Stronghold Legends

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Stronghold Legends
Stronghold Legends Coverart.jpg
Developer(s) Firefly Studios
Publisher(s) 2K
Producer(s) Paul Harris
Designer(s) Simon Bradbury
Programmer(s) Warrick Buchanan
Andrew Prime
Will Wilson
Artist(s) Robert Thornley
Writer(s) Rhianna Pratchett
Simon Bradbury
Composer(s) Robert L. Euvino
SeriesStronghold
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release
  • EU: October 13, 2006 [1]
  • AU: October 20, 2006
  • NA: October 23, 2006
Genre(s) Real-time strategy
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Stronghold Legends is a real-time strategy game developed by Firefly Studios and published by 2K in 2006. It is the fourth game in the Stronghold series, following Stronghold, Stronghold: Crusader, and Stronghold 2.

Contents

Stronghold Legends contains 24 missions spanning three different campaigns: King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, Count Vlad Dracul, and Siegfried of Germany. This sequel contains a new feature that allows the player to control human and mythical armies. Creatures like dragons and witches can be created in Stronghold Legends. [2]

Gameplay

Unlike the previous Stronghold titles, Legends gives the player a choice of different starting rulers with different troop types (including King Arthur and his knights of the round table, Count Vlad Dracul, and Siegfried of Xanten). Other new features include cooperative multiplayer against computer-controlled opponents and the choice between different gameplay options for online play (Deathmatch, King of the Hill, Economic War, and Capture the Flag).

Each faction has new and unique unit groups. Most special units have their own unique ability, which must be recharged after they are used. Dragons are also available to every faction, but have a set lifetime. All other special units remain on the map until they die. In story mode the players not necessarily bound to their factions special units. For example, King Arthur can make use of the Ice Tower instead of the Round Table for more balanced game play.

Stronghold Legends has been made using a similar graphics engine as Stronghold 2 – the game appeared to be a minor rehash of the previous game on the first inspection. However, playing it revealed that the graphics were considerably improved and new music tracks had been added. More units were available; features like crime were removed entirely, minor changes like this have altered the gameplay experience slightly. It was included in the Mastertronic range of games in the UK, showing its popularity.

Plot

There are three story lines that follow three different lords and their conquests. Each storyline also has a corresponding campaign difficulty but the gameplay difficulty can be changed independently. Each campaign has its own set of heroes and special units that corresponds with the campaigns theme. The defensive buildings will also change depending on the level and campaign. The modes are as follows:

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [3]

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