Stronghold Crusader

A real-time strategy game for the PC, Stronghold Crusader lets you handle the conflicts that stretch back to the time of the Crusades. The demo version lets you taste the action before you choose to buy the full game. "Try before you buy" ensures you like the game before you invest money into it. Video game reviewers have often compared Stronghold Crusader to Civilization or Age of Empires. Truth is, the game has more similarities to Age of Empires, because you have a real-time strategy game.

Your job is to make sure that your armies go to the Middle East with full strength. The game showcases everything from the First to the Third Crusade. You have to hold off the Muslims and stop conflict among your own people. For example, the Crusades were not all organized, and you have individual crusader states that you will need to keep in line. How do you do that? To take control of the crusader states and fight back the Muslim armies, you will have to build strongholds in towns under your control and buy supplies. The campaigns will take you to historic sites like Jerusalem, Nicea and Antioch.

Stronghold Crusader boasts a game feature known as the Crusader Trail which hosts 50 missions that pit you against numerous opponents. With an interesting variety in characters like Richard the Lionheart, you also have some fictional characters like "The Rat." This character is a boy raised as a peasant, but who later inherited money and land. Each of the characters have a rich backstory that has served to add more interesting points into the game. The gameplay itself is highly addictive and action-packed, but this is an older game, which means that the graphics are not as good as what they once were. However, if you love the history about the Crusades, Stronghold Crusader will leave history buffs jumping up and down. What's more, you have a more interesting way of introducing history to friends and young children. They can play the game to learn a little about the history of the Crusades.

You can also play in the historic battles that actually took place, and learn about some of the weapons of that time. For example, you have trebuchets that can launch diseased cows over the wall to infect the people with diseases and flies. The economy and the warfare in the game have been equally balanced so that you have a good mix between the two. The game actually blends excellently between a simulation and an RTS-action game. The first Stronghold Crusader game is actually so good that a lot of the hardcore fans have argued that Firefly Studios, the developers of the game, have not been able to replicate it with their followup games.

Pros

• Interesting Fictional and Non-fictional Characters
• The Campaign Trails are Based on Real History
• You Can Play in Historic Battles

Cons

• The Graphics are Outdated