Welcome back, my liege. It’s been just a few months since Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition relaunched its crusades across the Arabian deserts. After all that skirmishing, you may have been tiring of the endless battles brought forth. Fear not though, for The Canary & The Trader expansion brings two new lords and a brand new Sands of Time trial – Trial of the Jackal.

As we’ve already established, I’m rather a fan of Firefly Studios’ fantastic remastering of the classic RTS castle builders. So, can this DLC meaningfully add to the overall experience and create an oasis amongst the sands, or will it run dry far too early in its conquest? Set the canary free and lets see where it goes.

It’s Not Over Until The Canary Sings

Let’s start with the two new AI lords. The Canary “The Smug” is a Rat-esque lower tier foe who, similarly to other AI fodder, is largely all bluster and bile. Her castle design is very basic, with an opening primed for traps and a reliance on archers and spearmen. On the combat front, she’s a cakewalk. However, in-keeping with the exaggerated personalities of other Stronghold staples, she’s brilliantly voiced and acted, making her amusing to go up against.

The Trader is a more interesting and unique opponent, in that again, they’re not particularly combat-versed. His economy will be booming long before you’ve even set up your quarries, but his castles are little to write home about on the challenge front. He does fare better than the Rat or Canary though, so kudos to him. He’s a fun addition who compliments the roster by performing a specific role, which fits nicely within multi-team skirmishes where you can rely on him for trade. On his own though, he’ll fall to ruin in no time.

As a fan, I’m very pleased to see Firefly continue to demonstrate the knack for what made the original games special. The writing is hammy and over-the-top, and seeing both lords crumble as you advance is just joyous. However, I do feel they’re too easy to overcome, even in group or team encounters. I would have liked to see more challenging lords akin to the Wolf or Saladin – those that really test your mastery of the mechanics. As they are, they’re enjoyable AI opponents, even if they won’t make a dent on veterans.

This Jackal Doesn’t Trade

Then we come to the new Trial of the Jackal campaign. Woo-boy they were not messing around here. If you’ve dabbled in the Sands of Time Trials from the vanilla game, you’ll know what to expect. Both the Canary and the Trader feature prominently, alongside the expectant smattering of other lords. There are nine missions in total, each with their own specific time goals to attempt to achieve.

It’s once again an impeccably designed, challenging thrill ride to try and overcome. The par time for the very first mission was 50 minutes and it took me about 1 hour 25 minutes. If you’re going to clear all of these scenarios and best the top-tier times, I wish you all the luck in the world. You’ll very often have limited space, resources and will find yourself up against stacked opponent teams. Luckily, with both new lords being fairly easy, it makes it more manageable. However, this new campaign will still put you through your paces.

For the price of £3.99, this is a balanced trade-off of content for the price. As I mentioned before, the Canary and the Trader are unlikely to be part of experienced player’s rotations, owing to their low difficulty, but the new Trial of the Jackal somewhat makes up for that. I also like the developer’s willingness to try out new ideas with castle designs, lord specialties and use of landscapes.

Deal or No Deal?

I’ve still got some practicing to do to best the rest of the Jackal trials I hadn’t yet beaten (or set a good enough time to justify my hundreds of hours in these games). I look forward to mercilessly slaughtering the Canary as she rages and makes impudent demands. As such, I think this is a good DLC expansion. It’s not going to satisfy the battle-hardened, fervent Stronghold fans, but it’s an addition that bolsters out the roster nicely.

I’m optimistic for the next expansion to hopefully build even more on the sturdy foundations this one has set. Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition is already a fortress in its own right, so these feel like additional towers and struts being added. While by no means essential, they expand the burgeoning castle’s defences further into the future. I’d just like the next one to bring more colossal and intimidating foes to the fore.

Stronghold Crusader: Definitive Edition – The Canary & The Trade is available now on PC (review platform).

Developer: Firefly Studios
Publisher: Firefly Studios

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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