Stronghold Critic Reviews

This is a great combination of fun, education (you never know when you might need those siege tactics in Tesco's) strategy and resource management that is a fantastic addition to the sim stable.

Stronghold’s deft mix of economic, building, and combat challenges makes it one of the best strategy games of the year.

Before now there have been some strategy games set in medieval times, but none has captured the essence and flavour of the period like the superb Stronghold.

Graphics and animations are charismatic, and it is truly enjoyable to build, defend, and even siege the greatest citadel in the land.

For those who eat, sleep, and live strategic defense design and implementation, Stronghold should be number one on your to-get list.

An interesting, exciting, and fun city-building strategy simulation that will surely stay on many hard drives for a long time.

Aside from some interface and control issues centered around the actual building of your castle walls, this is a fun and exciting entry into the RTS market that many of you should really be able to make love to. That's right, I said make love to. So I'm a pervert, what do you want from me?

Stronghold is an intriguing and ‘fresh’ perspective on the civilization genre. It is filled with great graphical elements and sound, and plays well. This is a solid and enjoyable outing.

Stronghold is a very interesting game; a game which has no equals, not because it’s that outstanding, but because there’s been so few games that can fight for the title of castle sim champion.

It borrows from the proven models of other successful games, and puts them in a new venue. It’s fun, deep, and bug-free.

Its versatility, non-linearity and great replay value make it an excellent choice.

Its defensive focus and thoughtful, non-click-fest combat are unusual, and are its main strengths.

It's been years since a game let you pour boiling oil on invading hordes, and Stronghold simulates castle sieges well enough to recommend it to those who are interested in the premise. But it's a hesitant recommendation, due to a poor interface and mediocre campaigns.

While I totally think the game could have been a hundred fold better by corrected the AI issue, it is still a safe buy for most gamers and recommended for novice to intermediate RTS fans.

It's almost more fun to watch than it is to play.

The campaigns, especially the economic one, can be insanely difficult. Much of it begins to resemble a puzzle to be solved than a castle to be built.

The excellent castle management and siege combat is tarnished by the cumbersome interface and mediocre real-time combat.

The pandemonium of a castle siege can be fun to watch, but experienced gamers may find that this does not compensate for the game's frustrating points.

An excellent title that manages to bring the middle-age “hobby” of castle building to the modern-day gamer.