There are a few things mentioned in the expansion pack that appeals to me, although some of the 'new features' look like they were left out of the actual game before its release: night battles, shield walls, hordes etc. There's either text references to them, or sound files already. Leave stuff out, claim it's new and brown-nosing games journalists will drool all over the features in one of their 'exclusive and not at all biased previews'.

What annoys me, and many others it seems is the way CA seem to nonchalantly brush aside many of the concerns and criticisms of RTW as if they were completely unimportant or impossible to implement in the engine. Bah. If battle speeds and morale haven't been given an overhaul (and it sounds like they haven't), it's going to be several hours/days of modding just to make the expansion playable.

I'll really be annoyed if siege battles haven't received a massive reworking though. Nine out of ten battles aren't worth the effort to play.

I suppose no-one expects miracles from just an expansion pack, but with enough nods in the right direction, I reckon it's worth a purchase. That is providing of course, that it is priced reasonably. The recent expansion pack for Doom 3 was a ridiculous price - practically the price of a brand new game, and all it adds is more of the same. If BI is priced similiarly, think I'll shove a couple of fingers up in the publisher's direction and spend the money on booze instead.

Pint anyone?