The Top 10 Games of 2K Games

09. Stronghold 2 (Firefly Studios)

April 2005 - PC

Created as a dedicated Castle-Sim style game, Stronghold 2 was firmly slotted into the RTS (Real-Time Strategy) genre, offering players a a 3D game play experience at a time when 3D was thought to be the future of gaming.

The basic premise of the game and its story had the ruling King abdicating his throne and fleeing ahead of certain death after the defeat of his armies, choosing to try and rule his lands and people from an undisclosed and secret location.

Because nobody knows for sure exactly where the King is, or how much awareness he has of the events in the kingdom, the aristocracy that formerly held its power and position at his pleasure is now battling for control, with barons and lesser beings largely at each others throats.

The player / protagonist is a low-level noble and Lord whose intention is to try to help to stop the rebellion of the barons and unite the population in the name of the King once again.

This ambitious goal is partly attained through the expansion of your lands, while you build and fortify a secure citadel from which to plan and execute strategies to put down the rebellious barons and their retainers.

http://youtu.be/sKY6xkq8-HQ

While the focus of the game is combat, a sub-plot side includes entertainments such as jousts, holding lavish feasts and tournaments to help influence the feelings of the populace and aristocracy, and project your growing power over those who you rule.

Stronghold 2 was well received by players, who experienced it for what it was: a hand's on medieval romp through the historical world of knights, swords, and political intrigue.

Reviewers on the other hand treated the game with a distant like - scoring it as a middle-of-the-road game that, while entertaining, did not present as anything special. The average review scores ranged from 3/5 to 6/10.

Player reviews included significant satisfaction with the combat system, its dynamic depiction of siege-warfare, and overall simulation of castle-life which was said to be both satisfying and realistic - though how they know that who can say? I don't recall ever living in a castle myself, but still...

Game play is divided between the story-mode campaign and a multi-player mode that appeared to be a progressive re-design of the single-player campaign.