Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: May 7, 2004

Expansion packs being produced for successful PC games are as predictable as the extra day in Leap Year. They give people who purchased the title a way to extend their playtime with a favorite product and developers a chance to expand on ideas that didn’t make it into the original offering. As a consumer of these outings, you want to see enough new material to make the upgraded purchase worth your time and money – more Age of Mythology: The Titans and less Half-Life: Blue Shift, as it were. Following up their critically and commercially explosive title, Rise of Nations, Big Huge Games offers up an extra helping of love with Thrones and Patriots. Read on to see if there’s more of Arkantos or Barney in the box.

Thrones and Patriots doesn’t make any sweeping changes to its host title, but in the true spirit of an expansion, it supplements existing components in the already successful mixture. The first thing it brings to the table is six additional playable cultures, including three from each side of the Atlantic Ocean: Americans, Lakota, Iroquois, Persians, Indians and Dutch. Each has their own special units and inherent attributes. The Americans, for instance, get their first wonder built instantly, have cheaper aircraft costs and get Marines, who can entrench themselves in enemy territory without a general around, as their special unit. Indians get cheaper buildings and fortifications as well as the much requested War Elephants. The other four cultures have similar advantages, providing the user with a greater range of strategic options for solo and online play.

Thrones and Patriots also includes six new government types: Despotism, Capitalism, Monarchy, Socialism, Republic and Democracy. Government types are researchable at a Senate building and influence your economy. For example, choosing Despotism makes your barracks units 25 percent cheaper, while selecting Republic increases your commerce limit. After selecting your initial political system, you choose between a pair of options for the following two ages. Upgrading from Republic to Monarchy to Capitalism, for example, builds on your existing selection as opposed to invalidating the advantage from your previous choice.

Government selection also supplies an automatic special unit from the Senate building that has unique bonuses associated with its use. Deciding to be a despot gives you the Despot Patriot, a general who provides supply, line-of-sight and plunder bonuses. If you go down the road of the Republic instead, you’ll receive the Senator Patriot, a general who also provides healing, bribing and building defense bonuses.

Thrones and Patriots includes three new wonders, too. The Babylonian Hanging Gardens increase knowledge production and decrease the cost of upgrades at Granaries. The Chinese Forbidden City counts as a bonus Major City, gives an increase in food and timber, and turns off capital timers. The last new addition is the Indian Red Fort. It acts like a regular citizen-built fortification but has longer offensive range, increased hit points, higher garrison value and is resistant to air attacks. The Red Fort also doesn’t count against a city’s wonder total, gives all fort upgrades for free, increases other fort’s hit points by 33 percent and heals garrisoned units at a hugely increased rate.

Thrones and Patriots also presents four new Conquer the World campaigns that follow some of history’s greatest leaders and battles, including Alexander the Great, Napoleon, the Cold War and the New World. Conquer the World campaigns are set up something like the classic board game, Risk. You’re presented with a map of the world and move your army from country to country trying to take over ever greater plots of land. Unlike Risk, you’re not relegated to a roll of the dice to determine success or failure of your campaign. Instead, when a target country is identified, the gameplay switches to the Rise of Nations RTS format, and you must wipe out all that resist you through force or diplomacy within a certain amount of time. Conquer the World campaigns also limit you in the number of turns you may take, so every new encounter is important.