Stronghold 2

Stronghold 2
Stronghold 2
	File:Pc stronghold2.jpg
Developer(s)	Firefly Studios
Publisher(s)	2K Games
Engine	Dragonfly
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release	April 28, 2005
Genre(s)	Historic Real-Time Strategy
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer

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Stronghold 2 is a Real Time Strategy game which involves one developing an empire in the medieval ages. The game is somewhat similar to the Age of Empires series, but is unlike it in a number of specific ways. It is the sequel to the game Stronghold, released in 2001 by Firefly Studios.

The sequel to the 2001 and 2002 version of Stronghold was released in April 2005. The game engine was enhanced to provide full 3-dimensional graphics. Other changes include new military and peace campaigns and the addition of crime and punishment which allows players to torture unruly peasants. This is the first complete overhaul of the franchise since the first Stronghold appeared on shelves in 2001. It also includes many new characters.

Storyline

The story starts on the land during the medieval age. In a place which is inhabited by people led by Sir William. During the years, Sir William met another Knight Mathew Steele which became a follower of him. Sir William was captured though by unknown people but was saved by Steele. Managing to escape, Sir William and Mathew Steele returned to his land. He taught his friend how to manage his own town or castle were people can live in and how he can survive alone in that place and take care of his people. At that time though, Olaf, leader of the Norse lead his army to the land were Williams people have lived. During that time, a large battle begins.

Characters

Main: Matthew Steele: Former page of Sir William, aids in the search for the king. Colour of troops: Red

Player's aids: Tom Simpkins: Player's advisor. Warns when under attack. Engages in dialogue. Advises when the player does not have enough gold, or what to build.

Constable Briggs: Player's military advisor. Campaign only. Warns when under attack. Gives strategies when in battle/

Protagonists: William: Former master of Matthew, was to be married to Lady Seren. Would do anything for the King. Also the brother of Pascal. Strangely, even though they are related by blood, Pascal has a french accent, and William does not. Colour of troops: Dark red

Lady Seren ( The Lamb ): Was to be married to William, aids in their quest to aid the king. Colour of troops: Pink

Sir Grey: Senior commander. Fought the longest in the war. Constantly needs aid when under attack, but also supplies the troops and estates to fight in the war. Dies when Lord Barclay shoots him with a crossbow. Colour of troops: Grey

Friar Jacob: Leader of a group of monks in the monastery. Helps build things.

The Queen: Non-campaign character. Presumably the wife of the King.

The King: Main reason for fighting in the first 6 chapters. Was once poisoned by the Hawk. Had to run away when the Hawk disbanded the Royal Guard. Colour of troops: Purple

Antagonists:

Edwin: English traitor. Also a coward, tends to be the weakest character in the game. Works for the Hammer. Colour of troops: Yellow

Lord Barclay ( The Hammer ): Strongest opponent in the game. Tends to not care about his subordinates, fights to take over the crown. Fights with hammer and uses crossbow. Colour of troops: Green

Angus McLoud ( The Bull ): Scottish clan leader. Serves under the bull. Crest is the Scottish Flag. Colour of troops: Blue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Scotland.svg

Pascal Deverauex ( The Hawk ): One of the Bull's main subordinates. Responsible for poisoning the King. Brother of William. Fights with Mace. Colour of troops: Light Blue

Olaf Grimtooth: The last Viking warlord. Uses mainly berserkers and axe throwers. Tends to build a circular wooden fortress. Colour of troops: Orange, hires mercenaries.

Military units

Like Stronghold 1, there are no factions due to the lack of variety within the units. All military units must be purchased with gold and weapons, excluding monastery units and mercenaries.

The lord: Most important unit in the game, can easily take on any unit, should he fall, the game is lost.

Barracks:

Armed Peasant: Cost: 5 gold. Armed with only a pitchfork, this weak unit is good for finding traps set by the enemy.

Spearman: Cost: 8 gold, spear. Armed with a spear, the spearman is good primarily for filling in moats and cutting down wooden walls.

Archer: Cost: 12 gold, bow, 2 honor. With good range and accuracy, the archer can shoot down non-armored units with good speed.

Crossbowman: Cost: 20 gold, crossbow, leather armor, 2 honor. Slow to move and reload, the crossbowman takes time to move, but is very good at taking down units with metal armor.

