Iconic RTS Stronghold Crusader is getting a full remaster and you can try it now

Age of Empires 2 has a new expansion, Tempest Rising is the effective return of classic Command and Conquer, and we've recently gotten Commandos Origins. I don't mean to get overexcited, but it's starting to feel like old-school RTS games are back. What's next? A sequel to Total Annihilation? A remake of War Wind? Z 3? One can dream. But in the meantime, another iconic medieval strategy series is making a bold return. Originally released in 2002, the AoE-style Stronghold Crusader is getting a top-to-bottom remaster, complete with overhauled visuals and new campaigns. The full game isn't here for a couple of months, but you can still play it right now.

Developed by Firefly, Stronghold Crusader, as you've surely guessed, is centered on the First and Third Crusaders – to glance at it, you might think you were looking at the Saladin or Babarossa missions from Age of Empires 2, and indeed, both those leaders are also playable here. A medieval RTS game in the classic style, you need to gather resources, build a city, amass an army, and crush your rivals. Also developed by Firefly, the new Definitive Edition expands and revamps the original game in almost every way.

There are new campaigns, more adversaries, larger maps, remastered music, fresh skirmish trails, and new co-op missions. Essentially, this does for Crusader what the superb Stronghold Definitive Edition did for the Firefly's original strategy game. The release date is set for Tuesday July 15, but a new demo for the Stronghold Crusader remaster has just been launched.

It lets you sample one of the additional campaign levels and one of the fresh 'Sands of Time' missions, which build out the classic (but challenging) co-op mode. If you want to give Stronghold Crusader Definitive Edition a try, just go here.

Otherwise, you might want to play some of the other best medieval games, or maybe the best 4X games available on PC.

You can follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides. We've also got a vibrant community Discord server, where you can chat about this story with members of the team and fellow readers.