- Nov 21, 2014 Stronghold Crusader 2 promises the original game’s epic fast-paced skirmish gameplay with all-new maps, unit classes, traps and unique castle designs not seen before in the Stronghold series. “The Stronghold series has been a huge success.
- Stronghold: Crusader abandons the gray skies of Europe and plops you down in the middle of the hot, arid desert, battling ticked-off Arabs or (if you choose) invading European infidels. This new location alone adds flavor to the game due to the wider variety of units that are available, meaning it's no longer just swordsman vs.
- Create a new empire and go on a crusade in a real-time strategy game. Build an army, collect resources, provide your citizens with food, shelter and low taxes and ensure them with safety during the First, Second and Third Crusades in the Middle East. You can download Stronghold Crusader 2.9 from our software library for free.
- Download Stronghold Crusader HD. Recruit brave heroes and craft weapons to defend your castle and growing city from invaders.
Download Stronghold Crusader for Windows now from Softonic: 100% safe and virus free. More than 4944 downloads this month. Download Stronghold Crusader latest version 2021. Journey to distant lands renowned for brave warriors and fearsome weaponry in FireFly Studios' Stronghold: Crusader. This highly anticipated successor to the bestselling Stronghold combines the finest aspects from a city builder and a real-time strategy game. The Stronghold series is a video game series developed by Firefly Studios. The games in the series are. Stronghold, Stronghold Crusader, Stronghold 2, Stronghold Legends, Stronghold Crusader Extreme, Stronghold Kingdoms, Stronghold 3, The latest installment is Stronghold Crusader 2.
| Stronghold: Crusader | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Firefly Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Take 2 Interactive and Gathering of Developers |
| Designer(s) | Simon Bradbury |
| Artist(s) | Mike Best |
| Writer(s) | Casimir C. Windsor |
| Composer(s) | Robert L. Euvino |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | Stronghold Crusader: Extreme
|
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy, Simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer (IPX, TCP/IP or Modem) |
Stronghold: Crusader is the successor to Firefly Studios's 2001 real-time strategyvideo gameStronghold.[2]Crusader has much in common with the original Stronghold, but differs from its predecessor in the fact that the game is no longer set in England, instead being set in the Middle East during the Crusades.[3] Another prominent addition not found in its predecessor is a skirmish mode in single-player, allowing customized battles with AI opponents instead of the linear campaign. The game was also released as Stronghold Warchest. This version was a compendium of Stronghold and an enhanced version of Stronghold: Crusader, containing additional characters and an additional Crusader Trail.
Stronghold Warchest was only released in a limited number of countries (e.g. USA or Poland), meaning players in the rest of the world have never encountered the second Crusader Trail, or second set of characters. This changed when an updated version of Stronghold Crusader, Stronghold: Crusader Extreme was released in early 2008.
Campaigns[edit]
Stronghold Crusader features several real-time strategy campaign strings. These document the First, Second and Third Crusade, as well as conflicts within the individual Crusader states. Each campaign comprises several battles, such as Nicaea, Heraclea, siege of Antioch, Krak des Chevaliers and the Siege of Jerusalem. The game also features the Crusader Trail, a series of 50 linked missions against various opponents. Stronghold Warchest adds one more Crusader Trail, consisting of 30 linked missions.
Gameplay[edit]
The gameplay is similar to the original Stronghold, the major difference being that the game is set in the Middle East. As a consequence, farms can only be built on oasis grass, which leads to rivalry among players for limited farmland and resources. The game adds new AI opponents (the number depending on the version of the game) and several new Arabian units purchasable from a mercenary post. The colour of the player's units have also been changed from blue to red in order to match the colours of the Knights Templar. Other than farms there are other resources such as iron ore, quarry (for stone), and marshes (for oil). These resources are deposited on the stockpile and the player can choose to either sell or use them for defense purposes. There are two ways to build an army; either make the weapons and then spend a little gold to turn peasants into soldiers, or turn them directly into soldiers using more gold via the mercenary post.
There are historical chapters (mostly fictionalized) which are to be completed using the resources given to the player at the start of the missions. Along with that there are 50 levels designed with increasing difficulty. In each level, the player must defend the kingdom and defeat one or more Kings. There is an option of three chickens at the start of the game which the player can use to skip a particular level.
