Stronghold: Crusader announced

Take-Two Interactive's subsidiary Gathering of Developers has announced Stronghold: Crusader, the successor to the castle-building strategy game Stronghold. Like the original game, Crusader will let players build, manage, and defend a castle in medieval times, but the new game will be set in an Arabian desert torn by the battles of the Crusades. Players will assume the role of either a European noble or an Arabian warrior, and they will battle for control of territory in four distinct campaigns.

Stronghold: Crusader will feature more than 25 different units including assassins, Arabian swordsmen, Teutonic knights, horse archers, and grenadiers, as well as a variety of siege weapons such as trebuchets, portable fire ballistae, siege towers, and mangonels. In addition to engaging in real-time siege warfare against their enemies, players will have to oversee the day-to-day operations of the fletchers, brewers, and armorers who live within their castles' walls. The game will include multiplayer support for up to eight players, as well as a free-build mode that lets players construct their ultimate fortress.

Stronghold: Crusader is in development at Firefly Studios, the studio that created the original game, and it is scheduled for release this summer. For more information, take a look at our full review of the original game.