Infıdels attacking!
"Infidels are attacking oh Caliph! And they are led by the famous Christian Crusader. Richard Lionheart!"
"Nooo!" the cup of the kalif flew through the dark room and the content of it spilled on the floor. The ice water formed a growing small lake but steam rose quickly as the water evaporated in the unforgiving summer sun.
"General what shall we do?"
"Oh great Caliph! It would give the troop great courage if you were to show up on the battlements. All other preparations are made. The archer are already taking position on the towers and the flam throwers are also ready"
It took a time to convince the Caliph but after some time he agreed to at least go on the top of the keep and let himself bee seen by the archers. But as the general and his master got out into the open air it was already to late. Thick black smoke was covering the whole castle and the tops of the huge towers could not bee seen through the smoke. And the noise was unbearable the fire was ever growing and it made a sizzling noise and the screams of the castle inhabitants filed the courtyard. One of the flame throwers must have lost control over his pots and the content which was bound to hit the for coming enemies now destroyed the castle from the inside.
Stronghold crusader takes his antecessor and moves it from medieval Europe to the middle east in the time of the crusades. A change in scene that works well with the stronghold system and is in general a goof idea for a sequel. The game also benefits from the added computer players as it is a real joy to see new faces like Richard Lionheart, the Saladin or the Caliph but for the fans of the old characters the Pig, the Wolf, the Snake and the Rat were not forgotten in the moving truck to the middle east. Its a shame that also the bad computer player habits were taken a board this truck and that the travel time was not used to explain the computer players how the game works. Because the computer players still stubbornly just builds his standard (2-3 different types of) units and some units like for example the horsed archers (who are actually pretty useful) are not used by any of them. But it seams that each computer player got a coaching in building castles the problem is that they again stubbornly stick to one type of castle layout. For example it is certain that the Caliph is going to build a rectangular castle with 2 stone thick walls, 4 long towers on the long side and 3 long towers on the short side of the rectangle. With 10-15 catapults who have a greater range as the archer on the top (or else we would also throw in about 10 shields) the castle is gravel in a matter of seconds.
A huge improvement is the new skirmish level. A addition that makes it possible that 8 players build their castle on the same map and fight until only one victor is standing alone on the blood field battlefield. An improvement that also smoothen the way to a great multilayer experience. An experience which is also greatly enhanced by the great economy of the game.
The economy has not changed allot but that was scarcely necessary. As I explained in the review of the first Stronghold the economy is quickly erected, understandable and comprehensible economy which is full of detail and strategic depth and demands a tetris-puzzle like working with the inside of your walls and your castles surroundings.
Another improvement and an asset no other game had in this extend to this time is the fire simulation of the game. Fire is often used in games to state that a building is not at full health (for example in Age of Empires) but in stronghold crusader (and also in stronghold) the fire take a greater, active part as a real game concept.
In conclusion the 2 part of the stronghold series is a worthy successor of the first one and given the greater amount of playable content it is also arguably the best stronghold that exists.
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