The last expansion pack for East India Company (East India Company: Privateer) focused heavily on economy and proved to be an excellent addition to the title.  East India Company: Battle of Trafalgar now focuses on another essential component of the game: naval warfare.

Essentially the clue is in the title: in East India Company: Battle of Trafalgar you can take on the role of the British fleet or the combined French and Spanish fleets to undertake an epic battle.  You are, of course, led by the heroic Lord Nelson if you play as the British or by Admiral Pierre Villeneuve and Admiral Federico Gravina for the French and Spanish fleets respectively.  The game reconstructs Nelson’s battle to win despite his fleet being outnumbered.  Can you mirror his feat and sink 22 enemy vessels without losing any of your own ships?  If you can you’re certainly a better player than me!

There are some extremely impressive aspects of East India Company: Battle of Trafalgar in terms of graphics and sound.  The close up views of the water and ships in ‘Direct command’ mode are particularly impressive but watching all the ships undertaking their various actions in RTS mode is also great to watch, particularly when the vigorous cannon fire starts.  As always the sound effects (waves crashing, wind blowing, cannon fire and crew jeering) combined with the excellent musical score create a superb atmosphere.

I’d be the first to admit that I was more inspired by the trading aspects of East India Company than the battles but even I have to say that it’s near impossible not to get sucked into the drama when playing this expansion.  How many hours you get out of it will depend on how many times you choose to replay it, whether as the British or the French and Spanish, how successful you are and whether you change your tactics.  However, at roughly £8.00 it offers some engaging additional content at a pretty reasonable price.

**Review by Donna Haw**