Only a few games have shaped the childhood of MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus as much as Stronghold. A remaster is now coming to Steam with a feature that the ancient strategy game desperately needs.
What kind of game is this? In Stronghold, you play as an aspiring commander who seeks to avenge his father’s death. In the process, you delve into the intrigues of various medieval dukes and must fight against them.
Stronghold takes place in a medieval world where you can even reenact some historical battles. At its core, the game is a strategy game, roughly similar to Age of Empires, but with some significant differences:
- Castle building is an important aspect; you must set strategic walls and defenses.
- Resources are not simply “used” but are further processed into armor, weapons, and more.
- Your people must be happy. Provide them with beer, religion, and food to be able to collect taxes and train soldiers.
What’s new now: On July 14th, Firefly, the studio behind Stronghold, announced a remaster of the game. As Stronghold: Definitive Edition, the game will be released on November 7th on Steam, fully dubbed in German.
In addition to improved graphics, new options, and even single-player content, the remaster will have one very important innovation: online multiplayer via the Steam servers. This is something that the old Stronghold games have needed for years.
Stronghold is a piece of childhood for me and has always hurt me more
I grew up with Stronghold. The first part and its successor Crusader are among a handful of other titles that I played the most as a child and teenager.
The problem with the series was only this: since the first part, it has always gotten worse. Stronghold, the first part, is by far the best. Crusader was still at the same level; after that, no game in the series came even close to that quality.
The combination of castle building, sieges, life simulation, and real-time battles is unique in Stronghold. No other game does it quite as well. Even for the colleagues at GameStar, Stronghold is one of the best strategy games of all time.
Although Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader can still be played without any issues today, it’s quite cumbersome to play with friends. Connections must be painstakingly set up via LAN emulators like Hamachi or Gameranger, which are rarely stable, if at all.
Accordingly, I am extremely thrilled about the remaster and will definitely be playing with friends on release. For me, the announcement was like an unexpected birthday gift, even though I don’t even have a birthday.
