Peasantville: Stronghold 3 Financinomics

Stronghold 3 isn’t that far away now and I’m as excited as a peasant with a new pitchfork. Much has been said of the fancy physics and the way they’ll affect traps and breaches, and much more has been said about diseased badgers. To remind us that it’s not all pestilent wildlife and siege warfare though, Firefly have lifted their portcullis to let a new trailer slip into the world. It concentrates on the economic side of the game. That means maintaining the castle and the village around it. It also means listening to the demands, hopes and fears of your people, which, like a British weekend, mainly revolve around ale, wolves and the ever-present possibility of being placed in the stocks.

Blimey, they don’t half whine, do they? But I’ll forgive them because they’ve probably all got various forms of pox.

As Alec pointed out when he had a look at the game a couple of months ago, it’s looking like a return to form after the disappointing Stronghold 2. There should be a combat trailer soon enough, so we’ll get to see some of those fancy physics in action. But, for me at least, this will be the meat of the game. An engaging historical strategy simulation that doesn’t involve stacks of men thrusting implements at one another. It’s not out until October 18th but if you preorder on Steam, you can download and play the first game right now.