Real Time Strategy, RTS for short are very close to my heart since I was a kid, whether it was from old games or new ones. There were many RTS games I played, and still do to this day such as: Age of Empires, Mount & Blade, Kenshi, Stronghold Franchise, ect...but none came closer to being attached to my heart like Stronghold Crusader HD.

Stronghold HD (the game before Stronghold Crusader HD) was an incredible beggining for the franchise, and when Stronghold Crusader HD came it had beaten the old Stronghold in every single possible way. From Gameplay, Graphics and Level design, OST, Expansion (Stronghold Crusader Extreme), NPCs, Missions and even in Community !


Level Design,

Stronghold Crusader HD has a lot of Levels, and every single one has a different design or got a catch/twist on it. There are different a lot of levels for every kind of match from two player level to a 8 players level, as said before every map has some kind of twist, whether it has lots of materials or has few materials like having few grass to build your farms or even having 0 grass to build farms so you gotta buy from the market, some others have every lord close to each other and the other way around, and also some maps would have oil and some not or others have swamps which makes you move slower. You can also use the terrain for your advantage, like putting bowsmen on top of them so they can snipe far enemies rather than being on the ground. The levels were incredibely made in this game.


NPCs,

NPCs in this game are so good and essential to have, otherwise the matches will be boring just like the other Stronghold games. NPCs in this game gives life to playing and doesn't get you bored or lonely, all having their own personality and lines. They tell you that they're going to attack you soon, they tell you that you're getting attacked, some of them congratulate you when you defeat their attacks others would cry or cuss you out, when you attack their buildings they either cry or get mad (they'll send troops to attack you, doesn't matter they cry or not). You can also an allied match, sometimes they demand goods, help or even asking you to attack enemy lords. Every lord has his own fighting style and defense style, some have strong defense and attack style, while others have weak defenses and attacks. I love it when Lords send you a message where they cry, it's really funny and doesn't get old.


Missions (Trials),

The Trials on Stronghold Crusader HD first trials are easy then one by one the difficulity gets harder and harder, so you'll have to do some tactics like sacrafice some of your workers and popularity in your kingdom so you can protect yourself from the attacks you get from enemy lords the moment you beggin in it. they're fun to do and challenge yourself, also helps you to find new tactics and strategies to use in your next trials that might help you. Totalling 75 trials and the difficulity too, is all worth it. I recommend new comers to play them all and not to chicken out of them.


OST,

I love the OST oh my god I love the OST oh my god I love the OST. Some OSTs make you feel like any time you're going to get attacked, other OSTs make you feel like you're on the top and the rest of the lords are weak, others makes you feel you're going to have a long match. OSTs in this game are very good no doubt about that.


Gameplay,

With the new arabian theme for Stronghold Crusader HD, firefly (studio maker) added new set of troops that are called arabian troops. I kid you not the Horse archers with the moving shields are easy win lmao. Any ways the gameplay differented a lot than what it was in Stronghold HD probably because of the vast of maps, new troops and also the new ai lords! but it's like any other RTS gameplay, so you won't have trouble playing it if you played other RTS games.


Expansion,

Stronghold Crusader Extreme is a nice addition to the game, it adds new gameplay mechanic, new levels and new trials. It's fun to play, but I don't see myself playing it that much since Stronghold Crusader HD is better for me personally.


Community,

The community is the reason that kept this game alive and where it is right now, they even made a tool (patch) that gave you some quality-of-life stuff, that we players wanted like changing colors of our kingdom, changing starting troops and other stuff. Even firefly studio made a steam post advertising the patch for celebrating the 20th anniversary of the game. Online is good too, most players are try hard that I played with and not newbies, which is really good.



Summary,

Stronghold Crusader HD is an old game that some people might say it's an "outdated" game, but I disagree with them. the replay ability that's in it is very good to have, also the Online is there to play against others. So, no Stronghold Crusader HD is still a good game, that you should try!