When the original
Stronghold came out, everyone who ever dreamed of living in a castle rejoiced. People were finally able to construct their own castles that looked cool and were sometimes effective defensive structures. Now, in the sequel, the gameplay has been kept mostly the same, but it seems stripped down.
Stronghold 2 suffers from an identity crisis; it has veered away from castle building and instead concentrates on graphics, a boring campaign, and a broad yet thin line of options.
As in the previous games, there are two styles of play that you can choose from: Military and Economic. The Military mode lets you either play the Campaign or a Skirmish type of game. The Campaign follows a knight as he searches for his king who was kidnapped in a siege. The game begins in what can only be described as the antithesis of castle building; it’s more like point-and-click adventures or resource collecting for the first handful of missions, and by the time you get to your first castle, you are thoroughly bored of it all.
The Skirmish mode is more fun, but still lacks polish. Here you can battle with up to seven other A.I.-controlled opponents on teams or deathmatch-style. For some reason, there are very few European-style maps. Instead, battlefields like North America are included to do war on. Skirmish is generally boring as players start out rather close to each other, and neighbors’ castle walls usually wind up right next to yours. Whatever siege strategies you employ in the rest of the game get thrown out the window here as armies converge on each other in a bloody mess in the middle of the map.
Those thirsty for quick battles will find a different mode to quench their thirst. This part of the game is the only one that stays true to what the Stronghold series is all about. It quickly pits you in either the defensive or offensive position during a castle siege, complete with troops, food, and equipment. The first to lose all of their units faces the rack.
The Economic mode has been left alone the most, which is for the best. If you fancy ruling over a thriving city, stockpiling goods, and building an impregnable fortress at the same time, this pacifistic path is for you.
