2001's Stronghold was a mediaeval real-time strategy game about constructing and destroying beautiful castles. Series developer Firefly Studios are now putting out the game's second re-release with Stronghold: Definitive Edition, releasing on November 7th.
The even newer edition features the original game's two campaigns alongside a new one designed by studio co-founders Simon Bradbury and Eric Ouellette. The fresh campaign takes us across the "devastated English hinterland," while presumably doing what you'd expect from the series: gathering resources, managing your economy, building stuff, and waging war. Here's our first look:
]]>From our first years we know what it means to build. As babies we're given clacky wooden blocks and colourful Duplo bricks. We are architects long before we are capable eaters of raw carrot. If you're anything like the staff of RPS, you've not outgrown the habit of child-like town planning. Yes, building games often take a managerial approach (at least many on this list do), but a sense of play is always present. It's there when you draw out a road in Cities Skylines, just to watch it populate with toy-like traffic. When you brick up another hole in your mighty Stronghold to fend off enemy swordsmen. When you painstakingly dig a trench for water to flow in Timberborn, just like you did all those years ago on the beach, in an effort to stop the tide washing away your sandcastles. You'll find all these games and more on our list. So here you go: the best building games on PC.
]]>With Stronghold: Warlords recently announced at E3, now seems as good a moment as any to look back on the game that kicked off Firefly’s seemingly endless series of castle ’em ups back in 2001. In fact, I’m genuinely astonished to learn that Warlords will be the ninth game in the series, as despite loving the first instalment, I’ve managed to play precisely none of the rest. Stronghold was a very literal tower defence game, with some light-yet-satisfying citybuilding and management elements. It also had the vague feeling of being a 14th century take on Home Alone, as you would build up your castle, then surround it with concentric layers of horrid traps in order to thwart waves of pikemen, macelads, swordboys and horseblokes.
]]>We might be drowning in big-budget games this month, but GOG reckon that you should spare a thought for the venerable old gems that brought us here. They're doing another of their giveaways today, and this time it's a double: Castle building/besieging RTS Stronghold HD, and A.D. 2044, a Polish point-and-click adventure from 1996 that I must admit no familiarity with.
I know! Let's make this an adventure in international videogame history: Come join me as we read through A.D. 2044's plot synopsis after the jump, after a little look at Stronghold HD.
]]>The Indie Royale bundles are certainly amongst the more hit and miss out there. But their latest is a definite hit, simply by containing Hexcells. Have I mentioned Hexcells before? One might argue it's also worth purchasing for some of the other games in there, like PixelJunk Shooter, Gun Monkeys, Megabyte Punch, Ride 'Em Low and Stronghold HD.
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