LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Stronghold
built 657 days ago
Last year's Stronghold was a slightly uneven combination of city builder and real-time strategy game, with an emphasis on siege warfare. It had the distinction of being the only castle simulation from a major publisher since Interplay released Quicksilver's Castles II in 1992. Aspiring warlords could forgive Stronghold's shortcomings, since the original game gave them the opportunity to build and raze walls, pillage countrysides, and launch cattle from catapults. Firefly Studios has now polished up its old game nicely and has sent it on a long road trip into the Crusades.
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Climbing is Cochise Stronghold is a true backcountry experience. The remote setting, coupled with the committing nature of many of the climbs here, require preparation beyond that of roadside cragging on Mt Lemmon. The terrain is rugged and maze-like, and it is generally easier to get lost than to get where you are going. Allow plenty of time for approaches and err on the side of caution.
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Unlike the missions in Stronghold's military campaign, most of the missions in the crusader trail let you build you own castle. This makes it more like a series of skirmishes than the original game's linear sequence of canned scenarios with prebuilt castles. The crusader trail missions do a good job of incorporating specific units and strategies, and you will gradually improve your skills as it ramps up the difficulty level. In addition to a basic tutorial, there are four historical campaigns, in which each chapter highlights specific game elements, such as which units are best suited for which purposes, how to manage your taxes, and the differences between various crops. Each mission in these campaigns is like a puzzle with a historical context, which, once solved, will teach you to play better. Stronghold: Crusader has numerous options to introduce new players to the game as well as plenty of challenges for veterans of the original Stronghold.
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Walls in Stronghold are unique from most other RTS games that include walls, because towers and walls by themselves do nothing other than stop enemy troops and peasants. Troops may be placed on top of towers and walls, and will proceed to fire with a height advantage. Walls are not bound by set hitpoints; if a rock hits a wall in one section at a certain location, then the wall assumes a "damaged" state; the wall is lowered. Once the wall is low enough, troops (and projectiles) can move over walls. Towers have set hit points, meaning that once a certain degree of damage is achieved, the tower will collapse. Towers in Stronghold have a visual indicator of damage in the forms of impact holes and craters in the walls.
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Set in Mexico, "Stronghold" is informed by a sense of history and an original screenplay that manages to combine the best of action movie techniques with a genuine insight into the values and mores of Mexico. Its swashbuckling sense of heroism is never dull, or preachy, yet it contains a wealth of characterization and context that make most Hollywood historical films seem dry and sterile by comparison. Perhaps it escapes cliché in part by putting a USian woman into the lead. It is her gradual education into an understanding of Mexico that is the real story beneath the guns and ambushes.
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The map editor in Stronghold is ... unique compared to other map editors. In the editor, time passes as if the game were being played; trees grow, deer move, wolves attack, etc. Also, the editor is quite simple, though beautiful maps can be created. Soldiers placed within the map can be ordered to move about as if the game were being played. Soldiers can also attack, which can be a nuisance at times when a map maker attempts to put units close to one another. Scripted events and others are included within a special menu; every function is explained.
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Stronghold