A good game? Yes. A good Crusader sequel? Not entirely.

Let me be clear by saying I don't hate the game and its actually quite fun but my main issue is it feels half done. There aren't too many bugs and the game runs smoothly on either of the systems I've run it on. (A desktop with two year old parts and an average laptop that's around four years old. When I said the game feels half done I mean to say that the game feels flavourless and at times even dull. The art, animation and design are fairly basic and simplistic; one of my biggest disappointments is the lack of interesting voice acting from the computer opponents to the humble peasants that populate my castle all the voice acting is bland or in the case of the latter. totally absent. The music is half recycled from the original and half stereotypical pseudo middle-eastern. With only 8 AI opponents there isn't a large number of challenges and it was disappointing to not see the likes of the Pig or the Snake. The appearance of familiar opponents like the Wolf and the Rat was welcome but I'm confused why they recorded new voices for those two characters when many of the units (European Archers for example) use the exact same voice recordings from the first Crusader title.

All in all Stronghold Crusader 2 is a solid game and quite fun to play but in my own opinion it doesn't live up to either the hype or the legacy of the original Stronghold Crusader.

P.S. I personally would buy Stronghold Crusader HD for cheap and wait for this game to come down in price. It's not worth the $50 price tag but will be more than worth while to snag on a Steam sale.

A good game? Yes. A good Crusader sequel? Not entirely. Let me be clear by saying I don't hate the game and its actually quite fun but my main issue is it feels half done. There aren't too many bugs and the game runs smoothly on either of the systems I've run it on. (A desktop with two year old parts and an average laptop that's around four years old. When I said the game feels half done I mean to say that the game feels flavourless and at times even dull. The art, animation and design are fairly basic and simplistic; one of my biggest disappointments is the lack of interesting voice acting from the computer opponents to the humble peasants that populate my castle all the voice acting is bland or in the case of the latter. totally absent. The music is half recycled from the original and half stereotypical pseudo middle-eastern. With only 8 AI opponents there isn't a large number of challenges and it was disappointing to not see the likes of the Pig or the Snake. The appearance of familiar opponents like the Wolf and the Rat was welcome but I'm confused why they recorded new voices for those two characters when many of the units (European Archers for example) use the exact same voice recordings from the first Crusader title. All in all Stronghold Crusader 2 is a solid game and quite fun to play but in my own opinion it doesn't live up to either the hype or the legacy of the original Stronghold Crusader. P.S. I personally would buy Stronghold Crusader HD for cheap and wait for this game to come down in price. It's not worth the $50 price tag but will be more than worth while to snag on a Steam sale.