Civilization 4 Expansion Lowdown

I finally got around to playing the Civilization 4 expansion pack Warlords. In fact I even played Total Realism. I enjoyed them both in their own ways and each brought their own little bit to the game.

In Warlords it's all about the conflicts, hence the name. Some new empires have been added such as the Carthaginians and the Vikings. There are also a few new leaders such as Winston Churchill and Ramses II. Overall not a whole lot differs from the regular game except for the enthusiasm towards attacking and crushing your opponent. I did enjoy it. I give it a 3/5 as far as expansions go.

Total realism adds quite a bit more to the game. There are loads of new wonders, units, unit upgrades, a description when you get a historical person and even a few new research topics as well. The main point of this game though is that it travels slowly throughout the eras, making a whopping 850 turns of potential game play. Should you expect to play through every turn in one sitting you'd better clear your schedule because it will take 6 hours minimum. Overall though the expansion worked on many things and was quite satisfying, even if you can't do a whole game all at once. I give it a 4/5.