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Gates of Troy Review - PC

Early in May this year I reviewed a Strategy game by the name of Spartan, which offered a unique approach to the genre with its many new concepts and ideas. Developer Slitherine has decided to push its spin on the genre further by releasing a standalone expansion pack to Spartan - standalone meaning it runs without Spartan installed - named Gates of Troy: very fitting at the moment with the recent release of the epic movie Troy.

Gameplay

Those looking to expand their copy of Spartan on the whole will be pleased to find that they can play Spartan's scenarios as well as Gates of Troy's scenarios through Gates of Troy. Without Spartan installed, however, you'll only have at your disposal Gates of Troy's six new scenarios. This may sound like a small amount, but when you take into consideration the fact that a couple of the scenarios require you to take over more than thirty cities - which takes a long time and a lot of strategic planning indeed - and the game's low cost, you really are getting value for money.

As well as its six new scenarios, which focus on settlements such as the Persians and Romans and of course the city of Troy, Gates of Troy features minor upgrades such as artificial intelligence improvements and diplomacy improvements; twelve new units, including Levy, Theban Hoplites and Achaian Nobles, for you to recruit and take into battle; and nineteen new heroes that enhance your armies' morale. You can also expect the ability to build the famous Trojan Horse which is a great inclusion. While not allowing you to physically send your troops behind enemy lines, it works in a similar way suitable for a Strategy game, allowing you to carry out many silent and devastating activities upon foreign nations from the safety of your own city.

Those that haven't played Spartan before and want to jump right into Gates of Troy needn't worry about not knowing how the game works. Included with the expansion pack is the original Spartan tutorial - the same detailed and comprehensive one that I described in my Spartan review, which you may like to take a look at for an expanded view on how it and Gates of Troy play.

The improvements to the artificial intelligence are quite worthwhile, as during Gates of Troy you'll often find that your enemies act more strategically than they did in Spartan; they'll send out many groups of troops so that they've always got reinforcements and I noticed the arrival of diplomats from foreign nations was more common - always nail-biting as you don't know whether they're being friendly or discreetly ruining your empire.

Graphics

Gates of Troy is essentially identical to Spartan in terms of graphics. The highly detailed campaign map and city screen have returned with their detailed and colourful textures, but they unfortunately still lack ambient animation such as water motion and swaying foliage. The battle (continued next page)