Stronghold Crusader

GREAT CLASSIC

Ah, good old Stronghold...

In total, I spent several days in this game. Everyone who is familiar with this legendary game knows everything about it without my words. Who doesn’t know what kind of pixel masterpiece is in front of you - listen to me.

Stronghold is the best strategy of all time. If anyone is against it, I will throw cow corpses from catapults.

Despite the rather weak graphics by modern standards, this toy is seriously addictive. And there are reasons for this.

Firstly: the absolute nonlinearity of the passage. Here you have complete freedom of action.

If you want, build an impregnable castle so that the enemy army is smashed against its walls.

If you want, gather an army of fanatical Arab mercenaries or crusaders greedy for oriental gold and wipe off the face of the Earth everyone who is brave enough to stand in your way.

If you want, entrust all the dirty work to your allies (if you have them), and in the meantime, establish trade relations and develop your economy.

There are no restrictions on how you can achieve victory.

Secondly: Epic battles, where blood mixed with guts and broken armor covers the battlefield, and foot and horse troops, supported by archers and siege weapons, rush to their death.

Here you have complete control over all your troops. Each soldier submits to your will, not daring to leave his place.

At your disposal are mercenaries who are ready to cut off the head of anyone, as long as they pay. Crusaders are clad in heavy armor (or not, if you are an archer). Mounted troops at full speed crashing into the ranks of the enemy. Siege weapons that pelt enemies with stones and dead cows.

Tactics can also change at the request of the player.

You can either rush into a frontal attack, relying on the courage of your troops, or use catapults to raze the fortress walls to the ground, so as not to waste time and energy on a siege. If desired, it is possible to hire assassins (almost the same as in Assasin Screed), who will secretly enter the fortress and open the gates, allowing you to take the city without a fight.

The variety of units gives complete freedom of action when planning a battle. In general, the troops here are divided into two types: Arab and European.

The former are more mobile in battle and do not require any weapons or equipment. They have everything of their own, they only want your money.

The latter need weapons and armor, but they stand stronger in battle and it is very difficult to break through their ranks.

Separate from them are engineers who will build trebuchets, catapults and other bullets to protect the castle.

The essence of the battle is to get to the main enemy warrior - the lord, and destroy him. By the way, he is also no slouch and can hit a couple of dozen enemies.

Thirdly: an exciting strategic part of the game.

A feudal knight is not only supposed to fight. The development of the economy, economics and politics is the key to victory.

Troops and civilians will not feed themselves with the holy spirit, which means they will have to hunt, bake bread, grow fruit and make cheese.

To increase the population, you will have to build huts where your subjects can live without freezing their butts off.

Resources (wood, stone, iron and oil) must be extracted and for this you will have to build sawmills, quarries and other buildings.

A full stomach is not enough for people to love you. When there is bread, people crave spectacles. Build gardens and organize fairs so that the slaves can have fun, forgetting about adversity.

Well, or set up racks and gallows so that people fear you and work harder, without shirking from work.

Build taverns where your subjects will drink ale and beer and not notice that food supplies have dried up.

In churches and cathedrals, the laity will listen to the speeches of the priests, who, of course, will praise their master.

Oh yes! Don’t forget that weapons won’t forge themselves and you need to build armories where craftsmen will provide your army with everything they need to destroy enemy armies.

Infrastructure development is the basis. Without it, you can forget about victory.

Fourth: atmosphere. All enemies and allies seem not just clumps of pixels, but real personalities, each with their own character and manner of communication.

Rivals will threaten and laugh at you, and if defeated, ask for mercy or swear revenge.

Friends will praise you for your military successes, and maybe they will give you resources (but this is not certain).

Yes, here even each type of troops has its own manner of speech. The swordsmen will convince you of their loyalty, the pikemen will joke and make jokes (Well, they'll make jokes... It's got it, right? Eh, okay, let's go). Engineers are always laconic and precise in their statements, and riders are arrogant and self-confident.

Even the last miner will express his dissatisfaction with high taxes and complain about the failure of the cabbage harvest.

Here you really get the impression that all the characters are alive, and very charismatic.

And fifthly: This game has been honed and improved so many times over the years of its existence that there cannot be a single glitch, and the HD version has more new locations than it was originally. Plus ten new rivals (or allies), which in my opinion are even better than the original ones.

Well, the system requirements here are more than democratic. Any technique will play the game.

I sincerely recommend this masterpiece to everyone who loves quality strategies. Take this game without hesitation, you won't regret it.

And for those who are already familiar with Stronghold, I wish you epic battles and resounding victories and may you not have to hear “You need more gold.”