The campaign and historical battles feature acclaimed actor Brian Blessed as your narrator. There are some minor historical errors that should be cleaned up before release, but there Blessed's voice adds a touch of class to the proceedings. The whole thing feels very PBS with his gentle tones capturing the importance of each battle in Alexander's climb to empire.
The usual visual splendor returns, and there is an incentive to build lots of spearmen to make your army look even more impressive. If you can't have lines of legions assembled on the Field of Mars, the next best thing is a line of sharpened metal points assembled in neat order. There is, as yet, no sign of the night battles that made Barbarian Invasion such a treat for the eyes, but Alexander proves that Rome is still a very pretty game.
If you're interested in Alexander, you won't find it in any store; Sega's doing the direct-download thing, so check www.totalwar.com a little later this month. It should only set you back $15.
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