Back when I was in the seventh grade, my favorite part of the day was to return home and boot up the original Stronghold and play for hours as I would spend countless hours completing the economic campaign and sometimes just starting up the Free Play Mode and taking my sweet time developing my castle expanding it to every reach of the map. I never thought that a day would come when I would actually get early access to a Stronghold title and would be writing a review on one of my favorite franchises of all time. Firefly Studios has finally released the long-awaited Stronghold: Warlords and this is our review of the title in which we build some rice fields and take over some warlords.
Stronghold: Warlords comes seven years after its previous release in the franchise, Stronghold: Crusader 2, and it comes packed with new features never before seen in the franchise. On the core, it is still a Stronghold title where every mission begins with you placing down your Stockpile and Granary however the developers have tweaked the gameplay and made it better it every way possible. After playing the full release of the game, I can easily say that the delays were worth it. If you are new to the franchise, then you should know that Stronghold: Warlords is a castle-building sim where you start with a small Keep and then expand by collecting resources and building an army to take over your enemies with brutal conflicts.
Probably one of the major additions to the title is the new Warlords mechanic which is visible from the title of the game as well. Warlords are additional AI-controlled players scattered throughout each map that can be captured and controlled either through combat or diplomacy. At your Keep, apart from gold, you also earn Diplomacy points that can be spent on these Warlords to issue them commands. Either through combat or diplomacy, once a Warlord is at your side, they will prove to be valuable allies in various scenarios. Depending on their archetype, each Warlord in the game provides unique favors and benefits for having them at your side. Depending on your campaigns, the Warlords tend to become tougher and tougher in later stages as well apart from your main enemies.
These warlords have small keeps as well as full-fledged castles defended by armies and thick walls depending on their levels. To take control of these warlords, you can either fight them, kill their armies, break through their defenses, and make the warlord kneel before you, or you can use the path of diplomacy as well to convert them to your side. No matter which path you choose to take over them, once they are on your side, they can help you out in various ways such as sending you gold, diplomacy points, notifying you about incoming attacks, map reveals, attacking your enemies, or even sending you reinforcements in case your enemies attack you.
I found these warlords of great help throughout my missions as they always come in handy once they are on your side. You can also level them up to make them more powerful against enemy attacks. The enemy can take over them as well if they attack them so sometimes, you will need to defend your captured warlords as well. It truly pays off to go the extra mile and convert as many warlords to your side as possible. Some of them will provide you with unique units as well. The more warlords you have on your side in any mission, the more powerful you feel because everywhere you go on the map, you will have a warlord’s castle at your side that also affects the attacks and planning of your main enemies in any game.
Coming to units, Stronghold: Warlords does not disappoint in any way. Each faction in the game comes with its own unique units. You have a variety of infantry and siege units that you can produce and use in combat. Depending on each faction, you have different units in each of the infantry and siege categories, and depending on their tactics, these units vary from each other as well. For example, Thuc Phan prefers using Auxiliary Archers and Auxiliary Axemen as their main infantry units while Genghis Khan prefers using Horseman Archers and siege weaponry for hit-and-run tactics on his enemies. Similarly, Qin Shi Huang and Toyotomi Hideyoshi also come with their own battle tactics and units that suit their attack styles and economy.
Since you will be laying siege to a lot of castles in the game, the developers have made sure that you have multiple siege equipment in the game as well. Depending on your chosen faction, you will have Trebuchets, fire oxen, and more at your disposal. Returning fans will remember how playful you can get with your Trebuchets and they will be happy to know that Stronghold: Warlords also allows you to equip multiple items for throwing at your enemies such as dead cows and pigs apart from regular ammo.
Apart from the Trebuchets, you can also make Siege Towers, Rocket Launchers, and Hwachas for laying siege to your enemies. Each of these siege weapons comes with its strengths and bonuses. Since Stronghold: Warlords features gunpowder weapons, the developers have made sure that they look inspired by Chinese, Mongolian, and Japanese history as well. Each of the units in the game, either siege or infantry, depicts their factions and era pretty accurately in the game. Apart from the siege units, you will also have plenty of defenses to protect your castle as well. You can lay down different traps around your walls and when your enemies come, you can kill them by activating the traps such as throwing fire barrels on them.
Depending on your mood, you can jump into various types of game modes in the game. You have four main campaigns in the game which follow the journey of each of the four new characters featured in the game which include Thuc Phan, Qin Shi Huang, Genghis Khan, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. You can play through each of their campaigns and see their rise or fall through their times complete with their own era. Overall, the timeline of Stronghold: Warlords starts back in 300 BC China and features up to the 16th Century. Each character in the game has its own unique timeline, story, campaign, and game design.
Apart from the four main campaigns, you also have the economic campaign which is a trademark of every Stronghold title. This campaign does not focus on battles and combat rather these present challenging scenarios where we must try and get our bearings going with problems such as drought, shortage of food, and multiple identical scenarios where managing your economy is your main challenge. If you want a more relaxing environment, you can head over to the Free Build mode and relax as you build and expand your castle at your own pace without the worries of any combat.
Multiplayer is also a major component of Stronghold: Warlords as the game offers both PvP and co-op modes. The co-op mode allows players to share control of a single castle as they are playing together on the same castle. They will need to manage building their castle, managing the economy, and training troops to survive in the game. The co-op mode works online so even if your friend is not on the same PC, you both can easily join together and play with each other. It opens a brand-new way to experience the game as you both can decide what tasks will be done by each player and you can change your roles on the go as well.
Apart from the co-op, there’s also plenty of PvP action in the game as well. Sporting a different castle, players can fight with each other and attempt to defeat the others by sieging their castles using all their might. At the same time, players will also need to watch out for their own castle and defend it against the other player’s attacks. Personally, I could not really try out the multiplayer aspect of the game during my review playthroughs but I will be trying it out properly once the game is out and players from around the world jump in the game. You can indulge in custom skirmishes at any time you want with your friends or random players from around the world.
Stronghold: Warlords is a glorious return of the franchise back to its roots with new features and improved gameplay. The AI is now smarter than ever, and the beautiful visuals and the level design is coupled with a stellar soundtrack that really sits well with the overall theme of the title. All the new factions look great and play great as well, with enough variety all around for players to exploit each other’s weaknesses and take full use of their own faction’s strengths. Technically, the game runs pretty well as well with no FPS drops or glitches hindering the gameplay in any way. I will be jumping into the game’s multiplayer soon as well so you can expect a separate feature coming on it soon.
Related News:
- The Final Stronghold: Warlords Dev Diary Details Enemies, AI
- Stronghold: Warlords Co-op Mode Introduced by Firefly Studios
- New Stronghold Warlords Dev Video Details Buffalo Launching Trebuchet
- Stronghold: Warlords Dev Diary Video Shows Off Improved AI
- Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition Post-Launch Roadmap Reveals Free Updates
Final Verdict:
After seven years, Firefly Studios has finally released a brilliant title in the Stronghold franchise, and I am extremely happy to see that the developer has not lost it touch in all these years. Warlords is essentially the best modern Stronghold title without any question. It builds on the solid foundation of the franchise and expands in every way to deliver a title that caters to both modern players and long-term returning fans of the franchise. The new setting and theme do miracles and the game sits exceptionally well with all of the new Warlords featured in the game. The franchise might be old but Stronghold: Warlords is a fresh entry in the modern real-time strategy genre and will appeal to a wide audience. For me, this title brings back a lot of memories and nostalgia is high for me here however I can still easily highly recommend it to fans who grew up playing Stronghold and even to new players who like playing real-time strategy and castle builders.
Final Score: 8.5/10
