Robert Perkins writes:
''If you are familiar with Stronghold: Crusader, then skip to the next paragraph; most of the graphics in Stronghold: Crusader Extreme are exactly the same. For those of you who are not familiar with Stronghold: Crusader, it is a real-time strategy (RTS) game that puts you in control of a crusading Lord in the Middle East. So, right off the bat, you can expect a lot of tans... think lots of sand and stone. There are colorful elements, of course, the occasional oasis and the fiery reds and oranges of, well things burning, quite frankly. You have a isometric view of the playing field that can be viewed from your choice of four directions. (And, mind you - you'll need to switch between them to see the fine details of what you're doing during certain parts of the gameplay, as there's only a couple of levels of zoom.)
Stronghold Crusader Extreme does have some new graphical features not found in Stronghold Crusader, such as 5 new A.I. Opponents, complete with their own animations and voice-acting, plus 30 stand-alone maps and new buildings, such as outposts.
However, the most notable change, graphically, is the increase in allowed army size. That and neck-snapping speed are what puts the extreme in Stronghold Crusader Extreme. You can have over 10,000 (ten thousand) units on the battlefield at once! This make Stronghold Crusader Extreme feel like Stronghold Crusader meets Lemmings.
The music in Stronghold Crusader Extreme sounds foreign and exotic, nicely setting the scene for the medieval carnage you're about to unleash. The sound effects are pretty good, as well, but it is to be expected that a few thousand different units on a battlefield are likely to be a little annoying with their noise.''
