11 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
ONE of the BEST CASTLE SIMULATOR GAMES Stronghold Crusader Extreme RTS GAME
Date of Review: Jul 1, 2009
The Bottom Line: My final recommendation is that this is a good game designed more for gameplay then Graphics I think this is a bad$$$ game!!!
Stronghold Crusaders Extreme! Lay Destruction!
Stronghold crusader is a RTS based in the times of bloody Medieval warfare. Focusing on troop warfare, several Calvary units, or siege unholy hell with multiple siege weapons. Plenty of action and good graphics for the minimal requirements, but not the best. Choose the mighty crusaders and attack with hordes of knights and. Or choose the sly Arabic forces that have a better distance attack. Once you get the hang of it you can even use both. If your into the Medieval warfare era and RTS games this will give you a bang for your buck!
This game has several different modes to play in. You can choose the slow simpler old settings. Or you can turn it up to Extreme! Extreme mode Gives you a point system to rally Reinforcements, repair your troops and structures, or simply launch a volley of boulders to your enemies castle or army. You also receive automatic reinforcements and more money$$ However the Extreme setting moves a bit faster than the older version. With the option to play the old crusades from the previous stronghold or play a new campaign. Design the perfect map to wage war Or play some of your friends or random people on line.
You have some options to choose different AI in free mode. However there are no difficulties, just different AI and many possible team situations. The pig, the Lion hart, and the wolf offer a good crusader challenge. While the Arabic forces have Saladin, the Wiziar, and the Caliph is for the harder challenge along with other AI. The troops and structures you can use is limitless. Build a city fit to supplie a mighty crusader army. Or mix it up and build a city with a strong economy to produce mass $$ to buy you your own arabic army.
The sound quality is fairly descant and has the sound tract to fit the era of the game. To be honest the music will probably drive you nuts after a while so have some backup music, it wasn't made by the worlds greatest artists.
If you have this game set on extreme your soldiers and castle might be hard to spot, they can get pretty tiny and annoying to find. When your facing multiple AIs on extreme the screen can get pretty slow when several thousand individual troops are running around taking your orders! So sometimes a huge battle could turn out way longer then you thought it would last.
The overall game play is pretty good, giving you more play time then complain time. when it comes to games and game time this is a good time to waste time. It covers the basics of different types of walls, different towers, weapon shops, and some flowers for a happy easy going population. Making them loyal but lazy, but making your troops stronger at the same time. Or mix it up, and put a bunch of stretching racks to make your population work harder and hate you at the same time. You might have to receive less taxes but a stronger economy and weaker soldiers. You loose your supprt from your poulation and your peasents might start leaving your castle.
Overall this game is good for its replay value, but not so much into Graphics or great sound quality. So you gotta decide to go with the game play or Graphics. If your for the graphics this probably isn't the game for you. They really could of done way better. However if your into gameplay get this game. I enjoy playing this from time to time, I would probably give a 8/10 for replay value and a 6/10 for graphics and cheesy sound quality. If your computer can't handle this, it's time to get with the time!!!
Other games to enjoy!
Pure
Red Faction GuerillaSaints Row 2
Velvet AssassinPrototype Halo Wars Soul Calibur 4 Empires Total War Battlestations MidwaySkate 2
