head to head

Napoleon: Total War cover artvsStronghold 3 cover art

Napoleon: Total WarvsStronghold 3

Napoleon: Total War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Stronghold 3 leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).

EXECUTION3 /10READS3 /10VARIANCE2 /10OPTIMIZATION8 /10
Napoleon: Total WarStronghold 3

Axis by axis

Execution3 vs 2

Napoleon: Total War leans harder on execution: Real-time battle micro under pressure

Reads3 vs 4

Stronghold 3 leans harder on reads: human opponents bluff sieges and timing

Variance2 vs 2

Even - both lean on variance about the same.

Optimization8 vs 8

Even - both lean on optimization about the same.

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

Napoleon: Total War

full breakdown

Stronghold 3