"Realy! I also feel different. Its like the whole world has changed."
"Thats the exact thing my wife said in the morning Sire! We live in a new world."
"Yes looks like the grapich has changed. You know I am an 3D lord now. But let me walk in and out of the keep as i have done it in the 2 stronghold games before"
"If you wish Sire! I have nothing to do than siting here around the fire. But if the green bar here turns red I am going to be the first one to run away"
Stronghold 2 does not at all feel like a proper stronghold
The first peak at the stronghold 2 game may shock the player because there is a huge difference in the aperance of the game. The developer decided on a new 3D grapic and favored it over the artistic more appeling 2D grapic and this decision is definitly a graphical step backwards. Especialy the sterile, grid-developed looking buildings, the bad scale between the big buildings and the small humans and the unreal human animations are almost painfull to look at. Also if the grapichal standart of stronghold 1 and stronghold crusader is taken into consideration, who do not poses over the top grapichs but still manage to acieve a high amout of autaentic feeling. The grapichal step backwards is also seen in the troops and battel system. Due too bad animation of soliders, to slow soliders, disadvantageous scale ratio between small solideras and huge maps and buildings all the heart and concept of the former stronghold battel is lost.
Unnecesary changes in the economy totaly take away the game flow. Stronghold was never famous for its complicated economy but the former games maneged to creat a economy that was pourpose giving in connection with the castel building assets and resulted in a great game flow. The different varieties of food wich only were needed for the baquets in the keep and prestige points (or what ever), the candel makers or the liquid manure are just some exampel for this unnecesary changes in economy.
But the heaviest blow is deliverd by the lack of charm and variety in the castle building assets in whoes variety and charm I priced and charieshed the former strongholds. Thats such a big mistak it is comperabel to anno without islands, Sim city without skyscrapers or Sims without home building. İts like cutting away the esence of the game. Another grapic connected situation that is conperabel to the exampels above is that the flight curve of the arrow is not included in the grapic. Again an asset that made stronghold stronghold. İt was like "you know the game where you can see the arrow fly" "Yes! Stronghold!"
One of the biggest imporvements from stroghold to stronghold crusader was the oportuntiy for skirmisches and developing up to 8 catels on the same mape. Stronghold 2 tries to even further develope this concept and totaly fails in the attempt. Because ther is not needed to seperat the map into counties as it takes away the freedom to develope a big castel and it concludes in a too big maps for the small builded castels.
Taking all into consideration I can not say that stronghol 2 is a good game. It may bee a mediocer game that losses even more in comparison with its older brothers (stronghold and stronghold crusader).
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