Hopefully better than Stronghold 2...

[Favelle]

http://gamescom.gamespot.com/story/6...3Bsubtitle%3B1

If you've ever wanted a game that combines strategic city management and throwing dead cows at bad guys, Stronghold 3 may just be the game for you

[Blinx123]

Nice game. Really enjoyed the first. Looking forward to that one (though not as much as -- please don't laugh -- The Sims: Medieval Times)

What did they do to the cow in the second picture, btw? Did they fling it?

[Favelle]

Nice game. Really enjoyed the first. Looking forward to that one (though not as much as -- please don't laugh -- The Sims: Medieval Times)

What did they do to the cow in the second picture, btw? Did they fling it?

Ha ha yeah. You catapult diseased cows into the enemy towns to start plagues and stuff. Its pretty funny.

[Favelle]

Looking and sounding better and better. I am totally game for a castle sim this winter if they can get it out by holiday!

http://pc.ign.com/articles/117/1178886p1.html

The move to a modern-day engine - in fact, the same one used in Ubisoft's great-looking if over-fiddly last Settlers game - makes all the difference. Placing buildings and walls is no longer limited to a fixed grid with fixed angles, but allows freeform construction, regardless of how insane or defensively useless the results may be. Reap what you sow, and if what you sowed was an enormous teddy bear shape with a vulnerable gap in its left ear - well, expect trouble.

A new weather system and day/night cycle means the likes of flickering torchlights adding atmosphere to a gloomy evening, while the reasonably large infantry battles feature each soldier up to his own distinct, tangibly combative thing rather than eerily raising and lowering his sword in perfect synchronicity with his mates.

It's potentially the night sieges that really show the game at its best, as well as introducing a neat new take on fog of war. Here, the dark cloud that's proven such a staple of strategy games is, quite, literally, darkness. If you don't want to be caught unawares by an invading force stealing over in the dead of night, you'll need to build watchtowers around your castle's perimeter, then have your archers set them alight with flaming arrows - casting back the otherwise total darkness. A few peasants roaming around with torches will open up a few extra bright spots too.