Stronghold Legends

"Just a reskin? Review of Legends' Skirmish Mode"

Introduction - Legends is the next installment in the Stronghold series. It follows Stronghold 2, which was met with mixed results. This new game adds a fantasy element to the castle sim and boasts new landscapes, "species", and play modes. The two skirmish modes are normal and king of the hill and they will be the focus of this review.

* Gameplay -

Pro's: Dragons, werewolves, some kind of exploding bat creature. Seriously, the new units are unique and certainly a departure from the previous Stronghold games. Some of these units, like the giants, are very powerful compared to the units that are retained from Stronghold 2.

Con's: The first thing I noticed when I played the skirmish modes was the fact that there are no maps supporting more than 4 people, half of what Stronghold 2 offered. This is a negative factor in my opinion. Although the new special units have some great power they are also extremely expensive. A dragon could bankrupt your castle and is easily dispatched by a large group of archers. The cost is greater than the usefulness. Also, I noticed a serious lack of content. It seems like half or more of the gameplay has been removed. There are significantly less buildings and occupations for your peasnts and the "random events" did away with the old system of keeping peasants happy. No more jousting, guard posts, musicians and executioners guilds, gong pits, falconers, etc. This is a huge negative in my opinion. It seems Firefly heard the negative comments regarding the complexity of Stronghold 2 and wanted to simplify Legends. It makes the game feel very empty.

* Graphics/Sound - Ahh, the graphics issue. This game truly is a reskin of Stronghold 2 with a few tweaks here and there. The building designs reflect which of the three "species" you are aligned with and this shakes things up a little. There are new ground skins to reflect the three alignments offered. What might seem like a good thing left me feeling like there was nothing to the map. The two new skins are very plain and unexciting.

* Final Recommendation - If you are a die-hard stronghold fan you will be let down. If you are a die hard fantasy fan you will be let down. If you have wealthy parents who buy you any game you want, you will probably enjoy this game. I can see how this will get old very quickly. With the lack of complexity within the castles (there are only 3 tower types and one gatehouse) and the seemingly rushed way it was put together I have to score it low.

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 10/23/06