Stronghold 2 is an odd beast. Its new 3-D presentation makes it look different than its predecessors, but go beyond that superficial layer and the actual game rules are very similar (all the population management stuff with the campfire and granary and happiness rating, is almost identical). But then look beyond that and there are some new mechanics which have the potential to significantly change the way the game plays.
You have honor, which appears to be a kind of experience point system, allowing you to acquire new lands (and presumably other things) by doing medieval-noble-type things like holding feasts and tournaments. There's also estates, which allow you to have satellite villages that can send you goods and tax revenue. And I'm sure there are other things I haven't encountered yet. It remains to be seen whether this will be a deep or shallow addition to the Stronghold formula, but I think it at least has the potential to improve the peaceful game by giving you some new benchmarks for success.
Speaking of which, Stronghold 2 has a new campaign mode, called the "Sim Campaign." It sounded really promising, but so far it's not been as "sim-ish" as I might like (then again, I've played The Sims: Medieval, so I'm a bit spoiled here). It seems to resemble the original Stronghold's economic campaign, right down to the part where you have to recruit an army to fight wolves (of all things). I'll reserve judgement, but I suspect I'll be retreating to free build sooner or later.
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