Info about Stronghold: Warlords: Official game description: ULTIMATE EDITION ================ Buy Stronghold: Warlords Ultimate Edition and get: -------------------------------------------------- * Base Game * All Special Edition Content * 24 DLC Campaign Missions * The Art of War (Sun Tzu) * The Mongol Empire (Kublai Khan) * Rise of the Shogun (Minamoto Yoritomo) * The Warrior Queen (Fu Hao) * 8 DLC Warlords (Unique Perks & Upgrades) SPECIAL EDITION =============== Buy Stronghold: Warlords Special Edition and get: ------------------------------------------------- * Base Game * Digital Soundtrack * Making of Documentary * Digital Art Book * Stronghold HD POST-LAUNCH CONTENT =================== About the Game ============== The latest chapter in Firefly Studios' real-time strategy series, **Stronghold: Warlords** is the first game to recreate the castle economies of East Asia. In Warlords players take command of Mongol hordes, imperial warriors and samurai clansmen as they lay siege to Japanese castles and fortified Chinese cities. Besiege historical warlords using new gunpowder-fuelled siege weapons across 31 campaign missions, 45 skirmish trail scenarios, 28 multiplayer maps, skirmish mode and Free Build sandbox with AI invasions. For the first time ever **Stronghold: Warlords** allows you to recruit, upgrade and command AI lords across the battlefield in the form of in-game ‘Warlords’. Each warlord under your command boosts your strategic prowess with unique perks, characteristics and upgradeable abilities. Put them to work for your industry, fortifying borders, forging weapons or team up for a pincer attack! Each campaign mission, skirmish game and multiplayer battle means a fresh set of warlords to command and a completely new way to play Stronghold. * **CONQUER AND COMMAND WARLORDS** across the battlefield unlocking more powerful castles, armies and abilities. * **RELIVE HISTORICAL CAMPAIGNS** from 3rd century BC China, to the rise of the Tokugawa shogunate and coming of the Mongol Empire. * **MASTER THE SKIRMISH TRAILS** with 45 unique missions challenging your castle building and besieging expertise. * **RECRUIT NEW UNITS** including imperial fire lancers, disciplined samurai, Mongolian horse archers and deadly ninja. * **RAZE YOUR ENEMIES** with the arrival of gunpowder and new siege weapons like the hwacha arrow launcher, siege tower and fire oxen! * **BECOME THE GREATEST LORD** through fear or admiration using a range of medieval entertainment, taxation and torture. * **VANQUISH FOES IN MULTIPLAYER** across 28 maps, mixing and matching 4 human and 4+ AI players for your ideal online battleground. Release date: Mar 9, 2021 Categories: Real-time Strategy, Resource Management, Base Building, Multiplayer, Campaign, Skirmish Mode, Historical Simulation, Economic Simulation Feature scans: - MTX: score 70; verdict: Aggressive Monetization; summary: The game has received criticism for its monetization practices, particularly regarding the release of DLCs that users feel should have been included in the base game. This has led to perceptions of the game being a cash grab. However, there are also users who find value in the base game content and are willing to purchase additional DLCs for extended gameplay. - Steam Deck: score 70; verdict: Tinkering Required; summary: The Steam Deck experience with the game in question reveals several significant issues. The most critical problems include frequent crashes and instability, which severely impact the user experience. Additionally, high power consumption and heat generation are notable concerns, affecting the device's battery life and performance. Control issues are also mentioned, with mixed feedback indicating that while some users find the controls satisfactory, others experience significant problems. These issues collectively contribute to a less than optimal gaming experience on the Steam Deck. - Hardware Profile: No data Feature extractions: - Community Price: No data - Playtime Metrics: No data - Time-to-fun: No data - Player Archetypes: No data Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category. Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews. What players like: - Enjoyable and fun gameplay (weight 0.63): Players found the game enjoyable and fun, with a good mix of economy simulation and real-time strategy. The campaign, skirmishes, and multiplayer modes were particularly appreciated. - High-quality sound design (weight 0.34): The soundtrack, sound design, and voice acting were praised for their high quality. The game's localization in different languages was also appreciated. - Warlords system adds depth (weight 0.15): The new warlords system was seen as a significant and positive innovation. It adds depth to the gameplay with its diplomatic and warfare management aspects. - Variety in units and sieges (weight 0.09): Players appreciated the variety in units and siege machines. The new units and buildings added interesting strategic possibilities and enhanced the siege gameplay. - Returns to Stronghold roots (weight 0.08): The game successfully returns to the classic Stronghold gameplay while introducing new mechanics. It retains the DNA of the original Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader, appealing to longtime fans. - Good resource management (weight 0.07): The game offers a diverse range of resources and units, with different ways to influence people and manage the economy. This aspect was well-received by players. - Interesting new mechanics (weight 0.07): The game introduces several new mechanics that were found interesting and