Citadels

Patch Update: Patch 4.0.4 has really done wonders. Villager AI is much improved. The cap for skirmish maps is now 499 (unfortunately, still just the one map :( ), Units make much more "order recieved" noise (however it does seem to be location based, if you don't have your screen near your units you still don't hear anything) and it seems most of the outstanding bugs have been squashed.
At 75% off this game is a steal.
Patch Update: As of patch 3.9.2 the game has really begun to take a good form. You can increase the unit count in Skirmish maps (max was 99, now is 149), the campaign (which is almost bug free as far as completion goes) is easy enough with the current 99 cap imo. The tooltips in both the UI and unit feedback is much improved. You can finally set your hotkeys to what you want. (units are still a bit too silent for my liking, not gamebreaking though) There are still some things that aren't explained fully during gameplay, (the upgrade button comes to mind) but most of those are easy enough to figure out on your own.
The graphics, combat, and physics are cleaner/smoother making for a much better experience. And there are more updates on the way.
Not to say its bug free yet. But this game is getting much improved as the patches go along. If you haven't looked at this game for a while, I would urge you to do so, you just might be suprised.
Now if they would add more skirmish maps!....Or randomise them.
Original Review:
To start, yes, there are bugs, (Booo....UI can be a hard one to get a hold of, and tooltips aren't really tippy...) but so far nothing game breaking (knock on wood). But I am amazed on how the game works.
Building is phenominal.
Gather the resource, and once the resource building is full, bring it to your town center.
Want to build a building? The builder needs to grab the materials, then go to the build site.
Don't like the building there? Can't hit delete. You need to deconstruct buildings, which takes time, so place carefully.
Walls are finally a laborious task to build, no more destroy a wall and build it 2 seconds later.
Train your units? Tell them to go to the training center, not just pop out of thin air.
Want better stuff? Refine your mats.
My only beef is how moats work (almost pointless) and walls, to be effective, need to be ended with a tower, and gates can only be placed on towers (but i guess when you see how they are built, its understandable)
The combat is a bit iffy, so if your looking for a deep combat game like the early strongholds, its not quite that refined, but its still a blast.
Given the game isn't MP at all, and it still has some wrinkles to iron out, it may not be worth 40 to most people, but if your able to get it on sale (got mine for 32 at GMG and couldn't be happier) please go for it. This is one of those games that has gotten much better because of patches. It's just a shame that critic reviews and most gamer reviews won't account for it.

After reading through the majority of the reviews of this game I can't say I agree with the majority of them.
True the game takes a little time to get into but it's worth having the patience for.
Maybe not worth the full ticket price but be sure to pick this one up in the sales.
80% Fun time strategy, 20% been there done that before

This is my literal favorite version of this kind of game play. Everything else besides age of darkness is terrible. By the way it never crashed on me.

8/10 worth $10 while still on sale. the original price seems way too much to ask.
This is the type of game that gets better as you get the hang of it. The UI needs a little work (lack of quick keys), need option to change keyboard key binds. Don't expect this to look like starcraft II but the gameplay is smooth and unique.

Decent game but not the best of the genre. Simple and fun, really, and that's how I like my medieval rts games.
Doesn't show any stats on mouseover though? Bit of an odd thing to exclude... Honestly you kind of have to play for a little bit to figure things out. Towers have to have the entrance added manually in order to man walls.

Honestly, most of the reviews are negative. But in my opinion the game is really good even with its cons.
This game is definently comparable to Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle Earth 2.
The gameplay is mostly the same, but you can control each warrior, you have more choise in building, more ressources to gather, etc.
There are obviously some cons if there are mostly negative reviews.
- Typically, I have a GTX 980 + i7 4790 and i run it at 90-100 FPS, which is not so good for an RTS with medium typed graphics quality. (The graphics are like in LOTR BFMO2).
- Second point, is that building walls is very specific, and you will need some time to understand how it is to be placed.
- The worst part I have found in the game, is that selecting units by holding the right click is problematic.
And thats it. Honestly, I don't know how people could write a negative review about this game. Of course the game has to be a bit more polished, but overall it IS GOOD.
If you are an RTS fan, but it for maybe 10$, or wait sales, because I would even buy it for 20.
UPD : - The AI is stupid, there is no skirmish, and no voice acting in campaign.

Well, it is definetly not up to the stronghold series, but in saying that I am enjoying it :)
Soo many negative comments , thats fair enough as everyones entitled to their opinion, but for the sale price I still consider this a bargin :)