Stronghold Warlords takes the winning formula of the series and returns to the original's near-perfect form while improving on almost all aspects of the game. The newly added warlords mechanic didn't strike my fancy in the way I suppose the developers would have wanted, but that's not because it's a bad addition, just that it needs some tweaking to make it a more integral part of the game.

When it’s fun, it’s really fun. When it isn’t, it’s still totally competent. The final thought will have to come down to whether or not building and knocking down castles sounds like a fun way to spend an evening. If so, then perhaps Stronghold: Warlord is a castle worth besieging.

Stronghold Warlords has a refreshing East Asian setting and satisfying castle building, but it looks and plays like an RTS that was asleep for most of the last decade or two.

Stronghold: Warlords is an odd game. On the one hand, it’s a wonderful setting, and it has some of the most satisfying castle building I’ve found in a game. It’s a genuine joy to plan everything out, and it makes the fact that the actual strategy side of the game feels a bit outdated sting a bit more. It’s not bad, not at all, but it feels like a game that’s stuck in the past a little bit.

A decent if generic strategy game that lacks the big personality and siegecraft of earlier entries.

Stronghold: Warlords is a slightly revamped version of the game that hasn't changed in decades. The new setting and diplomacy mechanics don't add enough flavor to a stale experience, that still has a few issues to work out.

This is yet another completely useless title from the Stronghold series, which actually does not bring anything interesting and simplifies the old proven principles even more. What lies behind the reasons for the release of such a game is a mystery to me, when, apart from the well-known brand, the game offers practically nothing and everything is incredibly sold out and rushed with a hot needle. [Issue#310]