Stronghold 3 - should we be hopeful?

[xSamhainx]

When I first saw Stronghold 3 all over the place, my initial reaction was "meh". While the first game was golden, SH2 & Legends just werent very good games. The economy was convoluted, the AI was anything but intelligent, and they were buggy as hell. There was good times to be had here and there, and I do keep them installed just so I can fire them up and remind myself why i last ragequit.

Some preview interviews (http://www.videogamer.com/pc/stronghold_3/preview-2769.html) have me at least a little hopeful that maybe this time they got it right. Some key differences between SH2 and 3 are:
- simplifying the economy a little, more like SH1.
- Using someone else's engine instead of building their own.

I'm cautiously keeping my eye on this one.

[Motoki]

I've also heard it was more like SH1 and visually it's an obvious upgrade so I think it will be decent. I was hopeful enough to pre-order, though I did get it on a decent discount via Green Man Gaming.

I'll try and post my thoughts once it's released.

[Alrik Fassbauer]

I played the demo on the Games Com - and although I played very little of it, I liked it.

But I must say that I only played Stronghold 1 so far, and even that not to the end.

[Couchpotato]

I'm very hopeful for the game despite hating the publisher. Southpeak has a tendency to delay releases and cancel games. If you need more proof just remember there legal troubles they had.

[Jabberwocky]

I too was saying 'meh' when I saw the news. I finished Stronghold 1 iirc, but never finished the second one, despite starting over at least 3 times. From the videos I've seen of this new one, it looked to me like the same game with a graphics update, so... not a lot of excitement here.

On the other hand, if it plays in stereo 3D alright I might be persuaded to buy it. Ever since I upgraded to true 3D it's really hard to play a game any other way. Here's hoping for a demo!

[curious]

i'm hopeful but not enough to pry me from paying more than $25 to $30 for it. maybe i'll get lucky and steam will put it on their winter sale.

[Motoki]

So I have it now, haven't gotten the chance to play it too much yet, but not that impressed. Forget what I said about it being a visual upgrade, I don't know what trailer I was looking at previously, but the game is very dated looking which would be fine at $20 or $30 even, but not at $50 in my opinion.

I haven't had any technical issues with it so far, but judging by the forum reactions seems like lots of people are. There's also plenty of people upset there is no skirmish mode.

I'm glad I got a deal on the pre-order and didn't pay the full $50.

[xSamhainx]

since i got nailed on Dungeons, I've been very wary of preordering anything anymore.

Scathing review from RTSguru (http://www.rtsguru.com/game/299/features/230/Stronghold-3-Review.html)

The steam forums for the game are a veritable nerdstorm, i found one poster particularly amusing:

"i'm inclined to think we have our hands on the "Battlefield Earth" of computer games. So classically bad, it's almost good. I'm hating it and laughing at it simultaneously. Man, my soldiers are stupid. I was cracking up just watching a dozen guards stand two feet from a catapult watching it trash my walls and apparently sipping coffee. And that was on "agressive". I suspect this thing gets even more ludicrous further in. I loved the wolf's "nest". You know, because wolves are notorious for behaving like beavers and gathering sticks and piling them up into this longhouse contraption."

One thing i hated about sh2, was the economic campaign still had you being attacked. Everyone complained about that,hated it, and here they supposedly made the same mistake again. People just want to chill and play a medieval castle sim when they play that mode, that's why they play it!
….and apparently no "skirmish" mode? That's a big no-no when it comes to RTS.

all told, I'm still strangely compelled to give it a spin out of curiosity but I'll wait til it hits 20.00. By that time hopefully it'll be patched to playable state. I loved the original game that much, some of my custom scenarios are still floating around the internet, I spent so much time playing and making stuff for Stronghold that I cant help but be curious. Really wanted this one to be good…


edit - wow, every forum for this game is lit up, and some really bad first reviews. Looks like it's game over, man

[Alrik Fassbauer]

I've read comments on a German gaming mag saying that Stronghold 3 has several technical problems - but a patch is already announced to come "soon".
One commentator went to the exetreme and even called Stronghold 3 a "beta version".



(Interesting word : "theexetreme" …)

[Motoki]

There has already been one 'patch', or at least some update downloaded for it on Steam, however I have no clue what the hell it did because they didn't bother to update the news blog on Steam about it and I couldn't find a post on it in the Steam forums.

Rock Paper Shotgun reviewed S3 yesterday and while they worded it much more kindly than a lot of the nerd rage, they really wanted to enjoy the game but weren't able to.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/10/26/wot-i-think-stronghold-3/

[Zloth]

The Rock Paper Shotgun article had an advertisement for Sword of the Stars 2 next to it. Sheesh, what a sorry week this has been.

[xSamhainx]

was that a disappointment as well?

[Couchpotato]

was that a disappointment as well?

He is referring to the botched beta release and all the problems the game has even with the latest patch. I'm disappointed in the games I was looking to play this year.

Saints Row 3 and Skyrim better not be disappointments.

[wolfing]

Stronghold 3, Sword of the Stars 2 and Might and Magic Heroes 6, 3 for 3 strategy games that were released in betaish state, all in a period of 2-3 weeks. Sheesh.

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Accountants don't care about the quality of games.
Cynically put.