''Stronghold 2'' is a

real time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in turn-based strategy (TBS) games, players take turns to pla ...

computer game released in April 2005 in which the player develops a

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' ...

in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. 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, also by Firefly Studios. The game engine was enhanced over the original ''Stronghold'' to provide full 3-dimensional graphics. Other changes include new military and peace campaigns and the addition of crime and punishment, allowing players to torture unruly peasants. A number of new characters were also introduced.

Gameplay

In the game, players take on the role of a lord who rules over a medieval castle. With their available resources, players place buildings or features, including many different kinds of food production, industry, civil, or military buildings and defences. Available peasants automatically choose jobs whenever a building requires one, so player micromanagement is minimal; players mostly set up the various buildings in an efficient way while providing safety for their peasants. Military units are directly controlled individually or in groups, sometimes quite large with sieges or battles involving many hundreds on each side. One addition to the original ''Stronghold'' is the inclusion of estates that players can "buy" with their accumulated honor (gained by popularity, holding feasts, dances, jousting, etc.). Estates are semi-independent villages (without castle fortifications) that produce their own goods that owners can send via cart to their castle or allies. The inclusion of fully 3D-rendered graphics allowed ''Stronghold 2'' to include tower interiors as battlegrounds for units, and the ability to go observe castle inhabitants very closely, which is useful for the new features of waste and rat management. As in the original ''Stronghold'', players can choose from several different play modes: Kingmaker, Siege, War Campaign, Peace Campaign, Freeplay, Custom scenario, and Multiplayer (Originally hosted by

GameSpy GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1996 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for the game, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the Ga ...

). An extensive map editor allows the creation of custom maps. From 2014, multiplayer is not supported by the service GameSpy.

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. According to ''

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed ...

'', ''Stronghold 2'' sold at least 100,000 units in the U.S., but was beaten by its predecessor's 220,000 sales in the region. Total US sales of ''Stronghold'' games released during the 2000s reached 590,000 units by August 2006.

References

External links

''Stronghold 2: Steam Edition''
at Firefly Studios
''Stronghold 2'' at 2K Games
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, ...

*
''Stronghold Nation''
{{Authority control 2005 video games 2K games Real-time strategy video 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 Windows-only games Multiplayer and single-player video games