Review: Age of Empires III: War Chiefs game

Last year’s Age of Empires III brought Microsoft’s much-loved real-time strategy series to the New World with incredible style and it was only a matter of time before an expansion pack was released to extend the game’s enduring playability yet further.

Wisely perhaps, War Chiefs doesn’t stray too far from the original game, sticking to the Americas for its setting and maintaining almost exactly the same template in terms of gameplay.

What you get for your money is a whole new single-player campaign to work through, as well as new locations, enhancements to the game’s existing European civilisations and new unit types (such as mercenaries), all of which help to expand and improve upon the original.

The biggest pull for most fans will be the three new playable Native American civilisations, each with their own unique strengths, weaknesses and characteristics. There’s the horse-less Aztecs, the comparatively technologically advanced Iroquois Confederacy and the Sioux Nation with its fierce cavalry.

Strategies required for successful deployment of each of the new forces differ radically from those of the somewhat samey European civilisations in the original game, adding some much-needed spice to the mix.

Also new is the War Chief unit – a kind of hero character who can lead powerful offensives and help your troops earn valuable experience points. The Fire Pit, meanwhile, puts a new spin on resource building. Send your villagers for a spot of ceremonial dancing around the sacred flames and you’ll be rewarded with more troops, increased experience and the like.

All this is wrapped up in the same luscious visuals that made the game’s predecessor so stunning. War Chiefs may not be a major landmark in the Age of Empires series, but then expansion packs rarely are. As long as you already own the original, there’s definitely enough here to warrant the asking price.

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