Stronghold, the original Stronghold, was one of my favorite games growing up. It has stood the test of time in remaining in my nostalgic feelings, as a game I long to experience again. And behold! I get an opportunity to play the demo!
Let's discuss what I liked and disliked about this new remastered version of the classic.
(there was nothing I disliked, sorry if I limped your hate boner)
For all of those Stronghold enthusiasts that weren't aware - yes! There is an actually remaster happening of the original game. And not only is it a remaster, but it's also enhanced! 😱
I say actual because the Stronghold HD edition is not really a remaster per see. Not even per see, it just isn't. 😅 And with DE we finally are getting a modernized take of the beloved classic absolutely no one hates.
Stronghold was made in the mythical year 2001. It was a long time ago and the game's industry was young. The PC gaming industry was even younger. As such a lot of the quality of life features we have grown to expect nowadays were just not present back then.
For instance being able to zoom in/out using your mouse wheel, or moving units using your right mouse button. Yes! In the original Stronghold you would select units with the right mouse button and move with the left mouse button. Barbaric! But that was just a product of the times.
The Stronghold HD edition addressed none of these things. No hotkeys, no easy way to check resources - it was just an upscaling of the original, that's it. Well, now with Stronghold Definitive Edition, all of the modern features are present and well-implemented. You can use the space bar to show the building mode. 😮 Along with a plethora of other helpful features that make the game playable for a younger audience.
What makes this new ultimate version of the game so great is that there are several important additions made. Let's get the multiplayer out of the way first. It was borderline impossible to play multiplayer with the original game. Now it has steam integration so at least that aspect will be piece easy.
But wait! There's more! 🕺
There is an additional campaign of 14 missions, fully voice-acted and narrated for our playing pleasure. This has me super intrigued as to what's in store, as it seems it's a prequel story with Sir. Longarm. That's got me excited for sure but it's not the only thing!
There will also be a trail added. What's a trail? Well if you've played Stronghold Crusader you'd know (if not, thought luck kid). It consists of going on a trail of increasingly difficult missions, all themed and with different objectives. This has always been a feature of the Crusader series, and I'm curious how they implement it here.
Yes! The same demo that was given to the press a month ago is now available for free on Steam! I played it before writing this article which is what prompted me to write it in the first place. 😁
If you have any passing interest in this sort of thing, the two missions give a good overview of the type of game you'll be playing. One is super easy and a no-brainer, while the other is one of the harder missions from the original campaign. The options menu is also very good for a demo version.
So! Play the game, and wishlist it if you like it. But most importantly give Firefly feedback! They want to know what their player base thinks. And when a developer leaves an open channel for communication like that it is always a good sign. So we as gamers should use it!
Stronghold Definitive Edition is set to come out on November 7, 2023.
Play the demo now on Steam!
Thank you for reading, you rock! (and maybe roll) 👏👏👏
Shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙
Had to cover this real quick since the demo came out today. We'll get back to our regularly scheduled program (the horror series, continuing with Resident Evil 4) with the next article. Hope you guys enjoyed reading, and even more, hope some of you got introduced to this awesome franchise. I hear good things are coming if you are a castle sim lover. 🙂
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Hope everyone is having a fantastic day! And if you aren't, no worries! Tomorrow will be better! 🙌🙌🙌
