Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots

The best strategy game in real time 2003 gets its first long-awaited expansion, offering new content and makes an excellent game even better.

As expected the game offers many new features in terms of content. We have 6 new nations to deal with or to play: Americans (Immigrants who settled in North America and who declared their independence in the eighteenth century), Iroquois (Confederation of the native tribes of northeastern North America) Persian (One of the nations largest and oldest in the Southwest Asia), India (nation whose origin dates back to 2500 BC. Located in southern Asia, is the oldest modern democracy in the world), Lakota (Native Indigenous North America, whose territory covers eastern Montana and western South Dakota and Wyoming) and Dutch (famous for its economic prowess and his exploration of the world, the Dutch became independent of the Spanish crown in the century XVI). 
It also includes four new campaigns for a player, more than 20 original units and three new wonders of mankind. Now you can also choose between different types of government, each with its advantages and disadvantages: Despotism, capitalism, monarchy, socialism, democracy and republic. This idea, “stolen” from Civilizacition is fairly well integrated in the system of play.

The four new campaigns to conquer the world are based on the conquest of America, Napoleon, Alexander the Great and the Cold War. These campaigns are quite short, intense and interesting that the only mammoth campaign and included in the original Rise of Nations, and each has different objectives and constraints. So while the campaign of conquest of America lets you choose between Europeans, Americans or native tribes, the campaign of Napoleon gives you a few turns in which to practice diplomacy and conquest in equal parts, to conquer Europe in a given time.
The most spectacular campaign, however, is that of the cold war, when we choose between the Americans and Russians, in a diplomatic career, espionage and investigation, with scenes so “tight” as the Cuba of missiles.

Graphics and Sound
Technical points are still at the height of the original, with new buildings and units as details and prices in Rise of Nations, although, as happened in the original, requires a machine with a decent video card to enjoy the game without jerks or interruptions.
The melodies are very well made and do not bother at all, but comes a time (after a game of four hours) in which we come to hate the song of the day. Luckily you can turn off …

Still the king …
News and campaigns that make the gameplay is even greater than in the original, which seemed difficult to achieve a priori. The multiplayer earn in variety and require different strategies already known. It would have been nice to extend the maximum number of players, which is maintained at eight. Imagine a game to 16, with 4 of 4 teams fighting each other, allying … Might have chosen to leave it as it is not necessarily more multiplayer engine, as it is very rare to compete in a game eight and did not lag or lack of instant response from our units.
However this is desirable, for which you have never played Rise of Nations just say that this game (and its further expansion) is one of the best and most addictive strategy games in real-time multiplayer of all time , which puts it at the level of jewelry as Command and Conquer, Warcraft and StarCraft 2.

Conclusion
This extension is a must for all fans of Rise of Nations, not only add a few things and new scenes, but it includes new units, nations, and major changes in gameplay. It seems that Microsoft wanted people to join the league of Warcraft, they have always enjoyed impressive enlargements, and succeeded.