Maceman: Cost: 20 gold, mace, leather armor, 1 honor. Fast and strong, these brutish folk are ideal for assault units. Weak against arrows.

Pikeman: Cost: 20 gold, pike, metal armor, 2 honor. Slow to move, these soldiers can take a lot of damage due to their armor, perfect defense unit for blocking entry and guarding your lord.

Swordsman: Cost: 40 gold, sword, metal armor, 8 honor. Best hand to hand fighter excluding knights, and the lord, these footsoldiers can clear walls and hack down poorly armed units.

Knight: 200 gold, sword, metal armor, 100 honor. Can ride on horseback, strong, and can easily take on any unit.

Engineer's guild:

Engineer: Cost: 30 gold. Required to man any siege device, the engineer can both defend and assault a castle.

Ladderman: Cost: 4 gold. Brave and fast, these plucky units can provide access to castle walls for other units. Once he puts up the ladder, he will run to the siege camp, or engineer's guild to receive another one.

Monastery:

Fighting monk: Cost: 25 gold, 1 honor. Armed only with a staff, these monks take off time from their homes to defend their monastery. Very strong, only lacks armor.

Warrior monk: Cost: 1 gold, 10 honor. Armed with a sword, shield and armor, these tough monks can take down their opposition.

Mercenary Post:

Pictish boat warrior: Cost: 40 gold. Comes to battle with a boat and axe, these Celtic warriors have a specialty to cross water easily on the boats they carry on their backs. Water isn't the barrier it used to be!

Outlaw: Cost: 60 gold. With a supply of javelins and a sword, these bandits are invisible in the woods and are suitable for ambushing. Speaks with a Spanish accent.

Axe thrower: Cost: 100 gold. With a limitless supply of axes, these deadly half Norwegian vikings can hack down any unit with no metal armor.

Thief: Cost: 10 gold, 50 honor. These thieves are not made for combat but for stealing gold from the enemy's treasury. Disguised as a farmer, they can be uncovered by guards. Speaks with an English tone.

Hobelar: Cost: 40 gold, 2 honor. Being the fastest unit in the game, these light cavalry can take down siege weapons. Hails from Middle Europe.

Horse Archer: Cost: 80 gold, 2 honor. These Arabian horse archers can fire on the move, unlike other games of this genre.

Assassin: Cost: 100 gold, 200 honor. These specialist elite units are invisible to the enemy at long to close range, and can deal terrible damage. Has the useful tool of a grappling hook which enables them to climb over walls.

Berserker: Cost: 80 gold. Armed with a double headed axe, these Viking warriors deal tremendous damage and have a good speed.

Gameplay

In the game, the player plays as a knight. There are many modes that range from free play to the campaigns. The game has many modes which include: Kingmaker, Siege, Fighting Campaign, Building Campaign, Freeplay, Custom scenario, and in Multiplayer(Hosted by Gamespy).

Free build mode

At this mode, the player just gets to play on a land which is already included or is a map the player has downloaded or created. The place is enemy free unless wolves or barbarians are included. The map will not feature any more other factions unless a map was created for free mode were there is another faction existing. Also, if the button F1 is pressed, it can trigger an invasion of any choosable size to test the player's stronghold.

Single Player

[Under Construction]

Campaign

The player can play either the Fallen King campaign or the Sim campaign, depending on his/her style of gameplay. For more details, check the Storyline section.

Technical problems

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 buggyness. Firefly studios paid much attention to the playing community's complaints, and promised fixes in later patches. Soon after, patch 1.1 was released which fixed some issues. However, it was not until patch 1.2 was released that a majority of complaints had stopped.

On the October 28, 2005, a third patch (1.3.1) was released, further fixing bugs and adding similar components to that of Stronghold and Stronghold: Crusader, one of which is the memorable "Conquest Trail".

It was not until September 11, 2007, that patch (1.4) was announced on the Stronghold 2 fan site, Stronghold2 Heaven. To get more info on this patch you can refer to http://stronghold.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forum/display.cgi?action=ct&f=18,3363,,30

Demo

On January 4, 2007, a single player demo was released, featuring the tutorial and a three missions, equivalent to one chapter. The problems were already patched in the demo making it immune to the majority of bugs and crashes which plagued the original release before the patch. [1].

Critics

Critically, the game has received generally poor reviews, whether from the bugs present in the initial release or the gameplay. This could also be from the generally considered bad AI.