Stronghold 3 to be released this summer

[Forward Observer]

I had not been following this, but just happen to come across the info that a new Stronghold game is due to be released this summer. It was slated to be released this spring, but was moved back to allow further development.

The first Stronghold game released in 2001 was a quite fun and I have played through its campaign at least 4 or 5 times over the years--just recently in the last 6 months. It's a 2D isometric view medieval castle building/combat RTS style game. It had a fun storyline with great villains and lots of tongue in cheek humor pertaining to the middle ages.

They released a self contained expansion of the game set in the crusades about a year later. It was OK, but I didn't find it nearly as much fun as the first game.

Then in 2005, they released Stronghold 2. This was the first full 3D version of the game, and it came close to killing the franchise. At release it was almost unplayable. The path-finding was quite flawed and there was a memory leak that brought the game to almost a stand still after about 30 minutes of play.

They finally corrected the lag/memory leak issues, but basically the story was just was lame, the game play was weak, and it simply lacked all the charm of the original.

According to this interview, the developer--Firefly is going back to the core values of the first game while keeping the 3D aspect. This time they are using a game engine developed by somebody else, so they claim that they can concentrate on the game play, humor, and a story line that made the first game so much fun.

Cheers

[Raz]

I heard about this development several weeks (maybe a month) ago. I've seen what I believe would've been very early screenshots, but in all honesty they look identical to Stronghold 2. After that incredibly horrible release, i didn't touch anything released afterwards, and I don't have very high hopes on this upcoming release.

And I really liked Stronghold Crusader, seemed the gameplay, interface and overall presentation was a lot more polished and balanced than the first release, though it lacked that story, campaign, and dem dastardly villains that made the first Stronghold such a wonderful, memorable, charming gem of a game.

[caravel]

I loved the first game and crusader, never bothered with the second after reading a lot of the negative press. The great thing about it aside from the addictive gameplay, was the humour, i.e. the animated messages from your enemies ("A message from The Rat" and his visor falling down over his eyes), the way that happiness was represented by the grinning or scowling peasant at the bottom of the screen. Also the animated drunks that would stagger about the streets once you had built the tavern and inkeeper that would stand outside with an empty up turned mug once the ale had run out ("there's no ale m'lord"). One of my favourites though was the tanner that would calmly lead a cow over to the tannery and then on arrival you would hear the sound of the blade and a dying "moo" - classic. The utlimate though was the scottish siege engineer, when catapulting a carcass over the battlements: "I hope they like beef!". Brilliant game for the comedy value alone.

[Veho Nex]

I loved some of the Management aspects of Stronghold 2, but crusader was by far my favorite.

[Graphic]

Loved Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader. Stronghold 2 didn't do it for me for some reason. Hopefully they recapture the magic with this one.

[Forward Observer]

If you read the interview that I linked, you will note that they are bringing back the "Wolf" character.

Simon Bradbury: We've made several games in the past few years based in the Stronghold world--such as Legends and Crusader Extreme--but this really is the big meaty new Stronghold for a while. In many ways it's a direct sequel to Stronghold 1; it features plenty of references to the original, and many familiar characters make their return. The Wolf, for example, survived the fall from the tower and the sword through his chest. He has spent the last 10 years plotting bitter revenge in the East. And that's where the game kicks off. The Wolf has returned with his faithful dastardly followers, and he plans to take over the kingdom. I think it's great that we're returning to the world of Stronghold, and I reckon that fans of the series will be delighted to become immersed in that rich medieval setting all over again.

Of course I know how developers tend of over hype their new games, but if there is any truth to what Mr. Bradbury says it appears that Firefly is trying to not repeat the mistakes they made with the release of Stronghold 2. The fact that they were able to move the release date back a quarter may also be interpreted as a good sign. This could also be an indication of troubles, but hopefully there will still be enough decent reviews to help one make an informed purchase decision.

If only CA had been able to delay the release of Empire and polish it a bit more, they might have saved themselves a lot of grief and a lot of lost good will. Of course this may have been a Sega decision and therefore out of CA's hands. We may never know for sure.

Cheers

[Graphic]

I just hope they keep animal attacks in.

"A BEAR is attacking, sire."

[Forward Observer]

I just hope they keep animal attacks in.

"A BEAR is attacking, sire."

Well, the bears and wolves were bad enough, but those damn crop eating rabbits were an absolute pain.

[Atraphoenix]

Stronghold was my first PC game.... I did not like the second sequel it was like Age of Empire series. I hope 3rd will not be like that...
I am getting older