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. Advance on the castle gates while flanking the enemy from behind, feign retreat and lead your foe into a deadly trap or just sit back and watch the destruction unfold.Stronghold is a 2001 historic real-time strategy game developed by Firefly Studios, wherein you expand your kingdom through military pursuits. The new HD battlefield view allows you to zoom out and play in real-time, with the whole map on one screen. With new high resolution graphics players also have more control over their soldiers than ever before. The unit cap has been increased from 1000 to a staggering 10,000 troops, special Tactical Powers such as the Arrow Volley can be used and new buildings make their appearance alongside the Crusader Extreme skirmish trail. Battles such as Nicea, Heraclea, siege of Antioch, Krak des Chevaliers and the Siege of Jerusalem all feature, as do the Crusader Trails from the Stronghold Warchest and Stronghold Crusader Extreme.īoth Stronghold Crusader and Stronghold Crusader Extreme are included in Stronghold Crusader HD.Įxtreme plays exactly like the original Stronghold Crusader, only with a few additions. Stronghold Crusader HD features several campaigns documenting the First, Second and Third Crusades, as well as conflicts within the individual Crusader states. The sequel to the classic Stronghold, Stronghold Crusader HD moves from Europe to the Middle East, introducing fiendish AI opponents, new units, new characters, 4 historical campaigns and over 100 unique skirmish missions. Stronghold Crusader HD updates the classic castle building game from Firefly Studios with high definition graphics, allowing generals to view an entire battlefield on a single screen.