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Crusade In Europe is the predecessor to Decision In The Desert, part of MicroProse's Command Series simulation games. It allows the player to replay the 'climatic campaign of WWII - the battle for France and the Low Counties in 1944'.

Crusade In Europe suffers from all of the same problems that Decision In The Desert did: overly complex and confusing to the player. Graphics-wise, Crusade In Europe is as bad as Decision In The Desert too - poorly designed symbols and again with an unnecessary complexity in their variety.

The complexity is also apparent in MicroProse's approach to combating piracy of their games. To begin play after loading the game each time, you are asked for a password. The passwords are printed in the 54-page rules booklet, not all in one place but 'cleverly' scattered throughout the text. When asked, the player has to flip through the booklet to find the correct password for the correct day - time-consuming and silly. The rules are sufficiently complex that you can't play without the aid of the booklet anyway!

The game offers several different scenarios which vary in complexity from the battle for Normandy through to the entire campaign in Europe. The two-player option does not use well-defined game turns, but rather relies on a fair division of time at the keyboard, mutually agreed by the players, who give orders to their units through the standard method of placing a cursor over the unit and then selecting from a list of options.

All the time, the players are giving instructions, the units are carrying out their orders, engaging in combat and taking losses. This means that, if you are playing against the computer, you are continually in action, rather than waiting for the opponent to move. The speed of the 'accelerated real time' can be altered, but even at the Slow setting, there is a lot going on on the screen at any one time.

The graphics are average and the user of flashing icons to give status reports is wasted because they do not give enough information.

Crusade was a difficult subject to tackle - perhaps too difficult. I found myself lapsing into a bored state of play where, rather than waiting in excitement for the next turn at the keyboard, both players found themselves dreading their upcoming turn. Because of this, the game suffers. The one thing it does offer is a wealth of historical accuracy and detail and, if you are willing to put up with average graphics and limited replayability, then this is the game for you.