Lords of the Realm 3: the game that should have been the addon to Lords of the realm 2

Lords of the realm 3 is mainly regarded as a unworthy successor of the 2 installment in the series. But I think a lot of this believe feeds from the situation that LOR 3 did not fulfill the high expectations set in it after the good work of the 2 title. Which does not mean that LOR3 is a bad game. This situation of unfulfilled expectations making it difficult to judge the game by its real value. A problem not present for this evaluation as I played LOR 3 before the 2 part.

Stronghold Crusader

"Infidels are attacking oh Caliph! And they are led by the famous Christian Crusader. Richard Lionheart!"

"Nooo!" the cup of the kalif flew through the dark room and the content of it spilled on the floor. The ice water formed a growing small lake but steam rose quickly as the water evaporated in the unforgiving summer sun.

"General what shall we do?"

"Oh great Caliph! It would give the troop great courage if you were to show up on the battlements. All other preparations are made. The archer are already taking position on the towers and the flam throwers are also ready"

It took a time to convince the Caliph but after some time he agreed to at least go on the top of the keep and let himself bee seen by the archers. But as the general and his master got out into the open air it was already to late. Thick black smoke was covering the whole castle and the tops of the huge towers could not bee seen through the smoke. And the noise was unbearable the fire was ever growing and it made a sizzling noise and the screams of the castle inhabitants filed the courtyard. One of the flame throwers must have lost control over his pots and the content which was bound to hit the for coming enemies now destroyed the castle from the inside.

Anno 1701

Hendrick Jorgensen awaits his allies ship on the farthest edge of his kontors dock because rumors were heard that the ship contains huge amounts of lamp oil. A joyfully panic overcomes Hendrick and he can not stay still. The last two days were hard work for the young man. He had to scrap together all the coin he could get to buy as much lamp oil as possible. The settlers were not amused as Hendrick ordered to sell all the wood and brick available in the depots of the city. "We need that for our houses. Don't you see they are getting too small for our families we need these materials". But Hendrick had no choice, he needed the lamp oil and all the islands in the north were already occupied. No! He had to do anything in his power to get this lamp oil even if it meant the ruin of his city and of himself.

The great computer controlled players in "Anno 1701" give the 3th game of the series a great bit of character and add to the cute comic style of the game with cities that burst in different colors and islands full of exotic animals and local plantation . But to start from the beginning in anno 1701 the old (and hugely appreciated) concept does not change. Only beginning with one ship and a few resources the player starts to build a small settlement, expand on other islands, get more resources, trade with others, rage ware and build the greatest city the world has ever seen.

Anno 1503: The New World

It is difficult to work in the University of the "Anno town " as the king is very inpatient and always wants to be informed of new discoveries. Just half a year ago the Great Professor himself was a great part  involved in the finding of a better arrow head that makes the archers even more deadly. But it is war and the enemies have sticks which let out steam and fire small metal balls in the allied ranks of men. Many brave warriors and some battles were lost to the invention of this new weapon. But the Great Professor was on the merge of getting their own "steam stick" up and working. When it is finished the bravery of our soldiers will not be withstood for very long.

The second game in the "Anno" series is "Anno 1503: The New World " in which we are again starting only with a ship and some resources to carve ourselves out a life from the uninhabited island formation. The second game stands out by adding even more resources and make it even more complex than the former game.

Anno 1602 creation of a new world

Alfred ran as fast as he could. "The ship is seen on the horizon" his friend told him and after this the whole town was in tumult. "AH! Finally the ship" said the old lady on the market place cause she dearly needed some new fabric from "fabric town" in the south. "Alfred! Here have some money and buy some spices. This is the ship from Fabric Town there must be at least 25 t on the ship". "Dear boy!" said Alfreds neighbor "Pleas look for me if there is any jewellery in the ships cargo, cause I need a birthday surprise for my loved on. This is the ship that takes the route from fiber town to Goldy and back to us. Please be so kind and look for me". "Ah! The ship from Goldy, my brother is a gold worker there. Will you ask the captain if he knows anything about him? Maybe a letter." requested the carrier from Alfred. And Alfred was happy to be of service, he only hoped he could keep all this in his mind. But what was that! The ship was on fire as it seemed and on second look it seem a bit crooked. As the evening came the whole truth was out. It was war! This was the last ship that got through the barricade of the enemy and the last ship that was to be expected from Goldy.

Tropico 2: Pirate Cove

Captain Morgan is standing on his new frigate, because the "Pirate King" has ordered him to go on plunder in a heavy guarded Spanish region, the "caribbean islands". After the last man has fulfilled his gambling pleasure in the casino and the first mate finally came from the brothel , the sails could be set and the journey began. As Captain Morgan anticipated (not feared because what would a pirate be if he felt fear!) the journey was rather difficult and after 10 days on sea with only the never changing serration made of corn they Spanish armada took them by surprise and the newly made frigate joined the other wracks of former great ships on the bottom of the sea. Only Captain Morgan survived and swore to come back to the island where the new Rum Distillery was making the first bottles of rum and  the Pastries  were so delicious.

I often found myself supprised that I; was loudly singing to the soundtrack of tropico 2 which is phenomenal and is just a real great part of giving the caribbean, pirate, freedom, ANARCHY! feeling to the player. So lets dive into my review.

In " Tropico 2: Pirate Cove" the player  gets into the role of a "pirate king".  Only starting with a few pirates and some prisoners for the hard work, everything is in the hand of the player as the good interlink between different game mechanics gives grate variety of options and play style.
- Decide to let the prisoners be happy and satisfied their needs or let them bee unwelcome on the island and risk them running away and kill untrained pirates.
- Ask yourself the question if it is better to have happy pirates who survive a plunder and invest in their swordplay, canon, navigate ... Skills or use the pirates as disposable resource and let them go on a threatening plunder trip if they are to angry with you so they may "accidentally" die.
- Do you want to create a island where you produce what you use or do you want to live the "real" pirate life where you buy everything from the black market. And the gold? Yes the gold comes from many plunder trips
This many options and different style in gaming (with if chosen highly unorthodox methods) and the change in scene (being "pirate king" not El Comandante) helps greatly for the agony and sarcasm which is one of the main assets that connect all 5 games of the series.