Rise of Nations: Thrones & Patriots

"More of the Same Ain’t No Bad Thing"

Rise of Nations was a breath of fresh air for the real-time strategy genre, coupling many of Civilizations' empire building elements with a campaign mode that allowed players to command one of eighteen different nations and conquer the world. The game was close to being perfect, but apparently the developers weren't satisfied with their efforts as they soon released an expansion pack entitled Thrones and Patriots.

The additions contained within Thrones and Patriots don't change the game in any big way, nor is the actual amount of content all that impressive. Basically there are some new nations, a new building and some smaller campaign scenarios. However, taken with the base game, Thrones and Patriots does add even more replay value to the game.

New nations will probably be what most people get excited over and they do address some of the glaring omissions from the base game. The Americans, Dutch, Indians, Iroquois, Lakota and Persians are now accounted for and as expected, they all have their unique bonuses that give them subtly different playing strategies. A by-product of these new nations is that the North American continent has been divided up into several smaller territories to accommodate the Americans and native tribes. This also has the side effect of meaning the Aztecs can no longer rush and gain the entire continent in three turns as they could previously.

The aforementioned new building gives players the option to build a Senate. At the Senate, players can research a government which comes with its own bonuses as well as a unique Patriot unit. These government types include Despotism, Republic, Monarchy, Democracy, Socialism and Capitalism. As with Nation powers, government gives some slight advantages such as the increased commerce limit for the Republic or cheaper units of varying types in the case of Despotism, Monarchy and Socialism. And as with Nation powers, these advantages are not large enough to be game-breaking but they will factor into player strategy.

The biggest addition with Thrones and Patriots are the new campaigns. In Rise of Nations the only real campaign involved taking a nation and defeating all the rest on a Risk-like map of the world. While it was lots of fun, it wasn't something most people could do in one or two sittings (which is by no means a complaint). However, the new campaigns are typically bite-sized chunks that detail historical conflicts and campaigns. All told there are four of these which involve Alexander the Great's conquering of Macedonia, Napoleon's campaign for Europe, The New World and the Cold War. The New World and Cold War campaigns are actually a bit different in that you get to choose your side. In the New World players can guide one of the European nations and attempt to conquer the Americas or play as a Native tribe and kick out the invaders. In the Cold War players can choose from the USSR or the US (although this conflict differs in that there will actually be military conflict).

THE VERDICT
Thrones and Patriots doesn't add many new gameplay components, but it does add even more content - More nations and new campaigns. Simply put, if you loved Rise of Nations you'll want to pick up the expansion as well (and I assure you, it will make the game last even longer). If you didn't like Rise of Nations or your opinion was lukewarm at best, there's no reason to invest in the expansion because it changes the actual gameplay in absolutely no way whatsoever.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/30/09

Game Release: Rise of Nations: Thrones & Patriots (US, 04/27/04)