Stronghold: Crusader II

Does a good job walking the thin line between economy-sim and RTS. Gives a good “build it and then knock it down” feeling with varied and colorful units.

A very good product. The difference between this game and Firefly's previous game is devastating. Crusader II is basically Crusader wearing Stronghold 3, and that's not a bad thing. To be honest, the campaign could have been better, the interface clearer and the graphics prettier, but all in all the end result is worthy of praise from the fans.

I would not recommend it as a single-player game. It simply doesn’t have enough flesh on the bones to be played that way for more than a few days. Fortunately, Crusader was never meant to be played alone.

After 7 years of waiting, the new Crusader game is released. Stronghold Crusader II contains all the cool features from the original Stronghold Crusader game with some new and fun gameplay.

Stronghold Crusader II is a great RTS game with a solid combat system and robust micromanagement. We love the freedom that we have to create our dreamed bastion and its addictive multiplayer options.

Firefly Studios hasn't quite made a new classic RTS game here, but they were extremely close.

For old, war-tested Stronghold players Crusader 2 is a triumphant evolution of the game that they've held dear for the last twelve years. For the rest of us though, there is perhaps no better time to see what all the fuss is about.

As long as you don’t mind that the game doesn’t really have a campaign and instead relies on skirmishes, then it can provide you with a worthwhile gaming experience. I’d just recommend that you wait for the price to drop down to well under the $50 mark where it is now.

Stronghold Crusader 2 is a product made for those fans who, after twelve years, still want to play the original game without any really new addition to the formula.

There are some issues that prevent it from becoming a better game, but still it delivers a good feeling that fans of the original game will enjoy.

Combat is the traditional RTS “smash into each other experience” but it works well (despite the questionable unit AI), and building your castle is incredibly pleasing despite the dodgy interaction with terrain. Irritating moments such as the enemy Lord fights and generally high difficulty detract significantly from the game, but it’s still an enjoyable romp for any RTS fan.

Stronghold Crusader 2 goes back to the roots of the series, taking us almost 15 years back in time. This can be good news for someone, but we expected something more and for the rebirth of the franchise we’ll have to wait for the next episode, hoping for a braver approach.

Stronghold Crusaders II follows the lead of its (old) predecessor. It's a nice strategy game coming from an ancient golden age.

Stronghold Crusader II can surely elicit nostalgia feelings in the most old-school fans, but it seems to lack the virtues to truly compete in the modern world.

The Stronghold series isn't like Total War, doing a hundred different things; it just needs to get the castles and combat right. On the evidence of Stronghold Crusader 2, Firefly is moving in the right direction, but it still has a way to go.

It isn't broken, and it has moments of mild glory, but lacks personality. [Dec 2014, p.81]

It's still fun as long as you don't care about a single player campaign and up to date visuals.

Blast from the past when real-time strategies used to dominate the world. The creators took the concept of the first part almost completely and besides the updated visuals there is no extra value added to differentiate the sequel from the original.

Stronghold Crusader 2 is hardly the worst representative of its niche sub-genre, but Firefly Studios is too stuck in the past to freshen the aging concept.

A particularly repetitive gameplay that fails to innovate and remains very similar to that of the first chapter will be appreciated by fans of the historical series, but it will definitely be frowned upon by those who have not particularly loved the first Crusader.

Stronghold Crusader 2 is not what we’ve hoped: right now the game doesn’t come close to its great predecessor. Still, there are some original ideas to be found here, but thanks to all the bugs it feels like this game has been released too soon.

Stronghold Crusader 2 delivers exciting RTS battles and is a fun castle-building simulation, which challenges the player every single match. Despite this, the game is disappointing in many other areas, and because of that we yearned numerous times for its predecessor.

Stronghold Crusader 2 is a good strategy game, effective and addictive. Still, pity he did not further revolutionizes the series, and we would like a true modern graphics engine have been developed for the occasion.

Stronghold Crusader 2 understands the art of the troop blob, but that alone doesn't make it a good game. Its lack of interesting units, underdeveloped castle-building options, and terrible tutorials hold the game back. Blob warfare is still fun, and directing an army never gets old. But man cannot live on blob alone.

This is no catastrophe, but it is far from being a good game as well.

FireFly lives up to its promise of producing a better-looking version of its first games, but that’s all they live up to.

When it comes to the fight the game remains as clueless as before. An attack resembles a mob hit on the madhouse watchman's post: confused fighters run toward the target and drop dead on the way. All three formations are designed to provide a semblance of order, but after right click on the enemy such order immediately thrown into chaos. And, just as before, two dozen archers on the wall solve most of the issues of defense. The visual part of the game just aggravates the impression that ... Oops, there is no impression actually. Nobody creates games in this way anymore. [Nov 2014, p.99]

When I read that Crusader is slowly becoming the game the developers wanted it to be, I can’t hold back laughter. What are they going to do in Crusader III? Strip the visuals of distinctiveness even more? Simplify the economy further? Remove some more units? [Dec 2014, p.81]