Partly, that’s tied back to the fact that it takes so much stone to make anything impressive. Maybe I’d be more inclined to slog through the necessary evil of feeding Trevor Bumwhistle and his ilk if there was something rewarding at the end of it, but the actual construction of castles isn’t the thrill I was hoping for. As should be clear, slowing things down even more is not a good thing. Run out of food, because of poor planning or because of shortages caused by seemingly random events, and people become hungry, which makes them unhappy, which slows down the rate at which new peasants become available, which makes everything grind to a halt for a while. Livestock, in my mind, includes peasants, the diseased little blighters. Sometimes apples will be blighted or disease will spread among livestock. A dreary existence occasionally interrupted by bleak downpours. In that sense, playing Stronghold 3 is a lot like living in Manchester. The other regular interruption is the rain, which makes everyone miserable. That involves an animal moving slowly across the barren terrain, killing peasants until the military respond and chase him down, strolling behind for a matter of minutes. As it turns out, not much happens except for an occasional bear or wolf attack. Let me hurry them on their way or throw something interesting at me in the interim. Why would I want to spend half an hour watching little men traverse a barren landscape, back and forth to a stockpile carrying their goods of choice? I wouldn’t. The speed of the game is off-putting to the extent that I’m still looking for a fast forward button.
Stronghold 3 review free#
Eventually, yes, it is possible to build an impressive castle, but Free Build mode is severely limited in both choice of maps and the size of those maps, and the campaigns (economic and military) both feel like extended tutorials for far too long. And when it does, the next step is often to build more resource-gatherers and then to wait while the stockpile fills again. Once woodcutters have been set up next to forests and masons are quarrying away, there’s not a lot to do while waiting for the stockpile to fill. It takes a very long time to get anywhere though. At times, I was reminded of the early Settlers games and there is a similar sense of harmony when the economy is functioning well and resources are pouring in. Lumberjacks chop wood and masons gather stone, which can then be used to create new buildings and weapons. The majority of playtime isn’t spent with castles at all, it’s spent trying to create a workable supply chain, with food the top priority, and construction resources a close second. Therefore, bread is far more pleasing, which is good because peasants aren’t half a whinging bunch. So while an apple goes straight from the tree to the granary, wheat must be worked on several times before bread is produced. The more links in the chain, the more valuable the end product. Then it’s onto hops and breweries, which lead to inns, and grain farms that lead to mills that lead to bakeries.īasic resources are gathered and converted into edible or luxury goods through a chain of processes. That’s how things tend to start, with the planting of orchards and then the raising of cows and pigs. As I encircle the village I’ve painstakingly constructed with increasingly firm fortifications, until the very first orchards that I planted are at the heart of a living fortification. I imagine he was warm in the knowledge that his walls were unbreachable and that his breeches were the most appealing in the land. So now my feet are cold and I’m a bit bored, which isn’t how I imagine Lord DreadFace of StoneBastardManorBastion Castle felt as he stood atop his ramparts and surveyed his Lorddom. However, while it has charmed the socks on me, it’s also a bit dull, which I didn't expect at all.
Stronghold 3 review series#
I knew it would be because that's one thing the series has in spades. It gives peasants names like Denby Pomfreton and Carl Dongle.Ĭharming. A cow might be called ‘Beefy’, her only task, until she is forced into the mouths of my peasants, is ‘swatting flies with her tail’. Oxen plod along and clicking on them reveals they are called ‘Tiny’ for no reason other than to make me smile. In so many ways, this is one of the most charming games I’ve played this year. Yes, castles are amazing, but that doesn’t mean running one in Stronghold 3 is the best job in the world. Even their ruins are mightier than the tallest and most robust of modern buildings, and they have dungeons, which are like cellars but with skeletons instead of a toolbox that I never get around to actually using.