Stronghold Warlords brings back the classic castle-building of the franchise, adding a few new wrinkles to the formula in the process. Even if the overall package feels a bit light on content, Stronghold Warlords is still a quality strategy title that has plenty to offer.
Like past Stronghold games, Warlords focuses on building up a castle with different defenses and an economy, then laying siege to the opponent's castle - depending on the mode, of course. Players start by setting a stockpile, which stores resources, and then placing a granary, which stores food. Players need to play a balancing act of keeping their settlements fed and happy, all while building up a military to defend themselves. It's all pretty standard RTS stuff, but Warlords does have a few unique elements up its sleeve.
The big new focus of the game is the Warlords and diplomacy system. Each map is inhabited by multiple different "warlords" that initially don't have any allegiance. These Warlords can be conquered by defeating the lord on top of each respective castle, or by using Diplomacy Points to force them to pledge loyalty, but the catch is that other players can do the same thing. Diplomacy Points accrue automatically like gold, but the rate they accrue can be increased by building consulates and embassies.
Once players have control of a Warlord they can issue them orders by using Diplomacy Points, and these orders depend on the type of Warlord that they are. Order can run the range from requesting resources or additional combat units, to issuing an attack on an enemy. Warlords also provide a perk to the player that controls them and can be upgraded with points to make them more effective. The Warlord system makes matches a bit more dynamic by having players struggle for control over the various Warlords, even while trying to lay siege to each other. It creates a kind of tug-of-war struggle, and the ability to take over Warlords either by combat or diplomacy means players can approach it how they want.
Stronghold Warlords has a few different game modes to choose from, with the main focus being the campaigns. There are five different campaigns to choose from, four being combat-focused and one being economic-focused. Each campaign focuses on a different lord, like Genghis Khan or Hideyoshi Toyotomi, thereby providing a few unique units as well. Toyotomi is a particular highlight as his stealth-based ninjas and tank-like samurai are an absolute blast to use.
The problem with the campaigns is that there's little personality instilled in them, and they just feel like static missions to complete. The story of each campaign only provides the briefest of outlines, although the mission design is generally good, and provides some nice variation. However, the early Stronghold games had a kind of tongue-in-cheek humor that made them charming, and that's completely absent in Warlords. Apart from the campaigns, there's the usual custom skirmish and multiplayer modes, a user maps option, and a free-build mode that lets players hone their castle-building skills as long as they want. One of the more interesting modes is the co-op multiplayer that lets two players take control of the same civilization.
Visually Stronghold Warlords isn't the most impressive PC game, but it does run pretty much without a hitch. Even when there are dozens upon dozens of units on screen, or as matches drag on and more buildings populate the map, Stronghold Warlords runs pretty seamlessly and without any noticeable lag.
Stronghold Warlords may not have a whole lot outside of the core castle-building and siege loop, but luckily the core mechanics are strong enough that it doesn't matter much. The Warlords system genuinely does a good job of making matches more dynamic, but it's disappointing that a lot of the personality of the series just doesn't feel present. Still, any fan of the RTS genre and castle-building should find plenty to enjoy.
Stronghold Warlords launches on March 9 for PC. Screen Rant was provided with a digital Steam code for the purposes of this review.