Castle Strike

[Pikeman]

I'm just interested in what you guys think of this game. In my opinion, the graphics aren't really that impressive, but on the other hand, I've never played it. I'm interested in whether you guys liked it or not.

[dearmad]

I think the graphics are impressive- the overall tone of them, the fine details, the way I suspect the clouds and birds will fly by, how they're integrated together and form a nice "piece" all are impressive to me. Beats 3d graphics all to heck and back! I've seen very few good 3d games with as much art to them.

Now adding 3d particles on top of the 2d for effects, like dirt rising as oyu march, or blood splatters or sparks when steel meets steel would be cool and over the top, but I don't need that.

[Havoc]

definetly not worth buyin'

[Silverwolf]

It's ok i suppose but I'm not gonna buy it. I played the demo and i have to say it has something + it has good graphics (but than again that takes a lot out of my pc (G-Force 3 // 256mb ram))

[Pioneer]

A few random thoughts:

I bought the game when it was released on the 19th. My first impression was poor - the menus had a slightly crude appearance. Another problem was that while the campaign and the highland random map mode produced good maps, the handmade maps were generally pancake flat. The other negative aspect was that my AMD Athlon XP2000+ and Gforce 4 4200 while neither of them particularly new should have been able to deliver reasonable performance on higher resolutions. The landscape has none of the life that evident on a Stronghold map.

Those negatives asides the game is enjoyable. Building a castle by staking it out and then clicking to order construction causing it to emerge out of the ground might seem odd initially but it looks and works well. It also allows a player to plan out a large castle that can be built as resources allow. A castle with its ballista armed towers and gatehouses capable of discharging boiling oil certainly rivals anything that can be created in Stronghold. Automated resource gathering controlled by a slider within a triangular box is easy to use. A split of castle building from walls to barracks that can only be built near the keep and a village that can only be built without, means that a player cannot rely on his castle. Heroes and ordinary units are needed. Heroes can be used to control formations of troops, certain of whom can be ordered to acquire horses in the stable. Most importantly they add to the enjoyment. Units can individually gain experience though I have yet to detect a significant effect. Crossbowmen, longbowmen, halbardiers make up a standard medieval unit mix. They seem reasonably balanced.

While playing a player might notice that the ai seems to become less aggressive the longer he plays. This might be due to the ai almost going to sleep or more likely it is a consequence of a low unit limit (125) coupled with seige machines that individually might need six soldiers to operate. So an ai might have some villagers, some soldiers and some siege engine. However getting enough of one type to overcome the defences of one castle while defending against the soldiers of others requires a lot of juggling. The ai might not be so good at it.

Given a good campaign and a reasonable random map feature it is probably worth buying. It is a well constructed rts and should provide enough playing time to justify the price.

[Henrik]

But are there any MOATS !....? ;)

I'm not buying it, because the game has these "super" cannons - coz i'm not keen on these "dooms day" weapons - i know that this may not not be reasonable arguement for not buying it, but i kinda feel strong against it :(

[Pioneer]

No moats whatsoever.

The cannons are probably an instance of where historical fidelity is sacrificed for spectacle. Cannons would have been at the base of a tower or perhaps up to midway up a wall or tower. Apart from angling them the heavy, cumbersome artillery of the time would have been practically fixed in postition. Using them in the the same way as a tower mounted ballista probably would have been impractical, and dangerous too.

The larger siege guns, by contrast, particularly some sense of the huge siege guns that came into their own by the mid fifteenth century. The bombards that helped France wrap up the Hundred Year War in its favour are in some way recalled in this game. The German unique unit, the 'Hollow Hannah' looks particularly menacing.

If you take the game as having a mid to late fifteenth, perhaps early sixteenth century setting. And you accept that it it possesses a moderate of Braveheart style caricature (the depiction of the cleric hero is fairly cartoonish), it does seems satisfactory as an evocation of the era.