is it Age of Civilizations, now?

Ensemble Studios announced the first expansion for last year's disappointing Age of Empires III this week, adding three Native American* civilizations to the game that can "expand their empire and fight for control of the Americas." A new single player campaign will also be included, which is probably the only aspect I'm interested in given the hokey storyline that Age of Empires III's single player campaign was based on. I'd like to see some campaigns based on the Revolutionary War, and introduce a little more history into the experience. Though I'd definitely settle for a Native uprising to take back their land from the European invaders.

Given the structure of the original game, the addition of playable Native American civilizations in the expansion is a bit odd. In Age of Empires III, Natives were limited to small villages on each map, where installing a trading post was enough to gain their allegiance and be able to build Native units to aid your civilization's battle for supremacy. So for the sake of game balance, will the new Native civs be befriending other natives? Or will there be a role reversal in the creation of new Native-based maps where the trading posts are actually Eurpeans offering weapons and supplies? The announcement for the expansion lists the Iroquois Confederation as one of the playable civilizations, which eventually became what we now know as the Six Nations in North America. Are they included because they are considered more technologically/socially advanced than the other Native cultures that inhabited the Americas? The Civilization series always had Native civilizations as playable, but in those games we are dealing with possible futures as well as history. We were never dealing in the context of a specific timeline.

Age of Empires II and The Conquerors expansion simply covered a time period in history, and as such Ensemble were able to add different civilizations and associated campaigns with little effort. Age of Empires III is about the conquest of the New World - a fascinating setting - but it is generally limited in its scope. We are dealing with a finite number of European nations that settled in the Americas seeking to conquer those lands. Not to mention the whole Home City game mechanic: how will it work with the Native civilizations? Will it be based on a generally accepted "core area" where each respective Native culture started? It's a bit far fetched when you consider that the majority of Native peoples were nomadic. It seems to me that Age of Empires III had set the constraints quite clearly, and by adding in these new playable civilizations the game drifts farther into the realm of fantasy. Which is fine, if that's where Ensemble intends for the series to go.

Regardless of these criticisms, I still can't deny how beautiful the game is; the exceptionally detailed buildings and units coupled with the game's gorgeous painted artwork make it one of the most visually stunning games I've ever played.

*Note: When I use this term, I mean Native to North and South America. I am fully aware that the United States of America is not the centre of the New World, despite what the game may be trying to say.