T-h-e-y-'-r-e B-a-a-a-c-c-k-k! If you've been paying close attention over the last few months, you might have noticed my review of The Settlers III strategy game from Blue Byte (see June 1999 PC Register) and the subsequent review of The Settlers III Mission CD. The Settlers III: The Quest of The Amazons is the promised expansion CD that adds a fourth race, the Amazons, to the races (Romans, Asians, and Egyptians) included with the original game. The addition of the Amazons (i.e., woman power!) increases the already substantial strategic elements inherent in Settlers III by including several new units, spells, and trades.

In addition to the two new campaigns (you can either play as the Amazons, or against them), there are ten new single player maps and ten new multi-player maps for online play. The Quest of The Amazons also contains an enhanced/improved version of The Settlers III Level Editor for creating your own maps and scenarios and swapping them with folks over the Internet. You must have the full version of The Settlers III to be able to use The Quest of The Amazons. No hard-copy manual is provided, although extensive help files are provided in html format on the CD; if you're already familiar with Settlers III, you'll feel right at home. The setup screen loads automatically when the CD is inserted, and installation is a matter of following simple instructions.

Consistent with the quality of the original Settlers III game and the Mission CD, the new campaigns featuring the Amazons were very entertaining and quite challenging, and the new single and multi-player maps are creatively designed and fun to play. And I was pleased to see that the graphics for the Amazons are well-done and fit right in with the style from the previous races. After watching all those cute little guy settlers carrying out their duties with the original races, it is refreshing to see those little Amazon women running around in their breastplates and with their hair tied-back (not to worry...this is all G-rated stuff!).

In addition to the new campaigns and the Amazons race, Blue Byte has incorporated numerous other changes with this expansion pack, including 39 new buildings (including several unique to the Amazons), several new landscapes and landscape objects, eight new magic spells specific to the Amazons, trades and duties unique to the Amazons (including beekeepers, mead makers, and alchemists), and a new thief unit which gives you the ability to steal your opponent's weapons and gold. Game play and basic strategies are unchanged from the original Settlers III and the Mission CD; however, the strategic elements have been enriched by the addition of the Amazons race.

Bottom Line:  Fans of Settlers III, take note...don't miss this excellent expansion pack to this amazingly addictive strategy game. The addition of an entire new race, The Amazons, with their unique attributes, spells, strengths, etc., improves on what was already a great game. This should easily tide you over until Settlers IV is released in late 2000.

System Tested On:  IBM-compatible PC with a 133Mhz Pentium; Windows 95; 64-bit PCI-bus SVGA video card; 32 Mb of RAM; 8x CD-ROM drive; Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold sound card; mouse

Minimum System:  Requires a full licensed copy of The Settlers III PC CD-ROM; IBM PC & 100% compatibles; 166 MHz Pentium (200 MHz recommended) [Note: the requirement in the original Settlers III game was for a Pentium 100, and it still runs fine on my Pentium 133.]; 32 MB RAM (64 MB recommended); 2 MB Graphic Card (DirectX-compatible); 250 MB free hard disk space; 4x CD-ROM; Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT; DirectX 6.0 (included on CD); DirectX-compatible soundcard; and 28.8 modem (for Internet gaming).

Technical support is available by phone (toll number), fax (toll number), e-mail, or on the World Wide Web at http://www.bluebyte.com or http://www.settlers3.com. Retail price - $24.99

Blue Byte Software, 8140 North Mopac, Suite IV-230, Austin, Texas 78759; Phone: (512) 343-1099 or 1-800-933-BYTE (2983)