fun. These mechanics add to the overall enjoyment and strategic depth of the game. - Asian setting refreshes gameplay (weight 0.05): The Asian setting was seen as a refreshing change that brought new elements to the gameplay. It was interesting and different from previous Stronghold games. - Recommended for strategy lovers (weight 0.03): The game is recommended for both newcomers and veterans of the RTS or strategy game genre. It offers a good balance of accessibility and depth. - Difficulty levels and singleplayer content (weight 0.03): The game offers various difficulty levels and a substantial amount of singleplayer content, providing hours of gameplay. Common complaints: - Lack of innovation (weight 0.95): The game fails to introduce new features or innovations, making it feel like a downgrade compared to previous titles. Players note that it lacks the charm and depth of earlier Stronghold games. - Poor AI behavior (weight 0.94): The AI in the game is criticized for being stupid, unpredictable, and poorly designed. It often behaves erratically, making the gameplay frustrating and less enjoyable. - Gameplay is repetitive (weight 0.91): The gameplay is described as repetitive, boring, and lacking flexibility. The missions and campaigns are criticized for being uninteresting and poorly designed. - Game is extremely buggy (weight 0.88): The game is plagued with numerous bugs, including frequent crashes, synchronization issues, and various graphical glitches. Players report crashes during autosave, random crashes, and issues with graphics settings. - Poor graphics and visuals (weight 0.82): The graphics are considered outdated, ugly, and poorly developed. Players report issues with textures, visual clarity, and overall graphical quality. - Unit pathfinding issues (weight 0.16): Units often get stuck, behave inconsistently, and have pathfinding issues. This makes controlling units frustrating and less enjoyable. - Limited building and territory (weight 0.16): The game restricts building and territory management, making it difficult to build castles and manage resources effectively. Players feel constrained by the limited space and building options. - Multiplayer issues (weight 0.11): The multiplayer mode is criticized for being nearly unplayable due to frequent disconnections, synchronization issues, and low troop limits. - High price for low quality (weight 0.07): Players feel that the game is overpriced for the quality and content it offers. The lack of innovation and poor graphics make it feel like a waste of money. - Limited settings and options (weight 0.06): The game lacks a comprehensive settings menu, including options for hotkeys and language adjustments. This limits customization and accessibility. - Archer mechanics are buggy (weight 0.06): Archers in the game do not function properly, often getting stuck or attacking incorrectly. This adds to the overall frustration with the game's mechanics. - Cultural misrepresentation (weight 0.05): The game's mix of various Asian elements and cultural representations feels out of place and unappealing to some players. Gameplay feedback: - Economic and castle management (weight 0.48): The game emphasizes managing resources, building efficient production systems, and defending castles. Players must balance economy and military needs within limited castle areas. - Multiplayer and skirmish modes (weight 0.46): Multiplayer and skirmish modes offer replay value with a variety of units and strategies. However, there are limitations such as a 4-player cap and sync issues. - Campaign and mission variety (weight 0.45): The campaign mode offers substantial content with various missions and storylines. It introduces players to different units, buildings, and warlord types gradually. - Warlords system introduces new strategy (weight 0.44): The Warlords system is a significant addition, offering passive benefits and dynamic gameplay. Players can level up warlords and issue specific commands, adding a layer of strategy and competition in multiplayer modes. - Unit and AI issues (weight 0.36): Players report problems with unit balance, AI behavior, and pathfinding. Units can become unresponsive, and the AI often spams armies, leading to tactical depth issues. - Historical and cultural setting (weight 0.29): The game features an Asian setting with diverse units, buildings, and tactics influenced by historical periods. However, some elements feel inconsistent or inaccurate. - Comparison to Stronghold series (weight 0.08): The game retains the Stronghold DNA and is compared to previous titles like Stronghold Crusader and Stronghold 2. However, some players feel it lacks the depth and charm of its predecessors. - Combat and tactical depth (weight 0.03): Combat in the game is described as lacking tactical depth, with simple level design and repetitive gameplay. Balanced fights requiring more tactics are desired by players. Performance notes: - Poor optimization and performance (weight 0.33): The game suffers from various optimization issues, such as high GPU usage, heating problems, FPS drops, and stuttering. Players also report long loading screens and performance issues on certain computer configurations. - Frequent crashes and stability issues (weight 0.33): The game experiences numerous crashes, including random crashes, crashes during autosave, and crashes to desktop. Players report frequent freezing, unexpected shutdowns, and issues with synchronization and connection. - Graphical and visual problems (weight 0.32): The game has outdated and poorly developed graphics, disappearing textures, and graphical