– Stronghold 4 announced with Early Access starting later this year
– Demo available on Steam from June 23rd
– Final version planned for release about six months after Early Access
– Launch includes 22-mission story campaign, 8 AI opponents, skirmish, and free build modes
– Built on Unreal Engine 5, optimized for older hardware (e.g., GTX 1060, i5-4670)
The Stronghold franchise has had a few tough years. Stronghold 3, the last main part of the series from 2011, was a complete failure with a Metascore of just 47 out of 100 points. Stronghold Warlords, which was released in 2021 as the latest, larger game in the series, was barely able to convince critics with a Metascore of 65 points.
How FireFly Won Back Fans
With the excellent Definitive Editions of Stronghold and Stronghold Crusader, FireFly was able to win back at least some of the favor of Stronghold fans over the last three years. Stronghold 4 has now been announced, and a demo of the game will be released on June 23rd on Steam before the strategy game enters Early Access later this year. It is planed that the final version of the game will be released around six months after the start of Early Access.
Campaign, Modes and Story Details
At launch, the game will feature eight AI opponents, a story campaign with 22 missions, a skirmish mode and a free building mode. An online multiplayer, a co-op campaign and an economic campaign are to be added by the time of release. In the campaign, the player takes on the role of Penryn of Wethel, a shepherd who rises to become a leader. The story is concieved as a prequel to the first part of the series.
Hardware Specs and Gameplay Revealed
Although the game is based on Unreal Engine 5, it should still be compatible with slightly older hardware – an Intel Core i5-4670, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 with at least 3 GB VRAM, 16 GB RAM and a 33 GB hard disk are sufficient to play Stronghold 4. A GeForce RTX 2060 with 6 GB of graphics memory is recomended. The video embedded below from Stronghold specialist Udwin shows the gameplay of Stronghold 4.
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