Summary
The era of the Crusades is an infinitely mineable source of inspiration for games of every genre. With hero kings,political wrangling, religious conflict, and masses of land changing hands several times during this period, it is unsurprising that some fantastic games have been based on this era in mankind’s history.
Although large-scale warfare fits the grand strategy genre well, there have been all sorts of games based on the Crusades, includingaction-adventureand real-time strategy games. Some of these follow history accurately, while others use the backdrop of the Crusades for some fun storytelling. Players who enjoy games based on historic events will likely enjoy any of the games on this list.
7Knights of the Temple: Infernal Crusade
Notable For Its Great Soundtrack
InKnights of the Temple: Infernal Crusade, the player takes on the role of a Templar Knight named Paul de Raque. At the start of the game, the character of Paul de Raque is depicted in a cut scene, hunting with a bow. A number of birds are startled for seemingly no reason, and this worries the character. This begins a long-winded storyline to, in true video game fashion, save the world.
Knights of the Temple: Infernal Crusadewas commended for itsexceptional soundtrackcomposed by Swedish musician Gustaf Grefberg. Overall, the game is a fun frolic through medieval times, with a real flavor of the Crusades.
6The Kings' Crusade
A Great RTS Set In The Middle East
Real-time strategy gamesseem have fallen in prominence over the last decade or so, but there was a time when plenty of new RTS games were released every year. And in 2010,The Kings' Crusadewas one of them. The player takes on a role that is loosely based on Richard the Lionheart, and is tasked with conquering the entire Middle East.
The internal political wrangles with factions on the same side of the Crusades add some real spice to this title. With interested parties being the country of France, the Knights Templar, the Papacy, and the Holy Roman Empire. Each has its own agenda which is slowly revealed as the mission-driven storyline progresses.
5The First Templar
Fun Story-Driven Action Adventure
The first game that doesn’t belong in a strategy-related genre on this list, and a well-deserved entry for this great action-adventure game from back in 2011. The game forgoes historical accuracy for poetic license, resulting in pure fun.
The story follows Templar Celian d’Arestide, and his companion, Marie D’Ibelin, as they try to uncover what seems to be a religious conspiracy and unlock the secrets of the Holy Grail. The storyline is fast-paced, fun, and frolicsome. For a lighthearted take on the Crusades, check outThe First Templar.
4Medieval 2: Total War: Kingdoms
An Expansion To The Original Medieval 2: Total War
This entry is actually an expansion pack for the original game. It adds four new playthrough scenarios and campaigns. One of which completely focuses on the 3rd and 4th Crusades. This is an historically rich period, seeing events such as the siege of Constantinople and the fragmentation of the Byzantine Empire.
The player controls one of the opposing factions during the Crusades campaign, and gameplay follows the tried and tested formula that was proven inMedieval 2:Total War. Overall, this game takes its place on this list for being a very good strategy game with fun live battles.
3Crusaders: Thy Kingdom Come
Historically Accurate Real-Time Strategy
Crusaders: Thy Kingdom Comedeserves a place high on this list, simply due to its historical accuracy. As an RTS, much of the gameplay is focused on large-scale battles, which take place on beautifully crafted maps, and accurately portray the capabilities of the military units of this time period.
The only real negative for this game, is that the campaign is quite short compared to other games on this list. However, this doesn’t detract from the quality at all. And as the player is free to play the campaign as any of the different factions, there is still a fair amount of replayability baked in.
2Stronghold Crusader 2
Classic Castle Building RTS
There is a specific formula that every classic RTS game follows. Namely a compelling storyline, with full motion video cut scenes between missions, and specific real-time combat challenges unique to each mission. This is a recipe thatStronghold Crusader 2managed to get perfect.
Building on the previous games in theStrongholdfranchise, the gameplay mixes defensive castle building, resource gathering, and tactical RTS combat into a single passage. The individual missions are on the longer side, as the player is expected to build defenses before they attack the opponents. Players are dissuaded from rush-style gameplay by opponents usually begging a map with a decent defensive position.
Crusader Kings 3, which is the latest game in the franchise at the time of writing, builds on all of the previous games to deliver best-in-class features and incredibly deep gameplay.
Few strategy games have managed to pull off running a multi-generational dynasty as effectively asCrusader Kings 3. The game has a steep learning curve that is made harder by a lacklustre tutorial, but it’s worth powering through to learn how to play the game as it is not only the greatest game to cover the medieval period of the Crusades but it’s also one of the greatest strategy games of all time.
