Stronghold: Crusader

by Global Star

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006HCFL
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: September 24, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,740 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PC | Edition: Standard

From the Developer

Journey to distant lands renowned for brave warriors and fearsome weaponry in FireFly Studios' Stronghold: Crusader. This highly anticipated successor to the bestselling Stronghold combines the finest aspects from a city builder and a real-time strategy game. Lead a determined group of crusaders, forged by centuries of barbaric conflicts, or wage war against a powerful foreign invader amidst the haze of the desert heat.

Within impenetrable walls beats the heart of a thriving society full of fletchers, brewers, and armorers, while outside stalk enemy assassins, mighty war engines, and the constant threat of fire. As European nobles or Arabian warriors, conquer this unforgiving wasteland, defend desert fortresses, and lay siege to fearless enemies during the legendary crusades of the 11th and 12th centuries.

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulously addicting, October 17, 2002

By 

Don Geddis (SF Bay area, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stronghold: Crusader (CD-ROM)

Anyone who likes real-time strategy (Starcraft, Age of Empires) will love this game too. Especially if you were the kind of defensive player who enjoyed putting up walls and towers more than mobile armies (although both have a role in Crusader).

The economy is significantly more complex than most of the previous games in this genre, so it will take some practice to get good enough at building a stable economy that you can concentrate on warfare. (E.g. training crossbowmen requires: you are popular enough to have free peasants; you have crossbows, and leather armor; having weapons requires an armory to store them; crossbows require someone to make them, who in turn needs wood from woodcutters; leather armor requires a tanner, who needs to get cows from a dairy farm. Any one of these links can be broken, especially during warfare, and suddenly you can no longer make more crossbowmen.)

Compared to their first release (Stronghold), the minor tweaks have improved the game. A mercenary camp lets you build an army at the beginning, instead of waiting until the midgame. Trees and potential farmland are now limited to an oasis (this being the middle east instead of England), which has the effect that there are now resources to fight over from the very beginning.

But don't just take my word for it. Firefly/GOD offers a free demo (of both Stronghold and Crusader) with a few very playable, very fun levels. Get the demo and try it out! You can decide yourself whether you like the gameplay enough to purchase it.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This game is UNBELIEVABLE!!!, June 5, 2003

By 

J. Swift (New Castle, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stronghold: Crusader (CD-ROM)

This is the greatest game Ive ever played bar none. When I was in highschool I loved Civilization 2. I recently got a computer and wanted a good game. I bought Civilization 3 and it seemed to have lost something. I cant put my finger on it but it just didnt have the soul. Or maybe I have changed and need more exitement. Well anyway I took a chance on Stronghold Crusader and havent stopped playing since. This game is simply amazing. You build up a castle(kind of like sim city). You have to build houses for the people and cathedrals. The graphics are simply beautiful. The battles are very INTENSE. And strategy changes on each skirmish. What worked in one, dosent get you anywhere in another. This game has the soul I was talking about earlier. I really feel angered when my castle is getting burned down. I take it personal. How many games emmerse you to the extent that you get so involved in the game. I havent ever taken a game so much to heart. Take a chace on this one. Its not very expensive and has kept me at it for many days. Very addictive. And the thrill of beating a lord who has been given you a hard time. That thrill of victory is priceless. Go out and buy this game. NOW!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better Than The Original, April 9, 2003

By 

J. Bugg "JLuvBugg" (Clifton, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stronghold: Crusader (CD-ROM)

Endless hours of gameplay is all I have to say. I have yet to tire of this game. You have to be concerned with all of the micro-management of the original Stronghold. You're opponents are more challenging. One aspect of this game that is very challenging is that most areas are arid (desert) regions, so finding areas to grow food can be difficult. Don't worry, that's what makes it more fun. Resources are scarce and enemies are plentiful and vicious. The Wolf, the Rat, the Pig, and the Snake are all back, along with a few new characters to get on your nerves, in a good way.

For those who may have not played the original, you will want to buy this after you have played Stronghold, or you may be disappointed. You don't have to play the original to appreciate this game but it helps.

For those who are new, the idea is simple: keep your people fed, protected, and happy, and they will serve you well. Build an army, make sure there is enough money in the treasury, keep an eye on your rations, maintain sufficient resources on your stockpile, stock your armory with weapons, and eliminate your enemy. It is a wonderful real-time war game, that requires you to focus on more than war.

The regular one-player story mode has about 50 missions, so it will take you a while to complete that aspect. All of the other modes will keep you occupied if you get bored with that, and if you are totally bored, create your own maps and scenarios. I use the term bored losely because it is almost impossible to do with this game.

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