At the time they were adequate and while not impressive, the game is still playable today. Stronghold came out in 2001 and as such the graphics aren't up to modern standards. Igniting enemy buildings and keeping your own safe from fire is a key to victory. Fire spreads to units and buildings and must be contained by fire watch or else allowed to have all fuel burned out. In addition to units, fire is a main game mechanic. Non combat units like engineers are also present in the game and have specific roles.

Archery, for example, gives long range firepower to melee units. Typically higher priced units are stronger but each unit has uses. That is, there are no hard counters to any one unit.

Units themselves fight based on a health and strength system, as opposed to a rock-paper-scissor system. Ultimately the game focuses on sending our your amassed army against your opponents. The formula is a little rinse and repeat gather resources to build buildings, use those buildings to build better buildings and more units repeat. Buildings include both military installations like castles and towers, and economy based buildings like wood mills and blacksmith forges. True to the real time strategy formula, Stronghold has players building buildings, managing an economy of collectible resources and training up an army to take over as much of the world as the map allows. Stronghold was produced in 2001 and garnered an average reception and gaining a solid fan base. The game is a little different in that it has a economic campaign as well as a military campaign but the game, at it's heart, is combat based. Plays administrate a kingdom, building castles and developing units in order to defend against incursions as well as destroy opposing castles. Stronghold, developed by Firefly studios, is the first in a long line of real time strategy games that centers around medieval Britannia. A historic RTS game that lets players be King of the Castle.

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