I like this game, but I don't recommend it for an 'average' player.

Pros:
1. Maps. The maps are very beautiful, atmospheric, and very large. There is lots of Bloom. The zoom range is very dramatic, and there is lots of space for maneuver. So much that you will usually have to make use of 2x and 4x time during the maneuver phase of the battles.
2. RPG aspects and DLC. There are magical items and other skills for you to upgrade your units, and the DLC has legendary and supernatural units. I don't mind this, it adds a bit of spice to the game, but some of the historical wargame enthusiast reviewers don't like this aspect as much.

Cons:
1. Campaign is not great. You basically just unlock a series of maps, eventually seizing Bagdad as Richard Lionheart, and then reverse the process as Saladin. There are some decisions to make along the way, but they still don't add up to what I would call a 'dynamic' campaign.
2. DLC units do not appear in multiplayer. If not for the multiplayer, the game would be a throwaway once you complete the campaigns. Unfortunately the DLC units are annoyingly absent from the custom and multiplayer battle roster - a pity.
3. BUGS. There is a runtime error that has been widely reported, and supposedly this will not be fixed for Win7 64-bit systems. I played through the whole crusader campaign only to not be able to complete the last battle. Very disappointing indeed.
4. Can't save battles. The battles, being on very large maps, also take a long time (over 30 minutes of real time). They can't be saved mid-battle. That is all.

I cannot recommend this to a casual player, but if you really like historical RTS and want a different perspective and style than the Total War series, then you might find this title interesting.

Game is broken with runtime error. Else it's a solid game but bugs really annoy me....