FireFly Studios' Stronghold Crusader

aka: Stronghold Crusader, Twierdza: Krzyżowiec
Moby ID: 7560
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Description official descriptions

Firefly Studios' Stronghold Crusader is the standalone expansion pack to the 2001 Stronghold. In Stronghold Crusader, the player can command either Crusaders or Arabs loyal to Saladin.

The four historic campaigns, which serve as training for different gameplay aspects, follow the first three Crusades, in which the player alternates between commanding Crusader and Arabian forces. New to the game are the desert environment, which holds fertile farming land only in small oases, and Arabian troops available from the Mercenary Post, which do not require weapon production, but are either cheap and only useful in numbers, or powerful but double the price of their European counterparts. Depending on the campaign and the player-set options, the Lord unit can either have a Crusader or an Arabian skin, which also reflects on the cursor (sword or saber).

The game introduces and prominently stresses the skirmish mode, where the player can choose a map and fight against several opponents who do not only differ in appearance, but also in competence and play styles. The four dukes from the original Stronghold (The Rat, The Snake, The Pig and The Wolf) make a return, and they are joined by Saladin, The Sultan, The Caliph, and Richard The Lionheart. Three additional adversaries (Emperor Frederick I, King Phillip I and the Sheriff of Nottingham) were distributed separately in exclusive bonus discs in select stores, but are available for free download on the official website and were part of subsequent re-releases of the game, Stronghold Crusader Extreme and Stronghold Crusader HD.

These adversaries are the player's enemy, in various combinations, throughout the Crusader Trail, a series of 50 linked skirmish missions, which are progressively harder, but can be skipped up to 3 times (using the aptly designed chicken icon). Multiplayer with up to 8 players is available via LAN or over the Internet, and plays exactly like the skirmish mode. In both the skirmish mode and multiplayer, all players, including AI opponents, can use Crusader units alongside Arabian ones.

As with the original Stronghold, Stronghold Crusader includes a scenario and map editor, as well as a free build mode (here called Castle Builder).

Spellings

  • 要塞:十字军东征 - Simplified Chinese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Windows version)

137 People (130 developers, 7 thanks) · View all

Game Design
Additional Design
Game Programming
Executive Producer
Art Director
Artists
Multiplayer Programming
Sound Design
Original Music composed by
Manual
Story Writer
Quality Assurance Manager
Firefly Testing
MUSICIANS(Oud, Laouto, Lyra, Kemenche, Dumbek, Bouzouki, Tambura)
MUSICIANS(Bansuri Flute, Clarinet, Sona, Mizmar)
MUSICIANS(Vocals)
MUSICIANS(Violin, Viola)
MUSICIANS(Overtone Flute, Percussion)
Senior Audio Engineer (SDL Agency)
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 79% (based on 26 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 17 ratings with 1 reviews)

A fun real-time castle building game.

The Good
Build and defend your forts against your enemies in real time. Train soldiers to man the walls, build towers for them to stand on. The graphics are great and you can make very realistic looking castles. The system requirements are very low for a game which came out in 2002, which is great for people on slower systems. You can now play skirmish against the computer.

The Bad
The new arab units don't need anything to build except gold, so you can instantly create big armies without having to make their weapons. The units seem vaguely racist too, mostly weak units which can't stand up 1-to-1 to the 'western' units, units whose purpose seem suicidal (like torch-bearing slaves who light buildings on fire).

The Bottom Line
An expansion and improvement on the original stronghold. With new units, better gameplay and more game options (like multiplayer).

Windows · by Tony Maki (10) · 2005

Trivia

Extras

The Bonus CDs were provided to individual retailers for an incentive to consumers to purchase that specific chain's version. Notable figures Sheriff of Nottingham, King Phillip and Emperor Frederick were provided as detailed AI opponents - along with their unique castles for the player to skirmish with. These characters were also freely downloadable from the official website.

Online servers

The game's online servers which were hosted on GameSpy were scheduled to shut down on 31 May 2014 in the wake of GameSpy's total closure.

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Related Games

Stronghold Crusader II
Released 2014 on Windows
FireFly Studios' Stronghold
Released 2001 on Windows, 2002 on Macintosh
Stronghold Crusader Extreme
Released 2008 on Windows, 2012 on Macintosh
FireFly Studios' Stronghold Deluxe
Released 2002 on Windows, 2012 on Macintosh
FireFly Studios' Stronghold 2
Released 2005 on Windows
FireFly Studios' Stronghold 3
Released 2011 on Windows, 2012 on Macintosh
FireFly Studios' Stronghold Warchest
Released 2003 on Windows

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Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 7560
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Lady_of_Magick.

Additional contributors: RKL, JRK, ZombieApocalypseGames, CaesarZX, Patrick Bregger, Plok.

Game added October 23, 2002. Last modified March 12, 2024.