If your sphere of PC game tastes includes either of the words “medieval” or “RTS”, you probably know the Stronghold games. They are about attacking and defending castles, and the 2001 original was pretty great. It had approximately two and a half million sequels, each of which was either equally ace, or a bin fire, depending on who you ask. As such, this review of Stronghold: Warlords could easily get swallowed up in a long, dull attempt to compare it to every one of its predecessors, identifying which of their various features it does or does not retain, and then agonising over where among them to rank it.

Instead, I’m going to review Warstrong: Lordhold as if it exists in blissful isolation from any of its bucket-helmeted elder brothers, and just say how much fun I’ve had with it. The answer is that I’ve had lots of fun with it! There are some caveats to go with that, sure. But the bottom line is that I’ve found at least as much pleasure in playing it, as my 17 year-old self did with Stronghold in 2001. To me at least, the series is back at the top of its very slightly wonky form.

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