Stronghold Kingdoms: Lord of the Flies Game Review
Stronghold Kingdoms is an award winning, multi-faceted real-time strategy massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Developed by Firefly Studios, the makers of CityVille, it is similar to their popular similar-styled Settlers of Canaan game but with an even deeper and more involving story. You can build your own kingdom and then invite other players to join your community and take up residency within your walls. Once you've got your people in place, start excavating their plots and looking for valuable resources such as gems, gold, and wood. If you're able to gather resources in sufficient quantities, you'll be able to afford the cost of maintaining and improving your castle - an important step on your journey to dominance.
The game's great strength lies in its solid implementation of a real time strategy theme that has been crafted into a complete narrative with a strong underlying story line and captivating visuals. As with any other similar titles on the market today, the majority of players will find the game world to be quite empty, with only a few props (such as towers and gates) scattered about and very little else to do. In this case, the lack of visual content is compensated for by a wealth of in-game content, the majority of which deals with upgrading your castles and fortresses to obtain new abilities and weapons. Some of this content can also be played independently as you attempt to build up your realm and challenge other players for control of their realms. The tournaments update this content regularly, so that players always have something fresh to try out once they reach a higher level.
One of the game's most riveting aspects is its persistent economy system that ties everything together in the form of a continually replenishing list of jobs and abilities that are required to build and maintain your impenetrable castle. At the start of each season, you will be forced to select from several pre-determined jobs to do depending upon what kind of fortress you're constructing. If your base hasn't yet been constructed, you'll be forced to choose one of two options: build either a guard dog or a barricade. Once your fortress is up and running, the jobs will become available to you and your players and, if you play your cards right, you'll have an unassailable stronghold to protect your city from any attack.