Stronghold Crusader II
Stronghold Crusader II
Stronghold Crusader II, développé et publié par Firefly Studios, est sorti le 22 septembre 2014 sur PC (Microsoft Windows). Suite de Stronghold : Crusader, ce titre de simulation et de stratégie en temps réel renvoie dans les déserts du Moyen-Orient en 1189 avec un moteur 3D et des destructions de châteaux réalistes propulsées par Havok Physics. Le joueur y commande plus de 25 types d'unités et peut mener deux campagnes historiques en incarnant Richard Cœur de Lion ou le Sultan de Syrie, affrontant des événements dynamiques comme des tornades ou des nuées de sauterelles, puis tester ses capacités en escarmouche ou en multijoueur jusqu'à huit joueurs. Le jeu affiche un score Metacritic de 65 et un score OpenCritic de 68. La presse a salué son équilibre entre simulation économique et RTS, DarkStation évoquant un titre dans lequel on se perd facilement et Gaming Nexus appréciant le sentiment de « construire puis détruire » avec des unités variées. Certains joueurs regrettent l'absence de fonctionnalités comme le « fear factor », une optimisation jugée décevante, une intelligence artificielle perçue comme buggée ou inégale, ou encore un manque de nouveautés en termes de types de soldats et de seigneurs, tandis que d'autres soulignent sur Steam le charme de son ambiance médiévale.
Médias
Avis des critiques et joueurs
Critiques de la Presse (Metacritic)
« Stronghold Crusader 2 was a rare game that I got lost in. I started playing and before I knew it, it was six hours later. Who can resist a game about castle building, economy raising, and taking on large castles full of troops and hazards?. Especially when you can soften up the numbers by launching diseased animals over castle walls. »
« Does a good job walking the thin line between economy-sim and RTS. Gives a good “build it and then knock it down” feeling with varied and colorful units. »
« A very good product. The difference between this game and Firefly's previous game is devastating. Crusader II is basically Crusader wearing Stronghold 3, and that's not a bad thing. To be honest, the campaign could have been better, the interface clearer and the graphics prettier, but all in all the end result is worthy of praise from the fans. »
« For old, war-tested Stronghold players Crusader 2 is a triumphant evolution of the game that they've held dear for the last twelve years. For the rest of us though, there is perhaps no better time to see what all the fuss is about. »
« Firefly Studios hasn't quite made a new classic RTS game here, but they were extremely close. »
« Stronghold Crusader II is a great RTS game with a solid combat system and robust micromanagement. We love the freedom that we have to create our dreamed bastion and its addictive multiplayer options. »
« After 7 years of waiting, the new Crusader game is released. Stronghold Crusader II contains all the cool features from the original Stronghold Crusader game with some new and fun gameplay. »
« I would not recommend it as a single-player game. It simply doesn’t have enough flesh on the bones to be played that way for more than a few days. Fortunately, Crusader was never meant to be played alone. »
Avis des Joueurs (Metacritic)
« I was disappointed because there was no fear factor feature,and also poor optimization even though stronghold 3 which has better graphics is much lighter »
« they dont do new thinks we need more soldier types and more lord types so score is not so nice »
« Love the first game and it is similar to the original, but unique enough to feel the difference - 6/10 »
« My review is based on my experience playing today! I didn't find the campaign fun, it's very difficult to see things in the scenario even after playing for a while. For those who liked the game and for nostalgia ok, but buying to meet today I didn't think it was a good experience. »
« This game is a major disapointment. There is no benefit to destroying Ai's buildings, as they can literally cheat and materialize troops and supplies out of mid air. Enemies will go out of their way to attack you, sometimes literally working with another AI who isnt even on their team against you. By the way, you have to comb over the battlefield constanly because your troops are so incompetent on their own that you have to babysit them. Several times when i attacked an enemy lord, my troops stood around him in a circle doing nothing, attacking ony one at a time. Dozens of swordsmen should not take 3 minutes to kill an enemy lord. Everything about this game stinks. I mean the buildings are lackluster and bland, the voice acting sounds lazy, there is no fear factor bonus, maps are terrible and unbalanced (even the 'balanced' ones) and dont get me started on how costly everything is. A tiny hut for weapons is 50 wood but a two story wood cutters hut is 20 wood. A market is a whooping 200 wood. So make sure you buy that first or you will be screwed out of playing. There is also no tower mountable seige equipment. You have to instead over pay for a weird scaffolding tower with a catapult attached to it, which takes up valuable space that these maps simply dont give you. All and all, stick with the classic crusader. Maybe one day firefly studios will get the memo and stop loving the smell of their own farts and return back to what gave this series a following to begin with. If it aint broke, dont fix it. Please stop trying to re invent the wheel Firefly studios. »
« They scored on the game ... Developed, return the stronghold to us, or, well, work with the 2-part »
« big disappointment so bad its not a stronghold game Dont buy this game so many bug, crash and low fps in any case bad story, gameplay is ruined for bugs »
« Still playing Stronghold Crusader 1 since it was relesed and love every sec. spent not 10000h, years on it. But this one doesnt deliver as the old one.. I believe they need to go back of making game to be simple. I dont care about graphics, I care about better AI, more units, upgrading, more freedom of building. I feel that Firefly is realy focusing more on graphics how it will look. Just bring back how it was, you have game that sell it self. There is still more players on SC1 than SC2, and that tells something, it is not only nostalgia, it is great simple gameplay. »
