If you're aware of Zulu history, then you'll know that they have a fierce warrior tradition, which is reflected in the game by the Zulu heavy infantry's generous 25 percent damage bonus and 10 percent health bonus. Their unique units include the morani and laibon warriors, as well as the Sirit heavy bomber. In addition to the standard region bonuses, the Maasai get light infantry that inflict 10 percent more damage than regular light infantry, and they get more powerful helicopters. So the Maasai and Zulu form the new African block, and both get the standard African region bonuses, which include a 10 percent reduction in food costs, barracks that churn out units 10 percent faster, and two free houses with every temple or fortress. Empire Earth II featured Western and Asian cultures but no African cultures. While the French and Russian factions fit in well with the existing western regions, the new Maasai and Zulu factions add a different look and feel to the game. And, like the other western powers, the Russians have fast-researching universities and temples.

Russian elite units include the Varangian warrior, the Licorn howitzer, and the T-90 attack tank.

They can churn out units from workshops, factories, stables, and manufacturing plants fairly quickly-25 percent faster than other factions, to be exact-and their light artillery inflict 20 percent more damage. The Russians specialize in war production and light artillery. The Art of Supremacy includes some of the major civilizations that somehow got overlooked in the core game, such as the Russians. France's unique units include the mangoneau catapult, the cuirassier cavalry, and the Rafale stealth fighter. The French also have tougher outposts and fortresses, and they benefit from the western region's fast-researching universities and temples. Since the French specialize in cavalry, it's no surprise that their heavy cavalry get a 10 percent health bonus compared to regular cavalry. The new factions are designed to flesh out the existing 'western region' included in Empire Earth II, as well as to introduce a new 'African region.' If you like Napoleonic-style war, then you can play around with the new French and Russian factions. The Art of Supremacy will introduce four new civilizations to the Empire Earth II mix, along with a number of gameplay improvements and enhancements.

And we got our hands on a near-complete version of the expansion pack to see what's in store for the final product. Hard to believe, but Empire Earth II is about to get even bigger with the release of Empire Earth II: The Art of Supremacy, an expansion due out next month. Few games offer as much content as Empire Earth II, last year's epic-scope, real-time-strategy game that let you control one of 15 civilizations from the Stone Age to a robotic, sci-fi age.

Empire earth 2 art of supremacy maps