Stronghold 2 Demo

Stronghold 2 is a real-time strategy game that places you in the Middle Ages as a lord who must rule over his land as best as he can. Whether you embark on a military or diplomatic campaign, the game offers you a memorable experience thanks to well throughout gameplay and the multitude of paths you can follow in order to achieve your goal.

The game’s selling point is the freedom you have to plan out and create your stronghold. In both the campaign and single player modes you start off with a simple keep and a few resources which you must wisely use to begin your kingdon’s expansion.

Micromanagement won’t be an issue as the peasants you rule manage any task on their own leaving you with concern for food, resources, industry and army. Everything is well balanced within the game, not feeding your workers enough will cause them to quit their jobs and consequently cripple production of any kind. Stronghold 2 adds torture devices which you can use to set an example for those who disobey you but even so, it’s up to you if you want to rule as a loved or feared lord.

The campaigns in Stronghold 2 come with nice stories that involve family, trust, deceit and of course, a lot of battles between large forces.

A feature that comes with Stronghold 2 and greatly complements its multiplayer mode is the Map Editor, which obviously you can use to create custom lands. This allows you to experiment with all kinds of terrain and scenarios as you also have the freedom to devise your own stories and campaigns.

Stronghold 2, like its predecessor has its fair share of shortcomings but it is a considerable improvement. Although you might find the graphics of the game a tad outdated, gameplay certainly makes up for it.