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There he spent time Firelfy Studios to produce the third installment of the "official" Stronghold series game of strategic medieval background rocket with the excellent debut in 2001 but already the day after the less successful indebolitasi Stronghold 2 . Nevertheless, the community created around this simulator is very thick and castles, waiting to finally see the work MMORTS Stronghold Kingdoms ,

The time fans will find themselves quickly at ease between the two single player campaigns, which together with the multiplayer, historical sieges and a free mode in which to build his castle in peace are the main content of the game. The two campaigns differ in the different nature (one economic and one military) and offer all the classic elements of the series, although faced with a difficulty level so high as to discourage in the first few missions literally less accustomed to the genre. The micro-economic aspects / management is part of the problem, given its huge amount of elements to be taken into account so as not to displease the people. It is true that compared to Stronghold 2 AI of the game tends to be less ruthless, but running a city is always a very difficult challenge (our subjects eat absurd amounts of food) and the lack of difficulty levels to choose from not really a good choice.

If we add the time of the game very mild and slow (if not exhausting), the initial approach Stronghold 3 is likely to disappoint even the most willing strategists. Be patient and understand fully the dynamics of the game, particularly in the sieges that, although still now one of the most distinctive and spectacular in the series, can become very frustrating because even a small error is enough to end all in the worst way. Where is instead Stronghold 3 does not disappoint in the castles, the variety and allow building whose parts really have fun at the architectural level. From this point of view the progress made over its predecessor are many and the construction is done in an easier and more enjoyable. The special free mode also allows you to become familiar with the construction without the urgency to attack or defend against an enemy, but even without this kind of tutorials you will find it hard to build walls, towers, gates, ditches and other medieval beauty.

On the technical side Stronghold 3 shows undoubted progress compared to its predecessor (and could not be otherwise, given the past six years), while staying one step below the "festival" Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms . At the maximum zoom level units and buildings (especially castles) are quite detailed and the use of physical dell'Havoc management has led to a touch of realism, even if it is seen only in the destruction of the walls and a few other occasions. Unfortunately, due to optimization far from flawless, while the scrolling faster frame rate drops markedly with our PC, but a game like this would literally eat it. We also noted several problems in the selection of characters and the pointing of targets, which often is a little 'random and forces us to move the cursor on your choice, but a little closer. We also experienced several crashes in the two campaigns in a single (but also in multiplayer) and the whole gaming experience is always a little 'precarious, with many bugs in the placement (including on the walls) and the feel of a beta nothing short of reckless and inconclusive.

Fortunately, the developers have already released two patches (the latest thing is 1.1.24196) and in fact, than the first game, the improvements are many. But there is still much to do and just sifting through the game's official forum posts to read comments from fiery to say the least Firefly Studios. Less problems than on the side audio appreciable effort in Cidiverte dubbing all but the cheers of the various units are just too repetitive after a while 'you want to silence all (but guessed the range music-style medieval epic ). Finally a look at the multiplayer. For now we can only take battles online in Deathmatch, choosing from four maps far from large; also lacks a classic skirmish to fight against the AI ​​of the game in free mode (no really bad for an RTS) and there even the co-op. In short, to add and improve space is still a lot, but since there is neither a beta nor a game sold at a reduced price, regret having to make do (for now) in a title still immature and far from definitive .