Age of Empires III: The Warchiefs

How do you keep a winning formula in-tact while simultaneously adding innovative new features and improvements? This is the conundrum that faces game developers when crafting an add-on or expansion pack, and more often than not the end result is a mediocre product that either attempts to do too much or not enough. Age of Empires III: The Warchiefs manages to strike a nice balance between the two extremes.

The focus of last year’s Age of Empires III was mainly the European civilizations and the early explorers that arrived on the continent. Warchiefs goes in a new direction, introducing three new factions to stir things up a bit. All three are Native American tribes that look and play somewhat differently than the old world powers from the original game. The Aztecs lack any kind of cavalry, but make up for this shortcoming with a variety of powerful and fast-moving infantry units. The Sioux are very nearly the opposite of the Aztecs, with a culture based around mounted units and cavalry. They are particularly well suited to hit-and-run attacks or assaults over long distances. The Iroquois sport a variety of both mounted and infantry units, even including some that incorporate European technology.

Though the Indian tribes look very distinctive and offer some interesting new tactical possibilities, they more or less play the same way as the existing European factions. Many of the unit types are very similar and the new factions rely on the same resource gathering techniques. It would have been nice to see a fundamental difference in how the Indians operate, but that simply isn’t the case here. The Iroquois in particular feel too much one of the European factions with new animations and names. Nevertheless, the Native American tribes do add significant replay value to the series and fans of the original will find a lot to like here.

There are also some new units for use by the existing European faction via the Saloon structure. These powerful units can sometimes be enough to change the tide of battle if used wisely, however, they are also prohibitively expensive to produce. The Fusilier is a light infantry unit equipped with a flintlock musket, and is less expensive than the others. If you’re in need of some heavy cavalry to disrupt enemy infantry formations, the Elmenti is just the thing. Ninja are a deadly and sneaky way to deal with enemy explorers and War Chiefs. By far the best of the new weapons is the Li’l Bombard, a huge cannon that can wreck havoc on any battlefield.

Age of Empires III: The Warchiefs also includes a new campaign, which is more or less a tour of early American history. The first part revolves around Nathaniel Black’s contributions during the American Revolution. Players may find this portion of the campaign just a tad too conventional and, at times, even a little dry. Most of these missions are fairly standard build-and-destroy battles. During the second half of the campaign the story moves out west and focuses on the Indian Wars. Famous historical figures such as General George Washington and Sitting Bull make appearances at various times and figure prominently in the story.

Overall, presentation values are no better or worse than the original game, which isn’t a complaint since Age of Empires III had very nice graphics and solid interface. The units of the new Indian factions are well animated and colorful, and their buildings show the same attention to detail as those of the old world factions. Sound is also very good, though at times the voice acting came off a little bit stiff and uninspired. The game comes with a 34-page manual detailing the new units and factions.