Rise of Rome Update

As Age of Empires fans anxiously await Age of Empires 2, Ensemble Studios and Microsoft have come up with an expansion pack called The Rise of Rome - to help calm the curious but also to whet the appetites of those AOE enthusiasts out there.

Rather than just send gold copies of The Rise of Rome through the mail to GameSpot, Bruce Shelley came by the GameSpot office to hand deliver a CD with the gold build. The game, set for a November 5 release according to Ensemble cofounder Shelley, will help bridge the gap between Age of Empires and Age of Empires 2.

Shelley said that the expansion pack grew from a couple of scenarios. First, AOE2 was being pushed back until next year, and Ensemble Studios wanted to make sure fans had something to do in the next few months and over the impending holiday season. Also, the Roman Empire and its nearby regions were left out of the original game. In fact, the game ended right at the beginning of the Roman Empire.

So what will the Rise of Rome be about? Well, it isn't about a bunch of guys running around in short white dresses (that only happens at frat parties). New to the expansion are a tweaked user interface that allows for easier selection of specific units, four new civilizations to choose from, and several new unit types. One of the new units, the armored elephant, is a direct response to users not using elephants as battle creatures. They'll still be easily susceptible to a priest conversion, but the added armor gives them longer fighting time in the heat of battle.

For more information regarding all the new features in The Rise of Rome, take a look at the GameSpot preview.

We asked Shelley if there would be a public beta program happening as AOE2 gets closer to beta. "I'm not sure. That decision will have to be left up to Microsoft."

With the Internet Gaming Zone being rechristened as the MSN Gaming Zone - and AOE being one of Microsoft's first few successes into the gaming market - we wouldn't be surprised to see something in the works.