There are 30 additional levels added by the developers in the form of an additional Crusade Trail. The design of these mirrors the original 50 levels with the difficulty raising as the player progresses through the levels.
Characters[edit]
The game contains several different characters that all appear as AI-controlled lords in the Skirmish mode, available to be selected as allies or enemies. One unique aspect of the game is that the characters have individual binks (small short videos) by which they communicate with the player, asking for goods or help if allied with them or, if they are the players' enemy, taunting them when attacking or expressing worry when under siege. These videos were absent for Stronghold 2 but returned in a new form for Stronghold Crusader II.
In the base game, eight AI lords are available, including the opponents from the original game (The Rat, The Snake, The Pig, and The Wolf), as well as new Arabian and Crusader lords (Saladin, Richard the Lionheart, The Caliph, and The Sultan). With the Warchest edition, eight additional lords were added. Three of these (Emperor Frederick, King Philip, and The Sheriff) were made available by Firefly as a free download, but the five others - The Wazir, The Emir, Nizar (based on the real-life Hassan-i Sabbah), The Marshal (a repurposed Sir Longarm from the original Stronghold), and The Abbot - had to be obtained via buying the Warchest package. These additional lords were, however, properly included within the game's later release on Steam at no extra charge.
Reception[edit]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 78/100[4] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| CGM | [5] |
| CGW | [6] |
| Game Informer | 8.75/10[7] |
| GameSpot | 8/10[2] |
| GameSpy | [8] |
| GameZone | 8/10[9] |
| IGN | 8.4/10[10] |
| PC Gamer (UK) | 76%[11] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 77%[12] |
| PC Zone | 82%[13] |
The game received 'generally favorable reviews' according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[4]
According to Edge, Stronghold: Crusader sold at least 100,000 copies in the United States, but was beaten by the first Stronghold's 220,000 sales in the region. Total US sales of Stronghold games released during the 2000s reached 590,000 copies by August 2006.[14]
Stronghold: Crusader Extreme[edit]
On January 28, 2008, Firefly Studios announced an expanded version of the game: Stronghold: Crusader Extreme. It boasts 'new AI opponents and maps', a 'new crusader extreme trail', 'battles featuring over 10,000 units' and Windows Vista compatibility.[15] It was released in June 2008.
It also contains an updated version of the original Stronghold: Crusader, which includes everything except for outposts, the god powers and the Extreme Crusader Trail. However, if the official HD patch is installed, outposts can be built on maps on the original Stronghold Crusader part of Stronghold Crusader Extreme.[16]
Reception[edit]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 45/100[17] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| 1Up.com | D−[18] |
| GameSpot | 3.5/10[16] |
| GameZone | 5/10[19] |
| IGN | 4.8/10[20] |
| PC Gamer (UK) | 30%[21] |
| PC Zone | 42%[22] |
The Extreme version received 'generally unfavorable reviews' according to Metacritic.[17] It was criticized for its extreme difficulty, lack of new audio, and not having graphical quality up to par for a game released in 2008.[citation needed]
Sequel[edit]
On August 30, 2012, Firefly Studios announced Stronghold Crusader II, a sequel to the original Crusader game. The company said that the game would be self-published, with additional funding to be sourced via crowd-funding site Gambitious.[23][24][25] The game was released on September 23, 2014.
References[edit]
- ^Parker, Sam (September 19, 2002). 'Stronghold: Crusader goes gold'. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^ abChick, Tom (October 3, 2002). 'Stronghold: Crusader Review'. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^'Stronghold: Crusader'. Firefly Studios. Archived from the original on December 24, 2006.
- ^ ab'Stronghold: Crusader for PC Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^'Stronghold: Crusader'. Computer Games Magazine. theGlobe.com. January 2003. p. 83.
- ^Luo, Di (January 2003). 'Stronghold: Crusader'(PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 222. Ziff Davis. p. 110. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^Brogger, Kristian (December 2002). 'Stronghold: Crusader'. Game Informer. No. 116. GameStop. p. 149. Archived from the original on August 11, 2009. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^Abner, William (November 3, 2002). 'GameSpy: Stronghold: Crusader'. GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^Giacobbi, Kevin 'BIFF' (October 3, 2002). 'Stronghold: Crusader Review'. GameZone. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^Polak, Steve (October 8, 2002). 'Stronghold Crusader'. IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^'Stronghold: Crusader'. PC Gamer UK. Future plc. November 2002.
