Stronghold 2 game online how to#

In fact, while Stronghold Crusader 2 has a pair of campaigns, they’re “learning campaigns,” and they’re about as fun as they sound. The pace is much faster, the interface is easier to deal with (in particular it’s now much easier to check and adjust peasant happiness, tax rates, and things of that nature), and there is more of a balance between attacking and defending. Now in Stronghold Crusader 2, the game is all about multiplayer skirmishes. There were some castle assaults included, but (in my opinion at least) they didn’t work very well, and they were a rarity. The original Stronghold Crusader was a slower-paced mostly single-player game where you built and defended castles. So how does Stronghold Crusader 2 differ from Stronghold Crusader? Mostly it’s in the focus of the game. Do you go offensive and take the battle to your enemies, or do you sit back and defend? And do you take the time to construct the weapons necessary for your troops, or do you just hire more expensive mercenaries? I always like it when games give me options, and the various Stronghold incarnations have always provided that in spades. For example, when feeding your people, do you opt for apple orchards which are quick and cheap but inefficient, or do you go for bread which requires wheat farms, mills, and bakeries, and which takes longer to set up? There are also nearly 30 types of military units you can use, from archers to knights to the new “wolf” ballista.

Stronghold 2 game online how to#

In Stronghold Crusader 2, there are over 30 types of buildings, from fletchers to dairy farms to churches, and they give you numerous options for how to build your castle. The economic models for the Stronghold games are more complex than you usually see in an RTS, and they involve lots of buildings and moving parts. You also have to quarry stone for castles, wood for buildings, and iron for weapons. Taxes are your main source for gold, which you need for recruiting soldiers to join your army. You have to keep them happy by providing them with housing, food, ale, and / or religious services, and the happier you make them, the more you can tax them.

You lord over peasants who perform the necessary jobs, but they’re not just mindless drones. In Stronghold Crusader 2 like in the other Stronghold games, you have to run a castle. Most of the game mechanics remain the same, but many options have been removed to make the game sleeker and easier to play, which not coincidentally coincides with Firefly’s desire for the game to be more about quick multiplayer skirmishes than long castle defenses. I haven’t played all of the Stronghold games - in fact, I don’t think I’ve played one since 2005’s Stronghold 2 - but from what I can tell, not much has changed. Stronghold Crusader 2 is the latest entry in Firefly Studios’ castle-building RTS franchise, which began way back in 2001 with the original Stronghold.