Rise of Nations: Throne and Patriots Expansion Pack (PC)

It turns out that this pack does more than just add some new nations though: there are other features.

Senates and governments. This is a new type of building which lets you choose a style of government. This sounded a bit daunting to me, and I was worried that it would change the gameplay I enjoed so much, but it turns out to be a change for the better. At several points in history you can choose between two styles of government (eg despotism v. republic, monarchy v. democracy, socialism v. capitalism) Each style gives different benefits. Some are general and others apply to troops within the vicinity of the 'patriot'. The patriot is a unit created by the senate when you choose a style of government.

New nations. The new nations are Americans, Dutch, Indians, Iroquois, Lakota and Persians. These have some interesting characteristics and fill in most of the gaps in the original set of nations (but still no Portugal or Belgium who both had large colonial interests, and only Bantu to represent most of Africa)

New Wonders. There are three new wonders to build. The Hanging Gardens is similar to existing wonders and increases knowledge production, but the other two new wonders are a bit different. The Forbidden City and Red Fort do not have to be built within the boundaries of an existing city but can be built anywhere. One acts like an extra city and the other acts like a 'super fort' and both are invisible to the enemy while being built - there is no indication that you are building it at all.

New campaigns. The whole world campaign is still there, and works the same way (like a game of risk with each move being decided by a Rise of Nations battle), but there are now historical campaigns based on Alexandra the Great, Napoleon, the New World and the Cold War. The New World campaign can be played from the perspective of any of the American nations or the colonial nations active in the americas, and each has slightly different objectives. The Cold War can be played as either Russia or America and has the extra elements of nuclear weapons on the main map and the ability to carry out espionage missions to get extra bonus cards.

Minor changes. There are a few tweaks to the existing game to make the play more balanced. These are fairly minor changes to the unique advantages some nations have, and benefits of some of the wonders are changed.

Overall this has been well worth the money for me. The new campaigns alone have generated many hours of enjoyment. Even playing on the 'easy' setting a complete Conquer The World takes at least ten hours or gameplay. Even without playing online games, there are many dozens of hours worth of action. The expansion pack has improved and expanded the game without changing what was good about the original.

In this expansion, you get the six new nations etc, of which you can read more in the main review. The important thing is whether it improves gameplay.

The short answer is yes:
- The campaigns are very different from the campaigns in the original game, and also somewhat more challenging. The developers probably know that the campaign mode in the original game was probably its weakest feature, due its repetitive nature and total lack of story line. They seem to have attempted at rectifying this, and have succeeded to an extent. Both tactical gameplay and map mode are still very similar, but with some surprises thrown in. But the surprises are worthwile and really do contribute to the gameplay.

- The new nations are very interesting additions, and they seem to have been selected for their ability to introduce new and interesting alternatives to the nations we have come to know in the original, necessitating some new strategies in the process.

-The new units tie in with the new nations and are nothing to write home about.

In summary, the campaigns really benefit from this expansion, and if you enjoyed them first time around, you will probably love them now. The other little tweaks and improvements are also noteworthy, but could have been included on a patch. The developers have reason to be embarassed about the manual, because it is totally insufficient, leading to a lot of guesswork in the campaigns.

If you loved the first installment enough to feel justified spending this amount of money on an expansion, go for it. To me it seems a bit like daylight robbery. Having said that, I am enjoying the game immensely.

The Thrones and Patriots add-on fine-tunes many existing features, but also adds a number of important new elements. New civilisations such as the Persians, Dutch, Indians and Americans, including a couple of native American tribes, make your universe of choice more complete. What I particularly like are the new campaigns. These are very clever and very enjoyable, particularly the Napoleonic one, which in its own right is worth the asking price.

The detail in the game is incredible, it is worth having a graphics card that does it justice. The boys at Big Huge Games deserve a big huge pat on the back. Strategy nuts everywhere will want to add this to their collection.