- ^Peckham, Matthew (December 25, 2002). 'Stronghold: Crusader'. PC Gamer. Vol. 9 no. 13. Future US. p. 85. Archived from the original on March 15, 2006. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^Pratchett, Rhianna (October 18, 2002). 'PC Review: Stronghold: Crusader'. PC Zone. Future plc. Archived from the original on September 21, 2007. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^Edge staff (August 25, 2006). 'The Top 100 PC Games of the 21st Century'. Edge. Future plc. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012.
- ^'Stronghold: Crusader Extreme'. Firefly Studios. Archived from the original on February 1, 2008.
- ^ abTodd, Brett (June 23, 2008). 'Stronghold Crusader Extreme Review'. GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^ ab'Stronghold: Crusader Extreme for PC Reviews'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^'Stronghold Crusader Extreme Review'. 1UP.com. Ziff Davis. June 3, 2008. Archived from the original on November 8, 2015. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^Hollingshead, Anise (July 21, 2008). 'Stronghold Crusader Extreme - PC - Review'. GameZone. Archived from the original on January 20, 2009. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^Ocampo, Jason (June 10, 2008). 'Stronghold Crusader Extreme Review'. IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^'Stronghold: Crusader Extreme'. PC Gamer UK. Future plc. August 2008. p. 74.
- ^'Review: Stronghold: Crusader Extreme'. PC Zone. Future plc. September 2008. p. 72.
- ^'All Game Projects'. Gambitious. Archived from the original on September 3, 2012.
- ^Davey, Jamie (August 30, 2012). 'Firefly Studios announces Stronghold Crusader II for PC in Late 2013'. GameWatcher. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
- ^'Firefly Announce Stronghold Crusader 2'. Firefly Studios. August 30, 2012. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
External links[edit]
- Official website via Internet Archive
- Stronghold: Crusader at Firefly Studios
- Stronghold: Crusader at MobyGames
- Stronghold: Crusader Extreme at MobyGames
For information on Stronghold 2 see Stronghold 2 Heaven |
| First entry in competition posted. Posted 11.21.2014 @ 9:08:PM by ericgolf |
The first entry in Erskine Ravel's 'Siege That Competition 2014' has been posted by Timballisto. Check out the the competition thread in the Stronghold and Crusader: Map Room Forum, Siege That! Competition 2014. As Erskine Ravel points out in his thread, 'the whole idea behind' the Siege That! mode in Stronghold 1 is to 'create siege maps that you could challenge your friends with'. So why not get involved? Could you be next to throw your hat in the ring? Making a Siege That! scenario does not require that you create a custom terrain because in Siege That! the castle is evereything. So entering the competition can be quite easy. Previously known as Savage Templar, Erskine Ravel's own Siege That! map in the Downlaods section is FerthHelm Signal-Fort. He writes in his thread: 'I have created it just to show that a map can be created very quickly and easily and it is also, to provide castle design help to people.' |
| Stronghold Crusader 2 Release Date Set Posted 5.28.2014 @ 11:26:PM by Lady Arcola |
Firefly Studios announced yesterday via their Facebook page: We are proud to announce that Stronghold Crusader 2 will be released worldwide on September 2nd 2014! In the below statement Firefly Co-Founder and Design Lead Simon Bradbury explains the companyâs decision to release the game at this time: To read this Facebook post check here. |
Stronghold Crusader Game Ranger
| Stronghold Crusader 2 At Gamescom With First Gameplay Trailer Posted 9.6.2013 @ 10:27:AM by Lady Arcola |
Firefly Studios announced that the first gameplay footage for Stronghold Crusader 2 was revealed at Gamescom 2013 in Colonge, Germany. An updated build of the game was shown to press and its first gameplay trailer revealed in full, featuring multiplayer footage and a first look at the gameâs fiendish AI characters. The team demonstrated various improvements made to the game since its E3 debut in June. This includes command powers, new unit abilities and dynamic events such as the Tornado, which tears away at castle walls stone by stone in real time, sucking in any archers unlucky enough to be stationed on top. Also on show will be the gameâs co-op mode and an assortment of units completely new to the Stronghold series. In addition to the gameâs first trailer being revealed during the show, a batch of new screenshots will also be released, allowing players and press their first look at the Locust Swarm, siege equipment such as the Trebuchet and skirmish gameplay between human players and their crafty AI opponents. Scheduled for release in early 2014, Stronghold Crusader 2 will be published digitally by Firefly Studios. Additional funding will be sought through game-focused crowd sourcing service Gambitious, with funding going towards polish, a closed beta and additional game content. More news and information on Stronghold Crusader 2 can be found at StrongholdCrusader2.com. |
