Since Civilization I, this game has always been one of my favorite games to play on the computer, both against the computer and against others. When adding this expansion to Civilization III, Conquests becomes the game for others to beat again when it comes to world building games.

First some bad news - if you already have the "Play the World" supplement, you already have some of the material that's on this expansion. The "Play the World" material is included with Conquests.

Now the good news. This expansion adds a =lot= of new material to a game that sorely needed the boost. There are seven new Civilizations to use. Each civilization now has at least one unique unit - such as the Mayan Javelin Throwers, Portuguese Carracks, Swiss Mercenaries, and Sumerian Enkidu Warriors. There are a few new tech advances. There are a couple good disasters to avoid. The new "locked alliance" feature allows you to team up with another civilization more or less permanently. There are several new resources - a couple of which are pretty strange. There's a couple of new Wonders of the World to build. Several new government types. "Stealth Attack" is a cute way for you to start (or finish off!) wars. The two new civilization types (Agricultural and Seafaring) don't seem to add much at first, but try playing with them to see how much they really do change the outcome of games. Finally, the new levels of difficulty (including "Sid" - the hardest of all) add a couple new levels of complexity.

But the best features of this expansion are the scenarios. There are many to try - each with its own challenges. Almost all of the scenarios have a basis in historical fact - a nice touch. From ancient almost prehistoric men to beyond the present. There's great game play in the World War Two scenario or the Napoleonic Wars. Or try the MesoAmerican scenario to see the most of what the rule changes in this edition did to improve the game.

And the game has been fixed so that you can try to play by yourself. Instead of telling you "you have won" after the first turn, the game now allows you to develop a civilization from its infancy to the stars without any distractions. This is a great feature to try for learning the pluses and minuses for your chosen civilization, and makes for a great teach yourself the ropes mode before challenging online players. But do try to fight the computer first...

Now some bad news again. If playing with the multiplayer option, you =must= trade with neighboring civilizations, or conquer them. This limitation subtracts from some of the luster of the game.

But with that as a given, players of Civ III should get this disc. If you were dissatisfied with the limitations of Civ III, then this expansion will eliminate most of those complaints. This game is now the one to watch until Civ IV.