Stonghold II

[Professor S]

I've always been a huge fan of the Stronghold series and its mix of real time management and defensive strategy. I've always been a defensive RTS player anyway, so these games have been perfect for me.

I was a little wary about them going to 3D, since it was such a great 2D game, but looking at the new screens I can see how much more realistic the game is in 3D and more importantly how many more options you'll have to defend your castle.

I do hope they go back to a more story driven game, like the first Stronghold, though. Crusaders was not a good sequel. It kept much of the great gameplay but it seemed much more like a glorified expansion than a true game unto itself with only a few additional units and seige options to differentiate itself. The afforementioned lack of a story hurt it as well, IMO.

To answer Typhoid's question, Stronghold looks a bit like Medeival but the castle defenses are actually much more complex and you have to build your castle in real time, designing it yourself and having to manage your resources including farming, mining, unit building etcetera while in the middle of the action. the gameplay elements are much different and IMO is a fanatstic mix of classic and simulation RTS.