
There are some minor issues but they don’t really bother you in your gameplay experience and the other versions of this game do well to add more content. Lead the CrusadesĪll in all, Stronghold Crusader helped its franchise grow thanks to the additions and improvements over the first game. While interface issues-such as the lack of more tool tips for certain UI elements and the strange layout of certain tabs-persist here, this game is still one of the better titles in this series.

You can still play either on the side of the Arabs or the Europeans. You’re still offered the same four historical campaigns and 100 or so unique skirmish missions. Other than these additions, however, there’s actually not much of a change in Extreme when you compare it to Crusader. It’s primarily the expanded version of Crusader, as it adds new AI opponents, maps, buildings, special Tactical Powers, and increases the unit cap of 1,000 troops to a staggering 10,000.

However, these were eventually added when Stronghold: Crusader Extreme was released. It’s known as Stronghold Warchest in certain countries and had added new characters and another Crusader Trail to tackle. What's the difference between Stronghold Crusader and Extreme?īeing one of the more well-received Stronghold games, Stronghold Crusader was given several updates. However, it came back to its roots with the next several installments: Stronghold 3, Stronghold Crusader II, and Stronghold: Warlords-although none of them really beat the solid gameplay of the first ones. Surprisingly, the series tries the path of a free-to-play MMO-style game with Stronghold Kingdoms. The next game released was Stronghold: Crusader Extreme, which was basically Crusader but has extra content. The fourth game was Stronghold Legends and adds the new mechanic of controlling both human and mythical armies. It offered 3D graphics and the addition of new gameplay mechanics such as crime and punishment.

After this game came the confusingly titled Stronghold 2. Here, there are four separate but linear campaigns to go through and lets you choose whether to play as a European king or as an Arabic lord. The first was Stronghold Crusader, which was set in the Middle East during the Crusades and brought in enhanced RTS elements. It became highly successful and spawned numerous sequels, as well as HD versions of some of the games. Set in the Middle Ages in England, you have to manage both the military and economic sides of your nation-all the while surviving scenarios such as fires and invasions and conquering other lands. Stronghold is a 2001 historic real-time strategy game developed by Firefly Studios, wherein you expand your kingdom through military pursuits.
