Last year's Battle Realms from Liquid Entertainment was a fresh real-time strategy game that invigorated the genre with its stylish presentation, lush graphics, distinct units, and unique gameplay elements. The game was set in a magical land, and its four warring factions--the Dragon, Serpent, Lotus, and Wolf clans--were clearly inspired by Japanese anime and Hong Kong action films. Battle Realms had a rich plot that told a story of betrayal, corruption, and strife, and those who finished the game know that its story was well told--but it's far from over. As you read this, Liquid Entertainment is putting the finishing touches on the official expansion to Battle Realms. Called Winter of the Wolf, this add-on is a prequel that takes place seven years before the events of the original game, and as fans of the series will come to find out, it's a very different time in the world of Battle Realms. Kenji, the central character from the original game, is still in exile for the suspected murder of his father, Lord Oja, leader of the Serpent Clan. In fact, it won't be until Kenji's return from exile seven years later that the proud and noble Dragon Clan is created, and as such, only three clans currently exist in the game, though they don't exactly coexist peacefully.

The new Wolf digger unit attacks a group of peasants.

As its title suggests, Winter of the Wolf focuses mostly on the Wolf Clan and its plight to win its freedom from its Lotus enslavers. Those who played Battle Realms know that the Wolf Clan, a proud people, were free from the outset of the game, though their enslavement by the Lotus Clan and their subsequent struggle for freedom, led by the hero Grayback, is no secret. Winter of the Wolf will chronicle the events of the Wolf Clan's fight against the Lotus Clan and the Serpent Clan through 11 brand-new single-player missions that take place in several areas completely unique to the Battle Realms world, including the shale mines where the Wolf people were forced to work and a mysterious land blanketed by snow.

You'll assume the role of Grayback when he was still a slave in the Lotus shale mines. These mines are under the direct control of the sorceress Yvaine, and she acts as Zymeth's (the Lotus leader from Battle Realms) right hand. Yvaine is a cruel mistress, often working her Wolf slaves to death, leaving them to starve, or using unspeakable methods to make examples out of those who challenge her. Winter of the Wolf will open up with Grayback's discovery of Yvaine's plot to use an ancient Wolf relic called the Skull of the White Wolf to completely destroy the Serpent Clan and forever suppress any hope the Wolf Clan has of escaping its captivity. Caught spying, Grayback is sent into the bowels of the deep mines, where he resolves to stage an uprising. Meanwhile, Yvaine unleashes the power of this ancient artifact and releases an intense winter upon the world. Spring turns to a frigid winter overnight as ice and snow grip the land.

A Wolf dryad attacks the Lotus Clan.

The first four levels of Winter of the Wolf take place in the shale mines. As Grayback, you'll be tasked with finding your way out and helping others from your clan escape. Grayback retains his massive pickax from Battle Realms, and he'll use it to break the shackles of other Wolf slaves, who will then join him and help him fight. These first four missions will have no resource management to speak of, save for the collection of other slaves. Once you finally reach the surface, you'll be able to build towns and perform regular production and resource management tasks just like in Battle Realms--with one notable exception. While the occasional rainfall in Battle Realms helped the growth of your rice paddies--the primary resource in the game--Winter of the Wolf's snowy weather will stop the production of rice, altogether. This added handicap will make cultivating rice noticeably more challenging than in the first game, though the designers at Liquid stress that resource management isn't as important in this add-on as it was in Battle Realms.

There are other changes to Battle Realms too. Liquid is fiddling with the balance of the clans by introducing a new structure, two brand-new units, and a brand-new hero to each of the four factions. Let's take a look at some of these additions.