Download Stronghold Crusaders
| Stronghold Crusader 2 will be revealed at E3 2013 Posted 6.9.2013 @ 6:29:PM by Lady Arcola |
Strategy fans and castle builders rejoice, Firefly Studios has just announced the next entry in their legendary Stronghold series will be revealed at E3 2013. Set to march across the Atlantic next week Stronghold Crusader 2 will be shown to press at E3, with the first screenshots and game trailer released to the public shortly after. Seeking to build upon the trademark gameplay of the original Stronghold Crusader, Firefly will be showing press the gameâs new visuals, sleek new battle interface, new units and AI characters. Stronghold Crusader 2 promises the original gameâs epic fast-paced skirmish gameplay with all-new maps, unit classes, traps and unique castle designs not seen before in the Stronghold series. âThe Stronghold series has been a huge success. Since the launch of the first game more than 6 million Stronghold games have been sold and itâs all thanks to the fans, many of whom have been with us from the very start,â said Nick Tannahill, Marketing Manager at Firefly Studios. âWe canât wait to show people what weâve been working on and will do just that with our E3 reveal. Iâm happy to announce that we will also be launching the full Crusader 2 website on June 11th, which will feature the gameâs first trailer, artwork and moreâ. Currently scheduled for release in Q4 2013, Stronghold Crusader 2 will be self-published by Firefly Studios. Later this year the team plans to seek additional funds through game-focused crowd sourcing service Gambitious, with funding going towards polish, a closed backer-only beta and additional game content. More news and information on Stronghold Crusader 2 can be found at StrongholdCrusader2.com and fans can help fund the latest crusade at Gambitious.com. Follow @SHCrusader2 for updates on the crowd funding campaign and updates on the development of Stronghold Crusader 2. About Firefly Studios Firefly Studios is an independent PC game developer specialising in real-time strategy and MMO titles. Formed in 1999 by Simon Bradbury and Eric Ouellette, the company has brought to market a number of high profile and commercially successful strategy games, including the Stronghold series with lifetime sales of over five million. Firefly has offices in the UK and US. For more information please visit their website at www.fireflyworlds.com or follow @fireflyworlds on Twitter. About Gambitious The first ever professional crowd funding platform made specifically for the games industry. Gambitious is a professional environment where game developers, their fans and serious investors can identify one and other and collaborate for mutual benefit. A combination of the donation based pre-sale model with an equity-based model, Gambitious allows more serious games investors to become equity partners, giving them a piece of the pie in the projects they decide to support. The Gambitious management team harnesses the knowledge and expertise of its experienced staff of developers, producers, marketers and publishers to provide a filter for new game projects. Whether a project is proposed by a world-renowned team or an up-and-coming indie, the Gambitious team challenges them to think all the way through the process and present a real business case for bringing their project to market. ### Trademarks are property of their respective owners |
Free Stronghold Crusader Download
| Happy New Year! Posted 12.31.2012 @ 5:58:PM by Lord of Hell |
Here, we find ourselves again in that period of the year. In the battle with Time, we never win, so all we can do, is enjoy every second of our life. Some of you may have had a great time in 2012, while for some, it may have been a though year. Either way, we should always enjoy our time as much as we can and smile where possible. Learn from the past, live in the present, and think in the future! On behalf of the Stronghold Heaven Staff I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year, and may 2013 bring everyone the best moments of your life yet. |