Stronghold Crusader 2 is the latest title in Firefly Studios Stronghold franchise of “Castle Sim” RTS games, currently under development and set for release in 2014. It is the sequel to their 2002 title Stronghold: Crusader which is, according to Lead Designer at Firefly Studios, Simon Bradbury, “our favorite game, it’s our fans’ favorite game and it’s the game we have been waiting to put into production for several long years now.” Firefly Studios are self-publishing the title.

trailer above is pre-alpha gameplay teaser

The game is the first of the Crusader series to feature a 3D graphics engine, but will retain all of the elements of the original 2D game while adding new features such as “new units like the cruel Slave Driver, new beefed up AI opponents, dynamic on-map events like the Locust Swarm”, as well as “new visuals, a new battle interface, and engine enhancements including effects, animations, and real-time physics.”[5] A brand new feature to the series is co-op multiplayer, in which 2 players take control of a single castle to share units and resources while fighting against common enemies. Crusader 2 will feature both a Crusader and Arabic historical single player campaign at launch. The game will mainly be based around skirmish gameplay, similar to the original Stronghold Crusader title.[8] This will include, as with the original Stronghold Crusader, skirmish trails; in which players need to fight through linked skirmish maps with different set-ups in a particular order. The game is expected to be based more on warfare with little but substantial government.

The first gameplay demo was given to journalists at E3 2013 and the first gameplay trailer, showing pre-alpha footage, was released at Gamescom 2013. Both the demo and trailer showed off several new aspects that the game will introduce to the series.

Also announced are some of game’s new units, of which there are 10, including the Templar, Christian Sergeant, Healer, Dervish and more. The game will also feature 8 AI characters at release, including the Caliph,[10] (who appeared in the original Stronghold Crusader and has similar castle design and battle tactics in Crusader 2) the Shah, and the Slave King; with a further 8 coming out after release.

Crusader 2 is going to be based on the groundbreaking success of its predecessor, Stronghold Crusader. Its variable skirmish mode and interesting gameplay feeling it gives are the main reasons why fans loved the game very much. Simon Bradbury (leader of Firefly Studios) confessed that he and his colleagues have always wanted to create the perfect Stronghold game. SHC2 was announced in 2012 summer.

Bradbury also approved that they have to learn much about business and copyright when releasing a game as a small company. He pointed out the release of Stronghold 3, which was released far earlier than it should have been because of a third-party company’s demands and license, eventually leading to a massive negative reception both from famous game critics and fans, mainly because of the numerous bugs and most fans felt that this game is not 100% ready. Crusader 2 is going to be created and worked on by Firefly only, meaning that they have now full control over the game, including its publish circumstances.

As a little trivia they say that unseen in the original Crusader, players will be able to play as Stronghold Crusader 2 characters in Skirmish mode.

As with previous titles in the series, there will be a full map editor for users to create and share custom maps for the game. Robert Euvino, who worked on previous titles in the series, is composing an all new soundtrack for the game.[14]

Aboou date of release  of this strategy, well, we offer you fresh quote from may and you can find it on official website www.strongholdcrusader2.com:

” We are pleased to announce that we are currently preparing for E3, one of US’s biggest video and computer games conventions, where press will be going hands-on with the latest version of Stronghold Crusader 2!”