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Genre: Real Time Strategy

Format: DVD

Developer: Ensemble Studios

Publisher: MacSoft Games

Minimum System Requirements: Mac OS X v10.3.9, 1.4GHz G4/G5/Intel Mac, 512MB RAM, 64MB video card (with support for hardware T & L), 56K dial-up Internet access or LAN for online play

Review Computer: 1.8GHz G5 iMac 17", 512MB RAM, Nvidia GeForce FX 5200, Mac OS X v10.4.2

Network Feature: Yes

Processor Compatibility Universal

Price: $34.99

ESRB Rating: T (blood, violence)

Availability: Now

Official Website: www.ageofempires3.com/warchiefs/

Perhaps it is a tribute to the allure of the Age of Empires III game (see Applelinks review) and the skill of the developers that an expansion pack that improves multiple aspects of the game would come across as merely good. True, the expansion pack adds new characters and a whole new story line, and also expands your home city options while increasing both the skill needed to win and the strategies and planning available to improve gameplay. Again, I'm gushing about the options here, but it is more of the same great stuff from the Age...well, I think we can call it an empire.

Nathaniel Black arrives in the new world representing (and looking to expand) the Black family fortune, curiously labeled as an Iroquois hero. You wonder why that might be, until you learn that he has powers that your previous heroes did not initially possess. Mr. Black can summon Iroquois fighters from his home city. He can even coax them from "old world" barracks and stables. Better yet, in the wilderness, once your village has come of age, Mr. Black can conjure a small band of warriors seemingly out of nowhere. Handy.

What follows in the story line is what you would expect: villagers to rescue, towns to defend, a grudge to settle, and a series of complex assignments that will re-engage the Age of Empires III fan.

Included in the expansion pack is a full set of military attributes for three tribes: Aztec, Iroquois and Sioux. As these groups can show up as friends or foes depending on the scenario and in the random maps, it helps to know some of their more unusual weapons. Among my favorite is the Iroquois mantlet; essentially, it is two guys behind a sandwich board made of thick branches. In practice, it is frustratingly hard to kill and not nearly as innocuous as it sounds.

More important attributes for your own village come with the expansion pack. Your alliances with the native people yield advancements in your abilities to harvest the natural resources, especially wood and wild food sources. Also, some advancements allow you to spontaneously generate needed resources for a period of time. If you are a "store, then conquer" kind of player, these can be used to your advantage early in the game. "Nick of time" players who immediately set out to build a conquering army might find these useful during a large attack.

Another major development in The War Chiefs is the introduction of the Fire Pit. Don't tell Hale or Danforth, but it's not only Tituba dancing around the fire. Teach your villagers the dances, much like you would encourage them to work at the mill or to harvest sheep, and you will be rewarded with military powers such as increased attack strength, or with additional soldiers.

In advanced ages, the addition of immigration, spies, and other advancements are of dubious value. Except in rare cases, I have found that if you are advanced to the fifth age, you do not need the advanced housing capabilities to hold more than you have built houses for. Additionally, the spies are fairly powerful tools, allowing you to see the whole board, especially if you are pitted against a nation prone to large scale attacks. But again, by the fifth age, usually your defenses are up to the challenges. Each of these additions enhances the intrigue and improves the replayability of The War Chiefs.

I would have liked for Destineer Studios to figure out a way to defeat the dock and exposé during gameplay. The interruptions can quickly annoy the player and sap the game of its natural momentum. Additionally, I am not sure of their success with the relatively high price point. I wonder what their own research (and research in similar software types) shows about the price point for what are essentially upgrades—albeit upgrades that require a lot of manpower and certainly need to be paid for. One would hope that all parties see a profit and remain in the Mac game business, but where is the breaking point?

Purchase Age of Empires III: The War Chiefs