Stronghold: Crusader is a stand alone expansion for the original Stronghold providing more challenging levels for players who have completed the original game. Although Stronghold: Crusader does not require the original game to be installed, it does not provide any tutorials on gameplay and thus is intended for those who have had experience with the first game.

The game jumps right into deep water in the world of the crusades. You must now achieve both economic and combat objectives in a desert enviroment, with only limited farming and building space as well as a lack of local resources. As levels progress the player with find themselves having to fight harder to secure basic resources and building space from the nearby enemy castle which will belong to either a local eastern faction or one of the good old barons we all love and hate from the original game.

Being set in a dry, hot desert, the player with find themselves having to battle frequent outbreaks of fire, be it a natural event or caused by one of the new firestarting units the player will be facing as a crusader. When playing as an eastern faction, the player will have access to a new style of castle towers and buildings as well as some new units such as eastern swordsmen.

The levels are less story driven and more about defeating one opponant after another which will increase in difficulty as the player progresses. More of a storyline would have been an improvement on the atmosphere of the crusades as this merely feels like medieval europe but in a desert. Most of the sounds and voices as well as music are the same as the original with some eastern music thrown in, which in my opinion is a good thing. The music went well with the first game and its nice to hear two mandolins being played whilst you lay waste to yet another fortress with fire and sword.

No upgrade to the graphics in this game but that doesn't seem a problem to me, there can be so much happening at once that having a smooth running lag free gaming experience is exactly what you need.