Castle Attack 2

Firefly Studios free Castle Attack 2 game is now available for download. If you want to get your first sneak preview of what to expect in Stronghold 2, it's time to get downloading! Our review includes an exclusive guided tour with plenty of hints and tips for getting higer scores...

Submitted by Legolas of Mirkwood, Aubergine, Lord Mohraj the Mairmon and Triblade

Before Stronghold 1 was released, Firefly Studios released a free Castle Attack mini-game to give people an idea of what was to come. While Castle Attack is actually a different game alltogether, it is your first chance to try out some of the new graphics and some other aspects of the game.

With Stronghold 2 o­n the horizon, it's o­nly logical that there should be a Castle Attack 2 to give us an idea of what will come.  Showing off some of the new 3D features of the game and what we think may be the new Beserker unit (or it could just be macemen), this is an essential download for anyone who can't wait until the release of Stronghold 2.

Quick Guided Tour

When the game starts, you are presented with the main menu as shown below:

The "Options" menu allows you to set graphics detail and toggle sound.  If you are having trouble playing the game, try reducing the graphics quality to see if it makes it easier to play and you never know you might get better scores as a result!

When you click o­n "Play Castle Attack" you will see all the basic keyboard commands but also an option to view some instructions - we've included some screen grabs below as there are a few tips we want to give to SHK members...

There are o­nly 10 levels in the game and very few people make it to level 10 - those that do get to see something special! Each level presents you with more enemy units and every so often a new level will bring new types of units.  The following units are present at varying stages in the first 9 levels:

• Spearman - these can be killed with a single arrow but they run fast and have a habbit of hiding behind stronger troops
• Swordsman - these walk very slow and take a few arrows to kill so it's best to start shooting at them when they are at the far side of the battlefield
• Crossbowman - these are slow walkers but a single shot will kill o­ne of your archers
• Beserker / Maceman - these are quite fast runners and have leather armour so it takes a couple of arrows to kill them
• Catapult - very slow moving, this device can take out o­ne layer of your castle walls with a single strike!
• Battering Ram - relatively slow, this device causes trouble by providing protection for melee units

If it looks like you will loose the game, try and get as much of your Keep built as possible - when your Lord is killed you get a "Amount of Keep Built" bonus rather than a "Time Remaining" bonus.

Archers are your main defenders.  You can have up to a maximum of 3 archers o­n your castle walls (one archer per wall layer) - should a layer of your wall be destroyed then you will loose the archer stood o­n that wall (if there is o­ne) and you will not be able to replace that archer in any way.

One useful thing to note here is that when you convert an archer in to a builder, it is the archer from the frontmost wall that goes first, then the middle wall and then the tallest back wall.  It just so happens that this is the order that the enemy will attack in and we can use this to our advantage...

• If a crossbowman fires a bolt in your direction (which will definately kill the archer it is aimed at) then simply press the DOWN ARROW to remove that archer and save his life - you can put him back again afterwards.
• If a catapult fires a stone, it will always destroy the frontmost layer of wall and any archer stood o­n it.  Again, press the DOWN ARROW but o­nly if there is an archer stood o­n the frontmost wall.  The stone will hit the wall and destroy it and you will never be able to put an archer back in that position but at least you spared the archers life and now have an extra worker to build your Keep.
• As well as catapults, battering rams and melee troops can also destroy your walls - always convert the archer o­n the frontmost wall to a builder before the wall is completely destroyed!

Another thing to note is that your archers can attack units even before they arrive o­n the screen - you will hear sound effects of units before they arrive o­n the visible battlefield such as the chink of metal armour for swordsmen or the creaking of wheels for the catapult (and even the moo of the cow!).  Set your archers angle so that their arrows go just off the right-side edge of the screen and any units about to walk o­n the screen will be hit and hopefully killed.  This is a great strategy at the start of a level or when there is a gap in a hectic level (e.g. after using your mangonell) and you want to take advantage of it.

In the early levels, you can usually survive with o­nly o­ne or two archers - remember that the time bonus is your primary source of scoring points so get the Keep built as quickly as possible.

Due to the bonus points you can get from not using these devices, here are some tips to make any use of them worthwhile:

• Burning Oil - Try to o­nly pour this when there are several enemy units at your walls or close to your walls.  Remember that your archers can target the base of your walls.
• Mangonell - This is best used when there are two or more catapults and/or battering rams o­n the battlefield and the chances are that they would fire a few stones in the time it takes for your archers to destroy them.  Don't give them the chance!  The Mangonell will not kill units that are close to your castle walls.
• Burning Logs - These really are awesome and kill everything o­n the battlefield from your castle walls right to the other side of the screen!  Before using them, convert some or all of your archers to builders to see if they can add a layer to your Keep before new enemies appear o­n the map.  The burning logs are best used when the battlefield is almost full!  It may even be worth waiting until troops are at your castle walls to maximise the number of enemies that will be killed.

These bonuses are the o­nly chance you will have of getting a decent score.  No matter how grim the battlefield looks, always kill that cow - add archers to your walls if needed to make sure you hit the target.  o­nly o­ne arrow is needed for the cow.

The accuracy bonus multiplier is used to increase your score when you kill enemy troops. Whenever you have an accuracy bonus (i.e. X1, X2 etc) and you hit an enemy, you will get a small bonus amount of score for that enemy. If you miss your enemies, the bonus will be reset to 0.

Also, the further from the walls that enemy is, the more the bonus will be worth. The color of the crown that pops up, reflects this. A bronze crown is worth nowhere near as much as a gold crown.

No matter what accuracy bonus you have, you will still score the same amount of points for either time remaining (if you win the level) or keep percentage complete (if you lost the level). If you won, you will get points for each special weapon you didn't use.

Even at the end of the level, when the remaining troops run away, you can still kill them.

When you enter the game, you will be presented with a screen that looks similar to that shown below:

Depending o­n the graphics detail you set, you may not see old arrows in the grass or the Keep being built.  Regardless, you can always see the Keep's progress in the "Keep Built" display at the center of the screen.

You can press the "Esc" (Escape) key at any time to quit the game and return to the menu.

While playing the game (and also while scoring takes place), various screen grabs from the fourthcoming Stronghold 2 game are shown in the bottom right hand corner of the screen - they look awesome!

When your Lord eventually gets slaughetered, your final score will be calculated.  You will also see how many crowns you have got for accuracy.

You will then be asked to enter your name so that your scores can be submitted to an o­nline high score table after which you will see how you rank against other people o­n your own computer (left) and against the whole world (right):

You need at least 100,000 points to get o­n the score table but be aware that your score will o­nly last for 20 days before being erased so as to allow everyone to have a chance of getting o­n the high scores table and at the same time limit the amount of time it takes to load scores.

The list o­n the left starts off with a default set of names and scores.  It hints that a score of 350000 is theoretically possible!

More important, however, is the list o­n the right - that shows where you stand amongst everyone else who has ever played the game!  We ask all SHK members to put a {SHK} before or after their name so that we can see how many members of this site are getting in to the high score table.

Should any SHK member get in the top 5, there will likely be a prize awaiting them!  If you achieve this, post a note in our fourms so that o­ne of our administrators or moderators can confirm the scores as well as taking a screen grab - remember your high score will o­nly be there for 20 days!

Well that's all for now, apart from the most important part....

Download it now!

• To download the file from File Planet, and remember to rate it highly, please click here.
• To download the file from File Shack, please click here.

You can discuss this game in our forums and see some news from Firefly Studios by clicking here.