Existing wall sections automatically mend potential holes when you add new towers or defensive platforms, farmable land - which is scarce, you’re fighting in the desert after all - is clearly indicated and when you forget to provide a mine with an ox tether for transportation you are warned of your negligence accordingly. Whether you are plopping walls, gates or buildings, everything snaps in place smoothly. For a large part, this is due to the highly polished interface. Human players, however, will focus on the weakest section of your castle and have armies flooding into your courtyard in no time at all.Įven if walls go down a little too easily, Stronghold Crusader 2 is quite enjoyable. Against an AI player, walls are fairly effective and provide protection long enough for you to respond with a quickly raised army. Granted, the speed is kind of exhilarating and you’re constantly on the lookout for potential attacks, but it also puts the value of castle defenses in question. The art of siege warfare is hardly an art when it takes little skill to batter down a stone wall. Add a few catapults and walls are down in seconds. No matter what variety of defenses you add, they are too far away to be destroyed unless defenders sally out of the gate. A pair of trebuchets that hurl stones just out of reach of defending archers will make short work of the stone bulwarks that make up your castle. You see, breaking down walls is almost as easily done as building them. Yet it also highlights one of Stronghold 3’s shortcomings. It all fits perfectly well with Crusader 2’s focus on action and those looking for a jolt of adrenaline are well served indeed. Once close enough, these prevent you from building anything new, though they do not stop you from spawning new defenders. The only other restriction on adding to your castle’s defenses are enemy units in the vicinity. As long as there is stone, cash and iron available in your stockpile you can build to your heart’s content. Walls, towers and other defenses build instantaneously. I found a lack of free peasants to be more of an obstacle than the availability of weapons or food. There are no overly long production paths, deliveries of goods to your granary and stockpile occur frequently and taxes flow in steadily as long as your peasants have food in their bellies.

To balance to the game’s frantic pace, the economical aspect of Stronghold Crusader 2 has been kept simple.

Stronghold crusader 2 reviews