Stronghold Crusader

RTS games usually count on your ability to plan ahead when it comes to building the right type of army to repel your enemies, as well as gather resources to keep your base up and running. Stronghold Crusader, on the other hand, also takes into consideration the population happiness, as well as having enough food to feed every citizen.

As you can probably guess from the game's name, the action takes place during the great Crusades, which means that the environment is mostly sand dunes and rocks, making it rather difficult to survive and prosper. On the other hand, building a civilization in the harshest conditions is worthy of praise, so many have tried over the course of centuries.

In order to advance through the game, you must be one of those who succeeds, by creating a powerful empire and defeating your enemies. Although there are plenty of fighting elements available, they are not very well refined, unfortunately, since the combat is very lacking and confusing, due to the lack of collision between the ground units. Thus, it is very easy to lose track of your troops and you can have a hard time selecting your own units.

The other part of the game is centered around the actual civilization building, which is the component that really makes Stronghold Crusader shine. In order to attract more people to your stronghold, you must offer the proper conditions, which include food, shelter and low taxes to keep them from revolting against their ruler. The people also crave for entertainment, as well as religion and a place to practice their faith.

Fortunately, by keeping them happy, you get something in return as well. Every building that you place on the map needs a worker to make it functional, which is automatically chosen from one of the available peasants. In case you decide to go to war, the villagers can be quickly recruited and trained to become warriors, although you lose valuable workers in the process.

In the end, Stronghold Crusader brings a very attractive set of features, which make it a highly addictive game. Unfortunately, it could have used a more refined combat system, since it is one of its most annoying characteristics and it makes the campaign rather hard to go through.