eat a lot, more taxes would be imposed. If there are a lot of amenities and luxury things in the castle, more taxes, if it is equipped with temples, and again more taxes. Will that be new? :she
Jerig 2021.03.08. 20:36
You might have been right there had been something like this in the game before, but for some reason I never got it from the previous parts. After all, it’s not a novelty, but it’s part of the parts of the game that do well. : D which, knowing most of the previous sections, brings about something new. Anyway, she clarified, thanks! 🙂
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