One of the over looked aspects of the age of exploration and colonization has been just what the native civilizations of the Americas were and how they lived. These natives - sometimes referred to as Indians - and these days as Native Americans had complex cultures that have for the most part been lost to the past due to their military and numerical inferiority to the European civilizations. But players of the widely popular Age of Empires III can now bring those cultures back to life through the latest expansion of the series, the War Chiefs.

A brief summary of Age of Empires III shows that it is a real time strategy historical empire building series and The War Chiefs is the first expansion for it. Players can play against each other or the computer and the basic games revolve around setting up a base and expanding the military and economy while eventually destroying the other players or AI civs in the game. Players must gather resources, construct buildings and research military and cultural items while both defending themselves and attacking other cultures. Victory can have a number of variables such as points or construction of a wonder of the world.

The War Chiefs is a real time strategy expansion for age of Empires III and players must have that game in order to use this expansion. The game adds a number of native cultures to the game system as well as expanding the units and capabilities of the European civilizations already included in this game system. By adding the native civilizations scenario makers can now vastly improve scenario design for campaigns as well as giving players many more options in multi-player as the natives have quite a different range of units to choose from.

The three new civilizations are the Iroquois (who are woodland dwellers who lived in the eastern part of North America), the Sioux (who lived in the American Midwest) and Aztecs (the powerful empire of Mexico). The units for these civilizations are as diverse as the people they represent. The Iroquois historically were farmers and lived in well-settled villages and in the game they are quite similar to the European civilizations in makeup. The Sioux are similar to the Huns of AoE II in that they require buildings for population and can always build units to the population limit at start. The Aztecs are quite different as this civilization never used the horse so they rely on Infantry armies as players of AoE II are already familiar with.

As seen in Age of Empires III the terrain created for this game is simply beautiful. It's a shame that the zoom in and out is limited and there is no three dimensional viewing, as it makes this game seem like those of a decade ago in the way it's viewed. The game simulates incredibly diverse terrain, from snow covered arctic terrain to the rain forests of South America and does it in spectacular fashion. Many of the vistas in the game are stunning; they look like photos rather then computer simulations.

The units and buildings in this expansion are as well done as the previous offering of this title and add much to the appeal of the game. Playing it really feels like you are wandering through the woods of the Americas and it's a quite realistic approach to game boards and probably the best I have seen in this type of game. The animation of workers and soldiers are quite excellent and the buildings are well pulled off. If there is one area I would have liked to have seen improved it's the way ships are done; I feel they are just a little off but that is simply my opinion.

The game includes an entirely new campaign that takes up the story of the Black family. This campaign is far better then the highly fictionalized campaign of Age of Empires III. In the first act you lead a young Indian of the Iroquois as he leads a militia company in the support of the colonial war against Great Britain. You will take part in many of the early battles of the revolution such as a very difficult battle at Bunker (Breed's) Hill vs. an aggressive British who will try to take the redoubt you must hold until the relief forces of General Artemis Ward arrive.

There is a good sub plot to this as Black is also looking to avenge the murder of his father at the hands of a Hessian Colonel who turns up in many of the scenarios in the campaign. The scenarios are presented in quite an innovative fashion; one of the best is the Battle of Trenton where Washington and Black lead their army across the Delaware and must destroy Hessian tents while avoiding Hessian patrols. Since this requires timing and stealth it makes for a different kind of scenario. The battle continues as you have to intercept a British force heading for Princeton and build another force to finally confront and destroy the British base.

The ebb and flow of the revolution continues as you take part in the fight for Saratoga and Morristown (the battle of Freehold) and you finally get to square accounts with the Hessians here. The war however skips the southern battles, mentioning them only in the narration of the cutscenes and advances to the climax of the revolution at Yorktown. This battle sees a return to the game system of the petard, the exploding suicide unit used in Age of Empires II.

As the war ends the saga of the family continues to the next act, as your protagonist returns to his peaceful village and the years advance quite a bit, about 70 years in the future. An ancestor of Black must again prove himself, starting out by protecting the famous Bozeman Trail in Montana from hostile Sioux and establishing trading posts for the white man's advance across the Americas; all of this leads to the tragic confrontation at the Little Big Horn river.

The sweep of history is felt in the campaigns and in this game itself. The voice acting is quite good and the sound effects are also very well done. The previous civilizations in the game have been given new units and new options. For example, instead of advancing to the Imperial Age European civilizations can select to revolt. Revolting changed the home city to a new one and limits the shipments available to a much more narrow focus of militia, ironclads, unlimited Fortress wagons and Gatling guns.

This expansion is a worthy addition to this series. The new units and new options will greatly enhance the play options and abilities of campaign and scenario makers. Although in some ways the AoE series is behind more modern 3D games, I still find that they do it better than those who have followed. I personally would love to see new campaigns added and I hope the next Age of Empires will return to the beginning, and redo the ancients using all the improvements made to this series over the years.

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