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• Reviewed on: Windows PC
• Also available for: N/A
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• The Good: New units and campaign; great historical setting; new Native factions play differently than older factions; trade Monopoly victory condition added
• The Bad: Could still use some new gameplay features and innovations; ninjas? Freakin' ninjas?
• The Verdict: A pretty good expansion pack that corrects some of the issues that hit Age of Empires III
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It's strange that a game like Age of Empires III, which is set in colonial times, would only have the Native tribes in supporting roles. The WarChiefs expansion pack corrects that oversight by adding three new factions--the Sioux, the Iroquois, and the Aztec nations.

As with the European nations that we controlled in the original game, each faction has its distinct advantages. The Aztec have strong infantry units. The Iroquois can produce mantlets, rams and even light cannons, making them very good at busting up towns and fortifications. The Sioux are horse experts, so their units are very fast and very good at hit n' run tactics.

The Natives Are Restless

I like these new factions not just for their historic relevance and the variety they add to the game, but also for the fact that they really play quite a bit differently than the European colonies. One of the complaints many had about AOE3 is that the European colonies didn't really feel all that different from each other. Yes, one had better infantry units or produced lumber slightly faster, but the basic procedure of playing them was the same.

With the WarChiefs expansion, the basic gameplay approach has changed slightly. For one thing, the Native factions have a building called the Fire Pit. With the Fire Pit, you can assign Villagers to dance around the fire, just as you can assign them together food, coins, etc. Although some upgrades are still researched and purchased, many of the bonuses to your nation come from specific types of dances: Fertility Dances increase unit production speed. War Dances increase the damage your units do. And so on. The more Villagers you assign to dance, the higher the bonus. Some dances will even produce whole new units.

Native factions are also able to charm the animals that guard treasures, so you can not only gather treasures easily, you can also get a few free units out of the trip. If that sounds sort of silly and stereotypical, then you probably share one of my objections to this expansion.

The WarChiefs … Featuring Ninjas?

I love the idea of adding Native factions, but some of the things that have been included in the expansion are kind of silly. The "Nature Friendship" trait that allows you to convert animals to your side feels pretty Disney to me, and doesn't belong in a game like Age of Empires. Yes, the games aren't exactly historically accurate, but excepting Age of Mythology, these games have always been very serious in their tone, and I feel this pushes the suspension of disbelief too far. I get the impression that wolves and bears were just as likely to attack the Natives as they were any other human. Another example of this kind of silliness is that ninjas have been added as one of the kinds of mercenaries that you can hire. It just clashes with the whole game concept.

New Ways to Win

Another complaint that was made about AOE3 was that the main victory condition of the game was conquest--you had to completely obliterate the other force with no other options. Now, there is a new way to win a game, called "Trade Monopoly." If you can take over half or more of the trading posts on a map, a button appears on your screen. Click it, and a countdown begins. If your opponent doesn't destroy enough of your hold on the trade routes within that time, you win. I'm glad to see the new victory condition, but I hope future instalments of AOE have more ways to win, especially since other games allow cultural, religious, and diplomatic ways to win.

The Europeans have a new way to wage war, a near all-or-nothing gambit called "Revolution." When you click this, all of your forces transform into a war-ready army, down to every last peon. This is a great thing to click in an absolute emergency, or when you're making the finish push into enemy territory. The trick is that if it fails, you cannot convert them down to their old status…that means no settlers to gather food or chop wood. You'll have to train new ones.

Repeating History

WarChiefs has 15 new missions, and a great story-driven campaign. It continues the story of the Black family introduced in AOE3, and will take you through some big moments in history, including the American Revolution. You will fight battles at places like Valley Forge and Yorktown. You will ally with General Washington before he was known as "Mr. President." And, joy oh joy, you get to oppose the 7th Calvary, under the command of a certain general named "Custer." Heh heh heh. It's a very interesting campaign to follow, and much more lively than the dry campaigns of Age of Empires 1 and 2.

Expanding the Empire

Of course with the new nations come new units and new structures, but the Europeans received a few new toys too. The Horse Artillery is a nice versatile unit; relatively powerful, but not as pokey as its cousins. There is more stealth in this game with units that can cloak, including the Spy. Then there's the demolition unit, the Petard, which is another good building-killing unit. Aside from this, and the addition of the Revolution mode, the European nations are much like before.

Going Native

The WarChiefs Expansion to Age of Empires III adds a lot of needed improvements and addresses some of the shortcomings of the first game, so it's definitely worth the purchase and install for AOE lovers. But there is still room for improvement in the features department -- I want as much variety to my tactics as possible, dozens of different ways to win, and my factions as unique as DNA. Here's hoping that when they deliver Age of Empires IV, they focus heavily on innovation.