Until now, mainly focused on the European expansion of the New World. Last year's expansion, The WarChiefs, pushed the idea a little further by introducing playable Native American tribes to let players rewrite history by repelling European colonists from the Americas. This time, the historical strategy game takes a trip across the ocean and lets players command the nations of China, Japan and India in The Asian Dynasties.

Big Huge Games, the creators of Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends helps take over development from Ensemble Studios for this latest expansion, and its influence clearly shows. The new Asian nations must build Wonders (giant buildings that offer significant bonuses) in order to progress through an Age. Some of theses structures offer powers, such as healing all units at once, that players use throughout the game. But keep in mind that Age of Empires III was originally released in 2005, and the latest expansion simply builds off of that technology. Although the graphics look passable, and should work on practically any computer purchased within the last two years, the game doesn't look as good as more recent ones. Wonders can take up a lot of space, making them difficult to defend on smaller maps. The artificial intelligence didn't get any big upgrades either, since units have an annoying habit of getting snagged behind rocks and narrow areas and slow to a crawl, especially in large groups. Once players get past these issues, they'll basically get more of the classic Age of Empires III gameplay in a brand-new setting, including bonus cards that bring in extra troops and resources from a home city. Asian cities also start at level 10, making it easier for them to get better cards faster.

Each new nation plays differently from the others. Japan, for example, cannot hunt for its food and must rely exclusively on agriculture and fishing for sustenance. However, they can build shrines that trickle in a small amount of resources over time, and attracts nearby animals to graze and boost output. China is at a disadvantage early in the game, since they cannot build a barracks for infantry until it reaches the second Age, but can amass powerful infantry under banners once it gets a steady flow of resources.