Stronghold Kingdoms
| Stronghold Kingdoms | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Firefly Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Firefly Studios |
| Producer(s) |
Eric Ouellette Paul Harris Mark Barney |
| Designer(s) |
Simon Bradbury Eric Ouellette |
| Series | Stronghold |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X |
| Release |
Microsoft Windows
OS X
|
| Genre(s) | Massively multiplayer online strategy game |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer online |
Stronghold Kingdoms is a massively multi-player online real-time strategy video game with a Medieval castle building theme. It was developed by Firefly Studios and based upon their commercially successful and popular Stronghold series of games. Firefly Studios started development of Stronghold Kingdoms in 2007 as their first entry into the MMO[2] genre. The first Alpha test began in 2009 and was open to 150 players.[3] These were drawn from previous testers of Firefly Studios games, and volunteers of other prominent fansites. Afterwards, an open Beta was run for just under two years before the game's official release on 17 October 2012.
In addition to the central theme of castle. construction and design, Stronghold Kingdoms incorporates a variety of architectural, economic, military, agricultural, mercantile, industrial and political elements which challenge the player's ability to prioritize, direct work-flow and resources and administrate their holdings in the manner of a medieval land holder or noble. An individual player's success is not entirely predicated upon the ability to defeat computer-generated enemies, but also upon teamwork with fellow players.
The player begins relatively alone, one village among others in a single parish. From this beginning, strategic decisions are made and dialogue established with fellow parish members which introduces the social aspect of Stronghold Kingdoms. All players can vie for stewardship of the parish, dependent on rank. When two or more players wish to be Steward they can negotiate to decide who will take control of the parish, or take it by force, razing out the opposing players village from that parish. If Theology is researched, then monks can be deployed to infiltrate the parish and influence the vote. This is usually referred to as a monk war in the game vernacular. When the successful candidate becomes steward they gain control of the parish army along with the ability to set taxes (tithe), and build the necessary guilds to improve life for all in the parish.
Reception
Stronghold Kingdoms has achieved a Metacritic score of 75, indicating generally favorable reviews.[4]
Strategy Informer gave a score of 85/100, with reviewer Emmanuel Brown describing it as "mission accomplished" and saying that "for the most part, they get it absolutely right."[5] Gaming XP's review praised how the classic Stronghold format was "implemented very well for this MMO".[6]
References
- ↑ "At long last, Stronghold Kingdoms is available for Mac castle builders".
- ↑ Ford, Suzie. "Firefly Studios Announces "Castle-Based" MMO". Warcry Network. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
- ↑ Ford, Suzie. "Firefly Studios Talks Up Stronghold Kingdoms". Warcry Network. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
- ↑ "Stronghold Kingdoms Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
- ↑ Emmanuel, Brown. "Stronghold Kingdoms Review". Strategy Informer. Strategy Informer. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- ↑ "Stronghold Kingdoms". Retrieved 10 December 2012.