Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Warlords

Yet even when things get repetitive, there's something undeniably awesome about waging war on a grand scale. Warlords may not be the most multifaceted expansion pack ever made, but it is an exceedingly addictive one that adds new content and a new style of play to Civ IV. Both wimps and warriors will love this one.

If like me, you're a hardcore Civ fan who cherishes every single speck of Civ-related content, then Warlords is something you bought on day one and you're only reading this review because you're taking a break between turns. Still, we're a little disappointed that there's not more going on in the modern era. Triremes, Great Walls, and Numidian Horsemen are all well and good, but once the game hits the Renaissance, you've pretty much run out of cool new toys. We certainly hope the next expansion offers more across all eras of the game.

There's a lot of really cool content to go through in Warlords, and you can easily find yourself lost in any one of the scenarios. They'll most likely appeal to Civ veterans looking for a new challenge or a new gameplay experience, though. Even at their easier difficulty levels, the scenarios might be a bit too much for newcomers, who should stick to the regular campaign game for now. We did notice a few bugs, such as great-wonder movies that didn't play, but overall, this expansion is a lot more polished than Civilization IV was at its launch.