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Warlords enhances many of the quality of life improvements that Firefly Studios added to Crusaders 2, and also transports the series from medieval Europe to East Asia.

Stronghold warlords review Pc#

Stronghold: Warlords is the first entry in the series since Stronghold: Crusaders 2 released on PC in 2014.

There’s nothing better than starting a skirmish against a rival faction while a Mongolian throat chant is being played.The Stronghold series doesn't quite have the same following as the big dogs of the RTS genre like StarCraft or Command & Conquer, but it certainly has its fair share of true believers. It’s a bunch of songs that mix East Asian folk, traditional “RTS epic music” akin to the approach adopted in Age of Mythology, and some slight hints of rock beats to make battles more aggressive and compelling. Lo and behold, that’s basically what Stronghold: Warlords‘ soundtrack is comprised of. One of my favorite current bands, The Hu, is a perfect description of these fusions, mixing Mongolian folk, throat singing, and rock. I’m a huge fan of traditional East Asian music, as well as fusions between these folk genres with modern music. What I liked the most about Stronghold: Warlords, however, wasn’t just its excellent gameplay or plethora of modes. I wasn’t expecting for this mode to be included in here, nor was I expecting to like it as much as I did. You’ll be left alone in a map with no enemies and your objective is to simply build the largest stronghold possible, all while having to deal with limited resources and the needs of your citizens.

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There is yet another mode included in here, called Free Build, which basically turns the game into a Sim City-esque city simulator.

Stronghold: Warlords is all about balancing between logistics and military strategies.Īs expected, Stronghold: Warlords features a vigorous campaign mode, as well as your typical instant action skirmishes. It’s a good fit for newcomers and veterans alike. However, if you decide to jump right into the action, an advisor of sorts will constantly tell you what essential buildings you need to build and what resources are lacking from your storage. The game does a surprisingly good job in teaching you all of its mechanics via an excellent tutorial.

Stronghold warlords review full#

The bread and butter of the experience is still having to manage between keeping your citizens fed and happy with food and clothing, as well as building the most nonsensical fortifications to keep your stronghold safe before deciding to go full Leroy Jenkins onto the opposing army’s territory. You can then click on each allied warlord and spend further diplomacy points on whichever perk they might offer, be it additional supplies or a big army to help you fend off against enemies. Kill the warlord on top of his own tower and, somehow, he’ll become your ally, probably with a hotline directly connected to the underworld. You can turn said warlords into allies either by spending diplomacy points, which are steadily added to your reserves, or via the old fashioned way: brute force. Despite being smaller fish in the middle of the battlefield, they are crucial to dictate which civilization will win a match or not. Think of them as minor rules scattered throughout the map. You could try to make a warlord join your cause with diplomacy, but using brute force is a lot more fun.īesides the brand new East Asian aesthetics, which result in a much more colorful and vibrant graphical style, the main addition included in Stronghold: Warlords is the titular warlord system.