Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs
by Kilocron
previewed on PC
A closer look at the three tribes
Let's look at the Iroquois. The Iroquois were known for being one of the few tribes to cooperate and trade with the Europeans. So if you are a little... gun shy, then this might be a good race for you to start out with. The Iroquois unit of choice is the Tomahawk man. And, come on folks, who doesn't like a Tomahawk man? Other units include Musket Runners, Musket Riders, and the return of the Mantlet. The Iroquois Warchief has the ability to provide the units around him a nice HP bonus, which is a good reason to have him along on your next battle.
Next up is the Sioux. The Sioux have a very nice
advantage to them, right off the bat. They have no need for buildings. None whatsoever. They can build up to the maximum population right off of the bat. This is a fantastic bonus for those of us who like to see how fast they can max out the unit cap and engulf the enemy in a sea of units. However, there are those of us that like to take our time and would not see this as such a great advantage. But on the other hand, houses don't cost that much anyways and it's just tedious to build them. The Sioux Warchief is mounted which effectively makes him the fastest of all Warchiefs or explorers. He packs a punch in combat but is lacking the necessary skills for any sort of ranged attack. This Warchief gives the units nearby some extra speed and is great for the hit-and-run tactics.
And finally we have the Aztecs, who are my personal favorite. However, my first impressions of the Aztec are not that impressive. The Warchief's aura will emit EXP bonuses to all of its nearby units. EXP is nice and all, but it's not that important in the long run. Not like HP or Speed. Oh, but don't count the Aztec out yet. They have tricks up their sleeve. When the Warchief ages up a notch he'll get a nice improvement that will let him kill enemies in one stroke. Nice. When the Aztec reach the fortress age you get to build the Noble's Hut, which lets you train knights. And the knights are not to be messed with.
All in all
It needs to be said that you need the original Age of Empires III to play Age of Empires III: The Warchiefs. All in all, I must say that Ensemble makes good expansion packs. This isn't like the Sims were you get one small little upgrade. No, the Age expansions give you a lot of bang for your buck. This one will give you 3 new cultures, a new campaign mode, new units, and new features. If you ever liked the original Age of Empires III, even a little bit, then you owe it to yourself to pick up this expansion when it hits the shelves this October.