Europa Universalis II vs Stronghold Crusader
Europa Universalis II
Europa Universalis II is what many have deemed as the best sequel to Europa Universalis. Set during the period where the hundred-year war occured, you'll need to lead your country's expansion and guide the growth of its domestic and foreign policies, while engaging in religious battles and sending expeditions to beat the competition and claim large swathes of the new world. Similar to the original game, you'll get to, depending on your decisions, interact with historical figures and momentous events (some of which though are special, random events).However, this time around, the game has a revamped and frankly much improved system for diplomacy, trade, military and overall country development. You can even demand tribute or knock out deals in order to make peace with a foreign nation. As religion is often the cause of war, this aspect has been greatly expanded in Europa Universalis II, requiring you to actually deal with cultural differences between nations of different religions.
In some way, Europa Universalis II managed to not only build on the game design used in the first game; it has also introduced a series of new features of its own. This is exactly why the game has gotten critical acclaimation from both fans and critics alike back when it was first released. So, if you love grand strategy games, you'll want to check this game out.
Stronghold Crusader
Stronghold Crusader lets you venture to the distant Arabian lands and dive into the historical, religiously-charged war between the Crusaders and the Saladin's forces through its four massive campaigns documenting the the First, Second and Third Crusades, as well as conflicts within each of the individual Crusader states. Aside from playing as Richard the Lionheart or Saladin, the Sultan of Syria, there are also 100 unique skirmish missions, a wide variety of units to recruit to your side of the fight, as well as an in-depth empire-govrning system that will see you building self-sustaining fortresses in the desert.Stronghold Crusader is an excellent real-time strategy game that infuses the mechanics that had made the Stronghold franchise such a success with the accurate historical elements of a real and bitter war that had happened way in the past. This is a game that may interest real-time strategy players, that's for sure!