Alexander?s army is here to fight. The game, Rome: total War, has been entertaining gamers since its day of release. So has the massive Barbarian Invasion expansion pack. When Creative Assembly, the designers, started working on a second expansion, Rome: Total War ? Alexander, it was understandably an exciting venture.

Previous expansions have prevented gamers from taking charge of anything beyond one empire ? among a number of empires ? even at crucial moments of conflict. Accordingly, the present expansion, too, is limited to Alexander?s campaign against the Persians. Given the restricted nature of the campaign, there are only four new civilisations here. The two heavy hitters are Alexander?s Macedonians and Darius?s Persians. There are the Indians and a variety of barbarians too who are not really important in the context of the game.

The game takes off from Philip?s death, with Alexander all poised to fight against the Thebans. Alexander?s plan of action involves establishing his supremacy over Greece and then proceeding against the Persians in the east. To win the campaign game, you?ll have to capture 30 territories, which is basically the same as capturing the whole map.

In addition to the new campaign, the game includes a series of six historical battles showcasing key moments in Alexander?s career ? from the command of his father?s cavalry to his confrontation with the Indian king?s elephants at Hydaspes. The gamer needs to win each of the battles in order to unlock the next and move on.

Though not mapped to scale, each of the battles tries to follow a realistic topography as well as stick to authentic historical details of force compositions.

One exciting new feature of the game is the addition of tournament battles, which allows players to play these unlockable battles online. Gamers can choose between two formats to fight ? to take on the battles on a one-on-one or two-on-two basis. While it requires a little more commitment in terms of time, these tournaments are great fun.

However, a few things seem to be missing from the game. First, there?s no room for diplomacy. Graphics and sound haven?t changed much since the last expansion, though the visuals are slightly better and the new units reflect nice details.

It?s always fun to revisit the Total War series and the Alexander-expansion is definitely a welcome addition. The new units and the new campaign allow gamers to join one of the most celebrated campaigns in military history. As always, the gameplay and graphics add a touch of reality to the game.

Minimum system requirements: Operating system: Windows 98/2000/ME/XP, processor: 1 GHz or higher, RAM: 256 MB or higher, free hard disk space: 3.5 GB or higher, modem: 56 KB or higher (multiplayer), video card: 64 MB or higher, display resolution: 1024x768