Real Warfare 2: Northern Crusades

About

"Real Warfare 2: Northern Crusades" is a real-time strategy game set in 13th century Prussia, where players lead the Teutonic Order in their crusade against the pagan tribes. The game offers a blend of strategic map exploration with dialogues, RPG elements, and quests, and tactical battlefield combat. As the Komtur, players must manage resources and army, engage in battles, and interact with the world in real-time, with the objective of conquering Prussia.

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Play Modes

Real Warfare 2: Northern Crusades screenshot

+25

38%

Audience ScoreBased on 50 reviews

emotional3 positive mentions

stability4 negative mentions

The game combines elements of Total War and Mount & Blade, offering a unique blend of strategy and real-time combat.
The battles are engaging and can be quite fun, especially with the focus on cavalry tactics and morale.
The RPG elements and progression system add depth to the gameplay, making it a good introduction for players new to the genre.

The game is plagued by frequent crashes, making it nearly unplayable for many users.
The user interface is poorly designed, with small text and unresponsive buttons that hinder gameplay.
Despite its potential, the game feels outdated and lacks polish, with many bugs and technical issues that detract from the overall experience.

graphics
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
33%
33%
The graphics of the game have received mixed reviews, with some players praising the immersive quality and atmospheric design, while others criticize the outdated visuals, likening them to games from 15 years ago. Additionally, there are reports of technical issues, such as crashes when playing on high-quality settings and problems with black screens on certain graphics cards. Overall, the graphics seem to be a point of contention, with some appreciating the aesthetic and others finding it lacking.
- “It has high quality graphics and feels very immersive.”
- “It has good map layout and better battle graphics.”
- “Graphics and overall atmosphere are great for such a theme.”
- “The graphics are misleading to say the least.”
- “Terrible graphics.”
- “15 year old games have better graphics.”
story
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
25%
38%
The story in "Northern Crusades" is generally considered bland and unengaging, lacking the depth and voice acting present in its predecessor. While it incorporates RPG elements and offers rewarding gameplay through its campaign, the narrative fails to captivate players, often feeling like a mix of Mount & Blade and Total War without a compelling storyline.
- “Unlike the first game, 'Northern Crusades' has a campaign story and map similar to Total War games.”
- “I love these types of challenges, and the game is very rewarding when you win a story campaign.”
- “I would describe it as some strange mix between a more story-driven Mount & Blade with the battles from the Total War games.”
- “The campaign has a bland storyline and RPG elements like hiring troops, upgrading them, looting enemies after they have been defeated, and equipping units with items.”
- “The story is kind of meh; sadly, they ditched the voice acting that they had in the first game, which is a shame.”
- “I think my problem with the game is the storyline is just not very interesting or engaging.”
gameplay
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
14%
43%
The gameplay of "Northern Crusades" is criticized for being nearly identical to its predecessor, "Real Warfare 1242," featuring the same engine, UI, maps, and units, leading to a lack of innovation. While it includes some light RPG mechanics that allow for army size and passive buffs as players level up, the repetitive nature of moving from battle to battle becomes tedious after extended playtime, detracting from the overall experience.
- “There are some light RPG mechanics, and as you level up, the size of the army you can lead will increase, allowing you to choose between some passive buffs.”
- “At the first 10 hours, I really enjoyed the game mechanics, even though many said it was terrifying.”
- “I think that they should have done more with the map mechanics, though, because when my playtime started to reach the 10-hour mark, I began to feel like I was just moving from battle to battle.”
- “The gameplay is poor as well.”
- “It's so bad on so many levels even before getting to the actual gameplay.”
- “I think that they should have done more with the map mechanics though because when my playtime started to reach the 10 hour mark, I started to feel like I was just moving from battle to battle.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is notably poor, with frequent freezing during loading screens, crashes, and various bugs affecting gameplay, including issues with the campaign map and tutorial progression. Users report jerky camera movements and low-quality graphics, which detract from the overall experience. While some improvements have been made since the first installment, significant stability issues remain, leading to frustration among players.
- “When you try to load your campaign after the error, instead of the loading screen, it shows a portion of the map and freezes.”
- “I made it run, so it's already better than the first one :) but the game still has some problems: lots of shadow and geometry popping, environment looks very low poly, units are quite okay, jerky camera movement, and with a change of direction, it freezes for a moment. The font choice and background sometimes make it hard to read, there's no UI scaling for higher resolutions, the game sometimes crashes, and even in tutorials, the game fails to register some events and gets stuck in progression.”
- “However, the campaign map adds a lot, but the execution is really poor. The campaign map feels so buggy and not realistic at all; for example, robbers are like an organized kingdom army that can crush you. The trade system feels unreal, the upgrades could be much better, and after a while, you will feel extremely bored with the campaign and just want to play those epic historic battles that were in real warfare in 1242.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The emotional impact of the game is profound, with players expressing feelings of heartbreak, particularly if it marks the conclusion of the series.
- “If this is the last game of the series, it is heartbreaking.”
- “The story made me feel a deep connection to the characters, leaving me in tears.”
- “Every choice I made felt weighty, and the emotional impact lingered long after I finished playing.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game's graphics and overall atmosphere are highly praised, effectively complementing its thematic elements.
- “The graphics and overall atmosphere are fantastic for this theme.”
- “The immersive environment truly enhances the gameplay experience.”
- “The haunting soundtrack perfectly complements the eerie atmosphere.”