''Stronghold 3'' is a 2011
real-time strategy
Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, turn ...
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
developed by
Firefly Studios
Firefly Studios Limited (also stylized as FireFly Studios) is a British video game developer based in London. Formed in August 1999 by Simon Bradbury, David Lester, and Eric Ouellette, the company focuses on historic real-time strategy games for ...
and published by
7Sixty. The game is the seventh in the series after several spin-offs, including a
remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...
, ''
Stronghold: Crusader Extreme'', and ''
Stronghold Kingdoms
''Stronghold Kingdoms'' is a Massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game video game with a Medieval castle building theme. It was developed by ''Firefly Studios'' and based upon their commercially successful and popular ''Stronghold'' se ...
''. It is the sequel to ''
Stronghold
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
'', released in 2001, and ''
Stronghold 2
''Stronghold 2'' is a real time strategy computer game released in April 2005 in which the player develops a stronghold in the Middle Ages. It is the sequel to ''Stronghold'', released in 2001, also by Firefly Studios.
The game engine was enhanc ...
'' released in 2005. Unlike previous games in the series which were published by
Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City and founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993.
The company owns two major publishing labels, Rockstar Games and 2K, which operate internal g ...
, the game has been published by SouthPeak Games, the new parent company of
Gamecock Media Group
Gamecock Media Group was an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, founded in February 2007 by Mike Wilson, Harry Miller and Rick Stults, formerly founders and executives of Gathering of Developers. The company was acquired by ...
, publisher of ''
Stronghold Crusader Extreme
''Stronghold: Crusader'' is the successor to Firefly Studios's 2001 real-time strategy video game ''Stronghold''. ''Crusader'' has much in common with the original ''Stronghold'', but differs from its predecessor in the fact that the game is no lo ...
''.
Synopsis
Background
The original ''
Stronghold
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
'' told the story of The Boy and his quest for revenge against Duc de Puce (The Rat), Duc Beauregard (The Snake), Duc de Truffe (The Pig) and Duc Volpe (The Wolf) for the ambush and murder of his father. After the capture of the King abroad, enemy invasion, civil war and his father's ambush en route to negotiate a treaty with The Snake, The Boy was pushed back to a forest on an overlooked peninsula. It was here that he found a small band of troops still loyal to the King and, with the help of Lord Woolsack and Sir Longarm, began to take back the country county by county. Eventually The Boy confronted The Wolf in his tower, after an intense battle he impaled the enigmatic Wolf on his sword and threw him to what he thought was his death.
Plot
Set 10 years later, Stronghold 3 follows the continuing story of The Boy. The Wolf has cheated death and become bitter, twisted, and psychotic during his painful recovery in the east. Now it is he who seeks revenge. By raiding towns and villages in the dead of night The Wolf has created a tide of panic, with The Boy and his allies the only force to stand against him.
The economic campaign takes place after the end of the military campaign. Lady Catherine helps rebuild the Abbey destroyed during the war.
Features
Players are able to choose between two single-player campaigns. A story-driven military campaign that chronicles The Wolf's return through a series of traditional real-time strategy missions and a sim-based economic campaign which has the player focus almost entirely on village productivity and resource management. Both campaigns are fully narrated, telling their stories with a series of black and white graphical novel interludes. Players are also able to 'change history' by choosing whether to attack or defend a number of historical castles in the game's castle siege mode.
The game engine utilises Havok physics, which influences the effectiveness of burning log traps and causes buildings and castle walls to crumble realistically. In addition the game engine features a new weather system and advanced lighting.
Buildings in Stronghold 3 are more dynamic than before, with the housing capacity and appearance of hovels changing the further they are built from the player's keep. Castle construction is no longer confined to a grid-based system.
A new fog-of-war mechanic was introduced for night-time game play, during which all areas outside of the immediate vicinity of the player's castle are hidden in darkness. However, players are able to use torch-holding peasants and other fire-based devices to explore the map at night. They can also illuminate specific areas by setting fire to watch towers.
The option for players to launch diseased cows from trebuchets has returned, in addition to smaller animals like pigs and sheep. A Facebook competition was run to let fans vote on the final animal ammunition type, with a sack of diseased badgers eventually making the cut.
The game currently lacks a Kingmaker or skirmish mode, as available in previous Stronghold titles. In a post on their website Firefly announced plans to add in "features that didn’t make it into the original release" as well as "new content and new features that we or you have thought of since release". Features added to the game since release include new units, difficulty levels, King of the Hill and Capture the Flag multiplayer modes, new multiplayer maps, new historical sieges, new Free Build maps, a "Free Build Panel" that allows players to trigger invasions, the ability to change the game speed and extra large maps. Despite fan demand, a skirmish mode was never added to Stronghold 3.
Development
Firefly Studios had previously claimed in 2008 that they would be working on ''Stronghold 3'' due to the high demand by fans, but only after the completion of ''
Dungeon Hero
''Dungeon Hero'' was a role-playing video game under development by Firefly Studios. It had been in development for several years and had been scheduled to be released in 2009 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360. Originally being published by Game ...
''. However, in 2010 the status of ''Dungeon Hero'' was uncertain after being delayed numerous times. In 2009 when asked if they had any other unannounced games in development other than ''Dungeon Hero'' and ''Stronghold Kingdoms'', the answer was that they still had one more game in development. The game was further teased in 2009 when Firefly stated in their newsletter that they had "something very big in the pipeline" which would be revealed in 2010. This game would later turn out to be ''Stronghold 3''.
The game was officially unveiled on May 14, 2010 with a teaser site. The Steam page for the game was later opened on March 18, 2011, which first stated the release date to be approximately the 21st of June 2011. Firefly then announced that the game will be delayed for another month until July 2011 in order to make refinements to the game. Eventually it was announced that the game would be delayed until late September 2011, after which a final release date of October 25 was announced. The game went gold on October 6 and was released a few weeks later.
Reception
Since its release ''Stronghold 3'' received "generally unfavorable reviews" according to the
review aggregation
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
.
[ The majority of negativity stemmed from the large amount of bugs that the game shipped with. Reviewers almost unanimously agreed that ''Stronghold'' 3 felt unfinished at launch, although many highlighted the potential for the game to be improved via patches. While one ultimately felt that ''Stronghold 3'' was "a decent RTS with a few hiccups here and there that could easily be fixed with a patch or two", others believed that the game's problems were due to design choices that are unlikely to be patched out. To quote Adam Biessener of '']Game Informer
''Game Informer'' (''GI'', most often stylized ''gameinformer'' from the 2010s onward) is an American monthly video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and associated consoles. It debuted in August 1991 w ...
'', "No matter which aspect of gameplay you look at, problems crop up in its implementation. Whether it’s the shallow, yet hard-to-manage economy or the fabulously broken pathfinding, the only difference between the systems is how poorly designed, infuriating, or merely boring they are."[ The game had undergone patching since its release, with two gaming websites raising their review scores to reflect the changes made.
]
Stronghold 3: Gold
After a number of patches to improve gameplay and fix issues, Firefly Studios introduced various multiplayer features and additional campaigns into ''Stronghold 3'' and re-released it on 25 May 2012 under the name ''Stronghold 3: Gold''. As a gesture to fans, Firefly delivered these added features into already purchased copies of ''Stronghold 3'' through Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
for free.
References
External links
Official website
via Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
*
{{Firefly Studios Stronghold video games
2011 video games
Linux games
MacOS games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Real-time strategy video games
SouthPeak Games
Stronghold (series)
Video games developed in the United Kingdom
Video games set in castles
Video games set in the 11th century
Video games set in the Middle Ages
Windows games
Video games using Havok