Playing
Stronghold Crusader Extreme is an exercise in masochism. I’m used to losing
frequently in most things I play with my family, but at least I get compensated
socially. Here, there is no compensation. You just lose, lose,
lose, at least in the Extreme scenario mode. The
original Stronghold Crusader that is included is easier and still has some charm
to it, but anyone can pick up a copy of the original for much cheaper than this
new retail version. That makes for a very limited audience for this game.
In Stronghold
Crusader, there is a good balance between fighting and building. The main
emphasis is on fighting rather than economics, but it is paced well and players
have a chance to improve their armies by making the necessary money through
economic means. The beginning scenarios in the campaign mode start players out
fairly slowly and while there isn’t a real tutorial (the tutorial option is only
a short descriptive list of a few buildings and other features, specific to that
mission), there are several good walkthroughs available online.
As in most
strategy games of this ilk, the original Stronghold Crusader involves trying to
make money quickly, in order to quickly build up armies, in order to defend
against the enemy armies. This works fairly well and it offers a good balanced
mix of strategy, which is why this game garnered above average reviews several
years ago. Unfortunately, that same amount of fun isn’t present in the Extreme
addition. The gameplay isn’t balanced at all, and
the computer opponents have too much of an advantage immediately into the game.
The beginning of every campaign is insane because of the instant threat from
advancing enemy armies. Players don’t have any time to build up their armies and
must almost immediately defend with what pitiful units are available.
What makes this
instant threat of attack so bad is the fact that it takes forever to build up
enough resources in the workforce and in the materials to build up the fighting
units. It takes a lot of stone to build a castle, and a lot of wood to buy
anything, and a lot of manpower to run the buildings. It’s hard to figure out
how to increase the workforce, too. I got behind in my labor pool in one game,
so built several houses to bring in more workers. Lots of women and babies
appeared, but no added workers. I ended up disbanding my army to release
workers, but that is no solution when they are needed to fight! I gave up and
began the scenario over again, but not with much more success. Needless to say,
the enemy prevailed. Players better than I will probably fare better, but only
if they keep preserving. I don’t have the patience.
And, the
graphics are pitiful. I’m the last person to put the look of a game ahead of the
gameplay, but this game looks like the games I was
playing back in the 90’s. These graphics couldn’t have been all that great six
years ago, when Stronghold Crusader was first released, and they look really
lame now.
There is a map
editor, but it’s not all that much fun to build a map with these blocky images.
For anyone who
wants to play Stronghold Crusader and doesn’t have a copy, I suggest that they
pick up a bargain copy of the original game. Stay away from this edition, it
will only frustrate.
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Gameplay: 5.0
This
game isn’t any fun, because it is too hard. Losing all the time is not a good
thing. In strategy games of this type, the enemy units shouldn’t attack so
quickly. Players are set up for failure and it’s almost impossible to win. This
isn’t strategy when there isn’t much of a chance.
Graphics: 3.0
The
graphics are very bad and dated.
Sound: 6.0
The
music is the only good thing about this game.
Difficulty:
Hard
The
game is extremely difficult, hence the name, I guess.
Concept: 3.0
Concept?
What concept? There isn’t anything new in this game, except for the difficulty
level and the new maps.
Multiplayer: 6.0
I
didn’t get to play the multiplayer option, but would imagine it would be a
little better playing real people than the computer. The game would still look
bad, though.
Overall: 5.0
This
edition of Stronghold Crusaders is one of those games that leaves us to wonder,
what were they thinking? If I liked a game in the past, I’m going to like it
now, but even so there should be improvements. This is not to say that there
should be lots of changes. I didn’t like HOMM V as much as HOMM II, nor did I
like Caesar IV as much as Caesar III, because the designers changed too many
things. But taking the good features and enhancing them is the main reason
behind any new edition. Or, at least it should be. It was evidently not the
reason this time.
