Cleopatra adds four new campaigns (for a total of 15 missions) to the original game, addressing some of the later eras in Egyptian history that were skipped the first time out to focus on the pyramid ages. Everything starts upon the death of Thutmose I and continues through the reign of his successor Ramses II to the conquests of Egypt by Alexander and Octavian. So we get a nice rounded look at the latter stages of Egyptian history that encapsulate such important innovations as the development of the Valley of the Kings and such important events as the Ptolemaic takeover. These campaigns each feature at least three lengthy scenarios, meaning that you've got a lot of gameplay to look forward to here. Unfortunately, the final three campaigns are so difficult that you'll want to torch the British Museum before you're through. If you didn't finish Pharaoh because of the extreme challenge of the final scenarios, don't bother with this add-on.

Another thing to keep in mind before venturing back to the waning days of pharaonic Egypt is Impressions' failure to make any long-needed tweaks to the basic game engine. All of the same irritating little faults that plagued both Pharaoh and its predecessor, Caesar III, are back in force. Pathfinding will still cause Ramses wannabes to pull out their hair (not bad if you're into the authentic look). Important tradespeople and municipal workers continue to wander all over the map unless you restrict their movement with a wall or three. Hard to believe that the developers couldn't get this fixed over the two years since the problem was first noted. Then again, since I can't recall the last time I played a game in which units demonstrated great pathfinding skills (all the Baldur's Gate engine games, Ground Control, Dark Reign 2, and so on have serious flaws in this area), it's hard to fault Impressions too much. At least here things are still fairly manageable.

Although fixing the pathfinding glitches wasn't on the menu, the designers did incorporate a number of significant additions to Cleopatra. Biblical plagues have been added to the roster of disasters that threaten to overwhelm your city. Fail to appease the gods and a River of Blood, Plague of Frogs, Hailstorm, or that ever-popular divine favorite, Plague of Locusts, might consume all of your hard-earned efforts. New foes such as the Romans and Persians are tougher to stave off than Pharaoh's Sea People, Hittites, and Hyksos. New monuments include the Temple of Abu Simbel, the Pharos Lighthouse and the Great Library at Alexandria, and the Caesarium. Still, the emphasis on grand monuments has been altered to reflect the humbler New Kingdom economy. Instead of interring that god-king in a pyramid, you'll now build, stock, and eventually guard (against tomb robbers) a royal crypt in the Valley of the Kings. Tomb construction is the primary reason why commodities such as oil, lamps, and paint, and industries such as the Paint Maker, Lamp Maker, and Artisans' Guild have been added to the game. Scorpions, lions, and asps have been tacked on to the list of deadly critters to avoid while constructing your cities, while Zoos are a new place to view safer wild animals in your towns. A notable tweak to the original game speeds up the building of all pyramid types.