Cry Havoc!
Crusade is very much a standard slice of turn-based strategy shenanigans but while it might not offer much in the way of originality, it does provide plenty of meat for genre fans to get their teeth into and is thus worth a look. It's based on any real historical period and doesn't attempt to recreate actual battles but instead places players into a traditional fantasy/medieval setting. You're charged with completing a set of pretty epic missions and are given a wide range of troop types, from magicians to spies, ships and even dragons, in order to help achieve your goals. It's not all about combat though and you have to ensure your troops are well fed by taking over farms and villages which supply them with precious food. Most of the game is played out on a map screen, with occasional visits to towns and other such locations, while a series of easy-to-navigate menu screens also show up to help manage resources. You have some good options available here too, such as the ability to edit missions or units. On the whole, Crusade is a decent if unspectacular strategy offering. The missions are nicely varied and certainly challenging, while the units display some imagination and require some thinking in order to use them effectively. Visually, the game is reasonable but similarly unspectacular, although it is certainly effective and uses an interface which is easy to navigate. If you're a Warcraft or Warlords Battlecry fan looking for a little something new, this might not be quite in the same league but is worth a look anyway.
