I was
really geeked last year when we got to see all the previews of Age of Empires III. I figured this was the game worth upgrading my desktop for. Sadly, no upgrade came for me and I've yet to get at it. My desktop has been rejuvinated as a Linux server for a few months now, but that's another story.
There's an
expansion coming out for Age of Empires III. In this one they'll add 3 new races that are native to North America. But wait, you say, AoEIII already
has Native Americans! In the expansion you'll be able to play as these civilizations though, instead of just allying with them. The three races will be Iriquois, Sioux, and ... Ha! They're holding out on the third. Everyone wants to keep us guessing on something.
Playing as the Iriquois, one of your units will be a Warrior Chief. The Warrior Chief gets some special abilities, kind of like some of the heroes in Age of Mythology, iirc. One of the abilities is a binus for nearby units in his army. Another is the ability to heal. He can also convert some animals to work as units for his tribe. The (very helpful) guy from Ensemble who showed me the game said it's not uncommon to see a Warrior Chief leading a bunch of bears around and sending them into battle against the Europeans.
The native armies get bows but also soon pick up European weapons and will use guns in battle as well. They've got a full complement of different units that favours gameplay over historical accuracy. Units I saw included a battering ram and a
Travois. The Travois is a unit that can be placed in any location then turned in to any type of building very quickly. It looks like there's no material cost when the unit is turned in to a building. I can think of cases where this can come in really handy. Take for example, a case where you've got a beachhead in your enemy's land, but you're far from home. A few of these could easily pop up some barracks and whatever else you like to put up when you establish a new stronghold.
The Sioux Warrior Chief gives nearby units a speed bonus. The Sioux can be found in the plains and what's called the painted desert. Both new races have a tribal council which corresponds to the home cities of the European races. The European races also get a visual refresh with the expansion and apparently a couple new buildings. One new building is the saloon. The saloon is a place to recruit mercenaries for your army.
I took some
screenshots here and here are my other
pictures from E3 on Wednesday.
