I’ve downloaded the new patch for Age of Empires III. While I’m not sure what the patch fixes, I do know what the patch adds–a new map called Hispaniola. Yes, now we can fight for control of the New World in Haiti!
It’s quite a fun map to play. It’s an island, with a large western bay. The island itself is flat, except for a large plateau in the center of the map that’s inaccessible to the players. Scattered across the map are four or five native villages to ally with. Resources are well-stocked across the island.
If I’ve a complaint, it’s that the island seems small, with all of the town centers situated not far from the island’s central plateau. And the inaccessibility of the plateau is disappointing as well–holding it would make a great deal of strategic sense as it overlooks the entire island, though placing Outposts around its base achieves a similar goal.
Suffice to say, I’ve had a great deal of fun with this map. If Ensemble Studios keeps patching the game to add cool maps (first, the Winter Wonderland map, now Hispaniola), I’ll keep downloading the patches. 😉