Set in ancient Egypt, the campaign games starts with the pre-dynastic period of Egypt to the reign of the beautiful Cleopatra, spanning for thousands of years. The campaigns in Cleopatra are very much based on history (History can be fun!). The very first campaign set is about the rise of the kingdom of Egypt and Egypt under the leadership of Hor-Aha (often known in history as Menes). The other campaigns include the times of Egypt's Archaic Period, the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, and the New Kingdom. The new campaigns of Cleopatra include the construction of the great monuments of the famed Valley of the Kings, invasions from the Assyrians and the Persians, Pharaoh Ramses II, and Cleopatra's capital at Alexandria. In the Cleopatra campaigns, you'll battle a plethora of invaders that threatened Egypt including the Romans.

Cleopatra features several new things. Some of the new events in Cleopatra are destructive plagues like the ones in the Old Testament of the Bible. They include plagues of frogs and locusts, hail, and even rivers turning to blood. The new buildings in Cleopatra include lamp makers, tomb artisans, and painters.

The monuments are simply stunning. In Cleopatra, you can build many types of ancient Egyptian monuments, which are some of the greatest ancient wonders of the world, like the Great Pyramid and Sphinx of Giza, the Great Library of Alexandria, mastabas (simple tombs, nothing special), and many other pyramids. Giant temple complexes to the gods of Egypt can also be built. Like Caesar III, the gods can either aid you or smash your city to rubble depending on their mood. The gods in Cleopatra (and in Pharaoh as well) are Ra, the god of the kingdom, Osiris, god of agriculture and the underworld, Ptah, god of craftsmen, Seth, god of destruction, and Bast, the goddess of cats and the home.

The graphics are pretty good and the sound is amazing. The authentic ancient Egyptian music of Cleopatra gives a unique feel to the game. The graphics are nothing to earth shattering. The graphics are a bit cartoony and the people are colored yellow (?). The monuments and temples are like eye candy. They are the most beautiful buildings in the whole game. The animations are pretty good especially watching the monuments being built. Of course the graphics for the constructions of the monuments aren't too detailed, but they do give you a good idea on how the Egyptians built these glorious structures.

Besides building a city, you'll have to build troops and ward off invaders as well. The battle system, like Caesar III is unexciting. The battle system is the same dull point-and-click system like Caesar III. You simply select a whole legion of soldiers and click on where you want them to be or what you want to attack. The battle animations are quite slow and dull. The naval battles in Cleopatra are just the same damn thing all over again and they are just as dull.

In Caesar III and in Pharaoh, workers have to walk to houses to service them. Even if the house is right next to the building, the workers still have to pass by the house to give it access. Cleopatra offers no change or enhancement in this system. The most annoying thing in Cleopatra is that like Pharaoh and Caesar III, the walkers seem to walk around aimlessly. You can't control where they're going to walk. The worst part is that the walkers will walk in random areas even in places where their services are unneeded.

Although Cleopatra is not too different from Pharaoh and still retains the much of the same features that Caesar III had, Cleopatra's ancient Egyptian setting gives an interesting experience. Cleopatra is a must-buy for die-hard fans of the Caesar series.

· · · Kane