Rome: Total War - Alexander
- May 26, 2006 12:42 PM PST
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Alexander reigns supreme in the latest expansion pack for Rome Total War
Any strat gamer should know that Rome: Total War was the strategic gamers guide to simulated battle bliss. Since its release under Activision, the Total War series has come under the Sega umbrella, and original developer Creative Assembly is back with a new expansion pack for RTW called Alexander.
Alexander is the same style of real-time warfare and empire building, covering the period from 336 BC to 323 BC and the short but prodigious career of Alexander the Great of Macedon. With Alexander at the helm, you'll take over several kingdoms culminating with overthrowing the mighty Persian Empire, held under the infamous and powerful King Darius.
Since Alexander conquered Persia and even fought his way down into India before his premature death at the age of 33, you will also be racing against the clock to finish the campaign before his death.
Alexander is, gameplay-wise, very similar to the original RTW with several additions. First there are four new factions:
The Macedonians: The kingdom from where Alexander hails. The Macedonian armies have heavy phalanx infantry and strong cavalry, but lack sufficient missile troops.
The Persians: Persia's giant kingdom makes the Persian army one of the world's biggest superpowers. They have heavy cavalry, bowmen and skirmishers.
The Indians: The Indians are not formed in one coherent state, but can pack quite a punch to any invaders. The Indian armies are divvied between bowmen, war elephants and charioteers, though they lack reliable infantry.
The Barbarians: Pretty straightforward, they are barbaric and do not belong to a specific state. Their armies include warriors, skirmishers and some infantry, but lack numerous horsemen.
With the new Alexander campaign comes new objectives. You'll have to hold 30 provinces in less than the allotted 100 turns (the campaign is now based on a number of turns, rather than a number of years), while simultaneously managing finances and fending off barbarian attacks as well as other citizens and empires that want to take you down. And, since Alexander is the key to leading your battle, his death will result in the failure of the campaign. For this reason, you must tread carefully.
Also, aside from the single-player Alexander mission, there are also six new historical battles for both single and multiplayer play, all of which can be used in the new Tournament mode that rewards the play with an overall score.
As for the gameplay controls, there really haven't been any noticeable changes that haven't already been implemented with the latest patch of RTW.
Look for a full review, as RTW - Alexander is expected to ship in late June at a generous price of $14.99.