glitches. Players also mention issues with graphical settings and visual clarity of units, UI, and buildings. - Unit control and pathfinding issues (weight 0.06): Players report clunky unit controls, units bunching up, failing to respond to commands, and taking inefficient routes. There are also stability issues and lags with high unit counts. - Frequent synchronization problems (weight 0.02): The game has constant synchronization issues, with re-sync happening too often, causing disruptions in gameplay. - Game feels rushed and unpolished (weight 0.02): Players feel that the game was released in an unpolished state, with graphics and overall presentation lacking refinement. - High GPU usage in main menu (weight 0.02): The main menu is poorly optimized, causing high GPU usage, which can lead to performance issues and overheating. - Excessively loud music (weight 0.01): The music in the game is reported to be far too loud, even when the volume is set to 0%, which can be disruptive to the gaming experience. - Persistent bugs from original games (weight 0.01): Basic bugs from the original games are still present, indicating a lack of thorough bug fixing and quality assurance. Recommendations: - Mixed purchase recommendations (weight 0.22): Players have varied opinions on whether to buy the game. Some recommend it, especially for fans of the series or RTS games, while others suggest waiting for a sale or playing older Stronghold games instead. - Suggestions for gameplay improvements (weight 0.02): Players suggest improving building mechanics on warlords' land and enhancing the AI and personality of warlords. These changes are expected to make the game more enjoyable. - Positive feedback on DLCs (weight 0.02): The DLCs are highly praised and considered worth buying, especially when on sale. Players find them exceptional and a good addition to the game. - Avoid until bugs fixed (weight 0.01): Some players advise avoiding the game until bugs are fixed, indicating that there are significant issues affecting gameplay. - Worth the experience (weight 0.01): Many players find the game worth their time and experience, indicating that it provides a good gaming experience overall. - Hope for more content (weight 0.01): Players express hope for more content updates, suggesting that they are looking forward to additional features or improvements in the future. Other player notes: - Save problems with account names (weight 0.01): There is a specific issue where using full-width characters in account names causes problems with saving the game. - Request for higher zoom (weight 0.01): Players have expressed a desire for an additional zoom level to enhance visibility or detail. - Documentary mentioned (weight 0.01): A documentary was made about the game, indicating its significance or impact. Emotions: - Disappointment (weight 0.38): Players express disappointment due to the game's lack of innovation, persistent bugs, and crashes. Many feel it fails to meet the standards set by previous Stronghold games, particularly in terms of gameplay mechanics, optimization, and content depth. - Frustration (weight 0.28): Players are frustrated by frequent game crashes, bugs, and poor AI behavior. Issues with multiplayer synchronization, performance problems, and unbalanced gameplay mechanics also contribute to this frustration. - Satisfaction (weight 0.06): Players find satisfaction in the game's new mechanics, such as the Warlords system, and appreciate the fresh gameplay elements. The quality of life improvements and enjoyable combat mechanics also contribute to their satisfaction. - Nostalgia (weight 0.04): Players feel nostalgic as the game reminds them of classic Stronghold titles like Stronghold Crusader and Stronghold Legends. The familiar gameplay elements evoke memories of playing earlier entries in the series. - Anger (weight 0.03): Players are angry due to the game's perceived poor quality and the developer's disregard for customer concerns. Issues such as cultural misrepresentation, poor translation, and the game's price point also contribute to their anger. - Joy (weight 0.02): Players experience joy from the enjoyable campaign, tactics, and castle building. The multiplayer mode and the game's music and gameplay also contribute to their positive experience. - Admiration (weight 0.01): Players admire the game's detailed graphics and the quality of the German language support. The visual elements and attention to detail in the game's design are particularly appreciated. - Happy (weight 0.01): Players are happy with the enjoyable gameplay elements and overall experience. The game provides a pleasant and engaging experience that contributes to their happiness. - Enjoyment (weight 0.01): Players enjoy the game's pleasant graphics and vibrant colors. The fun and engaging multiplayer experience also adds to their enjoyment. - Excitement (weight 0.01): Players are excited about the game's graphical success and the added strategy elements. The fun gameplay and the prospect of acquiring DLCs on sale also contribute to their excitement. - Appreciation (weight 0.01): Players appreciate the game's polished mechanics, great physics engine, and innovative ideas. The balanced gameplay and stunning art are also highly valued. - Happiness (weight 0): Players are happy enjoying the game with friends, which enhances their overall gaming experience. - Interest (weight 0): Players are interested in the game's Asian setting, which provides a fresh and engaging experience. - Excited (weight 0): Players are excited about the fun gameplay elements that the game offers.}