Sure, AOE2 lets you put up a few walls and the odd prefab castle, but in Crusader you get to play architect with everything from drawbridges to kill holes. While keeping your popularity up adds to the intricacies of the game and separates it from the host of other RTS games, what really stands this apart from its competitors is the emphasis on castle building and protracted sieges. Starvation and high taxes are sure to drive peasants away, and without them you can't collect resources and, worse still, can't raise an army. Influenced by everything from the number of different food types you have stored in your granary to your dedication to religion, this popularity contest is crucial in determining your success or failure. That's assuming you have peasants, mind, because in Crusader, the number of workers you have is directly linked to your popularity. Fortunately, the game never descends to the same level of micro-management as is common in games of a similar ilk, instead you just place a farm or woodsmen's hut and you can leave your peasants to do the rest. Taken on face value the game could easily be mistaken for another run-of-the-mill Age of Empires-style RTS with food, stone, wood and iron all needing to be collected. It's a grim picture, and one that developer Firefly has once again painted intelligently on to a canvas of cunningly crafted maps as it takes the Stronghold series east in its standalone sequel.Īt first glance, Crusader looks more like paint by numbers than a masterpiece though. A quick glance at the history books tells the story of an era scorched by ceaseless wars, horrific sieges, and bloody, eyeball-to-eyeball combat. But next time you find yourself taking a sideswipe at modern day life, spare a thought for the poor souls who had to endure the Middle Ages. Whether it's the drudgery of a nine-to-five existence, eternally late buses or the mindless drivel that now passes for quality TV, there's plenty in 21st Century existence to moan about.
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