Posted April 19, 2009
Buy if: You want to get into RTS, you want a simple but compelling RTS, you're looking for a good sim game, you're looking for quick pick up games
Don't buy if: You absolutely, unequivocally, despise RTS games
Stronghold Crusader is a game which is simple enough and properly designed to be very easy to get into. Newcomers to the RTS genre will find much to like in this title, which doesn't obfuscate gameplay with infinite amounts of units or magical powerups which suddenly swing the balance. It feels very much like a castle 'model' in the scientific sense, and this adds a lot to the final experience. The economy is simple and intuitive and you find yourself micromanaging in ways you'd have never thought possible for yourself.
Constructions become 'your own'. S:C plays to the nostalgia in its customers, who go back to the days of Lego fortresses.
The sandbox options are absolutely stellar. If you tire of having to fight enemies you have the option of simply building a castle in peace, bringing it to its full glory without the bothersome Arab raiders coming to wreck your achievements!
Personally, I prefer Crusader over the first Stronghold, if only because of the setting. The Crusader setting is not often used and the isometric graphics are quite simply beautiful, especially in the context in which it's set. The soundtrack accompanies the game well enough to convince you to keep the speakers turned on.
Overall, there is little to dislike in Stronghold Crusader. At times, the shortcomings of the isometric camera appear when fiddling with menial construction details, but these punctual and very specific snags do not appear often enough to subtract from the overall brilliant experience.
Don't buy if: You absolutely, unequivocally, despise RTS games
Stronghold Crusader is a game which is simple enough and properly designed to be very easy to get into. Newcomers to the RTS genre will find much to like in this title, which doesn't obfuscate gameplay with infinite amounts of units or magical powerups which suddenly swing the balance. It feels very much like a castle 'model' in the scientific sense, and this adds a lot to the final experience. The economy is simple and intuitive and you find yourself micromanaging in ways you'd have never thought possible for yourself.
Constructions become 'your own'. S:C plays to the nostalgia in its customers, who go back to the days of Lego fortresses.
The sandbox options are absolutely stellar. If you tire of having to fight enemies you have the option of simply building a castle in peace, bringing it to its full glory without the bothersome Arab raiders coming to wreck your achievements!
Personally, I prefer Crusader over the first Stronghold, if only because of the setting. The Crusader setting is not often used and the isometric graphics are quite simply beautiful, especially in the context in which it's set. The soundtrack accompanies the game well enough to convince you to keep the speakers turned on.
Overall, there is little to dislike in Stronghold Crusader. At times, the shortcomings of the isometric camera appear when fiddling with menial construction details, but these punctual and very specific snags do not appear often enough to subtract from the overall brilliant experience.