Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition

There's something magical about the mediaeval period of history, from towering castles to knights jousting for the hand of the princess.

- By Joshua Render

Publisher: Firefly Studios

Developer: Firefly Studios

Genre: Strategy

Release Date: Out Now

Platform: PC

However, we rarely spare a thought for how it must have been trying to organise and run this kind of society. This is the kind of task Firefly Studio's remastered title, Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition, wants to set you. The question is whether this is a journey that you want to take or if it is time to end the monarchy.

Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition is the latest in a long line of remasters since the game was first released back in 2002. Now, in the interest of fairness, I will admit that I never played the original title (or any of the subsequent ones) as I was always firmly in the Total War: Rome II camp. So I'm going to be looking at this from a relatively new perspective.

This new version of Stronghold Crusader includes a host of new units, campaigns, and an all-new coop trail to play through. However, I would recommend that you start with the campaign, which charts the historical First Crusade to the Middle East. Each mission task has you collect a set amount of resources while defending your gains, which helps to slowly teach you how the game works. They're interesting enough to play, and a little bit of history is always fun to learn.

However, the meat of the game is the skirmish mode that sets you up versus an opponent (or several) while you slowly expand your fortress and armies. Now, if you've ever played an Age of Empires II HD, then you'll have a good idea of what to expect, but with about a hundred extra things added on.