Stronghold: Warlords is a very interesting twist on the past Stronghold games. While many of the well known elements return (which should be expected) a few new ones show up. This Stronghold game was something I have anticipated for since the announcement. I have been a Stronghold fan ever since my father introduced me to the franchise with Stronghold 2 and I still am years later and for years to come.

The main element of this game and what it's basically named after are the Warlords. Similar to the estates in other Stronghold games they can be captured by force or they can be captured diplomatically, this is not done by honour, but with diplomacy points (kind of the same thing just a different name, but there is more to it). It also is not a simple "click once, done", but depending on the warlord you are trying to capture it can take a few or a lot of your points, not to mention that other lords can do the same and take away using both methods too.

I have noticed that with this particular game, it is very heavy on economy. With other Stronghold games I usually build a few buildings and that's all I need, but here you need to really watch space and resources. Wood (or bamboo) is not as plentiful or even existant on a few maps, which definitely will be a bind several times.

Looking at the units in the game, we can definitely see the typical ones such as bow and crossbow men, catapults, trebuchets, mantlets, horse arches and a few more. There are also many new ones, very interesting are those with explosive capabilities. I won't list them here, but a quick YouTube video will show you everything you need to know.

When it comes to the content itself, depending on how you play you should be good for at least 10 hours if not even 20 for the entire campaign, both military and economic. I usually go for building a very strong economy, then castle and only then do I start planning attacks. As they have announced their roadmap, we can expect a entirely new campaign route and campaign trials to appear. Content and updates are looking good and there are always improvements and additions being made.

The game runs well on highest graphics options, there are a few visual bugs some of them aren't gamebreaking, few are though. As of now there are some kinds of trees that are missing their textures entirely and in one instance the ground was entirely black. Currently the game is not optimised for 4 (3 AI, 1 Player) skirmishes and will easily lag, especially when everyone starts attacking. Imagine that with 7 AI and 1 player, you won't get anywhere close to 1 FPS, you'd be lucky to even have frames every 1 second.

Regardless of the bugs and similarities to the other games, Stronghold: Warlords is definitely worth picking up, sale or not. Yes it is not your typical medieval castle builder, but so isn't all Stronghold: Crusader. Both Crusader and Warlords are well done "expeditions" into another culture and I definitely enjoyed them.

Overall I give Stronghold: Warlords a very good:
9/10
+ New and interesting twist on estates and management
+ Complicated / difficult but fun to manage economy
+ New and fun units
o Few bugs, which hopefully are fixed for the next patches
o AI are predictable, as all the other Stronghold games, but allow for interesting wall designs
o/- Towers sadly can't be stuffed with 300 bowmen anymore and have a set limit
o/- Most likely intentional feature: Units have collision now and can't run through crowds / each other without being slowed down massively
- Units can't be "fired" -> with weird troop limits gameplay can become difficult without sacrificing units to the enemy

(Oh yeah and multiplayer also works, long gone are the days of multiplayer not being available. Thanks for being available on Steam!!)

Stronghold: Warlords is a very interesting twist on the past Stronghold games. While many of the well known elements return (which should be expected) a few new ones show up. This Stronghold game was something I have anticipated for since the announcement. I have been a Stronghold fan ever since my father introduced me to the franchise with Stronghold 2 and I still am years later and for years to come. The main element of this game and what it's basically named after are the Warlords. Similar to the estates in other Stronghold games they can be captured by force or they can be captured diplomatically, this is not done by honour, but with diplomacy points (kind of the same thing just a different name, but there is more to it). It also is not a simple "click once, done", but depending on the warlord you are trying to capture it can take a few or a lot of your points, not to mention that other lords can do the same and take away using both methods too. I have noticed that with this particular game, it is very heavy on economy. With other Stronghold games I usually build a few buildings and that's all I need, but here you need to really watch space and resources. Wood (or bamboo) is not as plentiful or even existant on a few maps, which definitely will be a bind several times. Looking at the units in the game, we can definitely see the typical ones such as bow and crossbow men, catapults, trebuchets, mantlets, horse arches and a few more. There are also many new ones, very interesting are those with explosive capabilities. I won't list them here, but a quick YouTube video will show you everything you need to know. When it comes to the content itself, depending on how you play you should be good for at least 10 hours if not even 20 for the entire campaign, both military and economic. I usually go for building a very strong economy, then castle and only then do I start planning attacks. As they have announced their roadmap, we can expect a entirely new campaign route and campaign trials to appear. Content and updates are looking good and there are always improvements and additions being made. The game runs well on highest graphics options, there are a few visual bugs some of them aren't gamebreaking, few are though. As of now there are some kinds of trees that are missing their textures entirely and in one instance the ground was entirely black. Currently the game is not optimised for 4 (3 AI, 1 Player) skirmishes and will easily lag, especially when everyone starts attacking. Imagine that with 7 AI and 1 player, you won't get anywhere close to 1 FPS, you'd be lucky to even have frames every 1 second. Regardless of the bugs and similarities to the other games, Stronghold: Warlords is definitely worth picking up, sale or not. Yes it is not your typical medieval castle builder, but so isn't all Stronghold: Crusader. Both Crusader and Warlords are well done "expeditions" into another culture and I definitely enjoyed them. Overall I give Stronghold: Warlords a very good: 9/10 + New and interesting twist on estates and management + Complicated / difficult but fun to manage economy + New and fun units o Few bugs, which hopefully are fixed for the next patches o AI are predictable, as all the other Stronghold games, but allow for interesting wall designs o/- Towers sadly can't be stuffed with 300 bowmen anymore and have a set limit o/- Most likely intentional feature: Units have collision now and can't run through crowds / each other without being slowed down massively - Units can't be "fired" -> with weird troop limits gameplay can become difficult without sacrificing units to the enemy (Oh yeah and multiplayer also works, long gone are the days of multiplayer not being available. Thanks for being available on Steam!!)