Stronghold 3 Gold Reviews

- rep

GG

game have many bogs

Dark ages of Stronghold series...

Don't waste your money, it's worse than Stronghold 2 in every way except the graphics are slightly better i guess. I should have listened to the other reviews.

This is my first review of a game on Steam and this is long over due. I got this for less then $5 on sale just to see how bad it was and it was terrible. I'm shocked this game was allowed to be sold in the state it was in. This is a game that is missing everything Stronghold has had in the past and is so bugged you can't even play just for fun. I would say this is game is a scam of a product if i had not paid so little also knowing it was so messed up. But, the face its still on stem for $29.99 today is shocking. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME! Take your $30 and burn it for better results.

I am a huge fan of Stronghold and played all titles, esspecially Crusader I which to me still stands out to be the best of them all. With the new Definitiv Edition of the first titles and having played the Demo Version of Crusader I Definitiv Edition recently (cant wait to get it in Summer) i want to bring light back to this title which in my opinion has gotten an unfair share of negative reviews and critics. I am aware of all the shortcomings (like the lack of Skirmish mode) and other things but i want to point out all the Positives about this game and the potential it has and i hope work will continue even after 14 years. So, whats the Positives: 1. It took the best Part of Stronghold I and II and put it together: - It kept the Honor System of Stronghold II but in a much simpler way. Stronghold II was simply overloaded compared to the space avaialble on maps. A massive Keep just to hold Bankets in a Giant Room was stupid. Stronghold III does it much better by having the Lords Kitchen, the Bedchamber as well as the treasury within the Keep like you would expect it from such a massive Keep. And to be honest i dont have to watch the Banket taking place to watch my Lord sitting on a Table in full armor. - The Treasury is also again within the Keep which is good. - It got rid of the Crime System of Stronghold II and reintroduced the the pleasure and fear system again which is much better. The Crime rate and the ammount of buildings and Personal necessary to keep crime rate in check and economy going was too much in Stronghold II. Having Watchmen, a Judge (really?) and a Tortures Guild to speed the punishment was too much. On Top of that even in with a relatively small Population the Crime rate was insane, like it is modern day Chicago or Frankfurt or worse. - It got rid of the Gong Pits and Falkners Posts. Not that i am against such an idea in general but Stronghold II was too crazy in it. A good junk of the Population was busy with gongs and rats and half of those were often in jail or being punished. And the Gongs were often placed next to the Grainery or Supply Depot anyways because thats where peasunts shit the most. 2. By Removing a lot of Castle Buildings, which made Building a functioning castle in stronghold II rather difficult due to the available land being too small, building a castle in Stronghold III makes fun again. 3. The Walls look more natural than ever and the new way of building walls makes building a castle also a lot more easy and joyfull. For the first time you can draw a wall in whatever direction you want and Towers etc automatically adjust to it. Its just great. 4. Buildings can also be turned in any direction you want. 5. The Popularity system is the same as the one used in the later Crusader II which is way better than those of previous titles. 6. Good user interface (in the same or similiar way as crusader II) TLDR: I like the easy way of building castles in Stronghold III and the reduction massive and unnecessary castle Buildings of Stronghold II which more or less dictated the setup of your castle with many massive buildings. The Negatives: 1. Crossbowman having less range the spear throwing units (?). At least it seems that they dont always shoot when enemies are in range. 2. Light troops like Spearman moving way too slow and having an awkward looking spear. 3. Lack of a Skirmish mode. 4. In Stronghold II versions previous to the 1.5 Steam version even armored units were jogging. Would like to see them doing it again instead of walking so insanely slow and stupid looking. But i think the negatives are actually quick to overcome with a few patches. So i hope that this title will get some love again as the first titles did.