| The role of an expansion pack is always to take the base game to that oft-desired next level, but how many really do? Generally all you get are some new weapons and units, and maybe some different graphics.
Count on Sid Meier and Brian Reynolds, the duo whose touch turns everything to gold, to create an add-on that makes one of history’s best games even better.
Sid Meier’s Alien Crossfire begins in the middle of Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri. In that first game, an unofficial continuation of Meier’s groundbreaking Civilization series, colonists had split into ideological factions before landing on the title planet. There, they were faced with a global fungus that quickly evolved into something both dangerous and beautiful. Aided by odd alien artifacts, the player had to somehow unite the factions and then decide how to handle the planet’s new intelligence.
Alien Crossfire, as mentioned above, begins smack in the middle. Two races, the Caretakers and the Usurpers, warp into orbit around Alpha Centauri. After a furious firefight, the survivors of each clan plummet to the surface, there building colonies and such. These are the aliens whose artifacts are scattered — the planet was an experiment, but now one side wants to nurture it and the other wants to exploit it.
The player can choose to lead either alien faction, any of the originals or one of the new five human splinter groups. The human groups are, unfortunately, the weakest addition: Most just echo the groups from Alpha Centauri, albeit with different names and graphics.
The aliens are marvelous, with totally new technology, units and victory conditions. That’s all to be expected from an add-on, but Alien Crossfire handles it exceptionally well. Even more so because humans and aliens share technology, allowing either side to use the other’s units and often resulting in intriguing hybrids.
The fungus has been upgraded, too, and instead of the familiar mindworms there are now many more dangers for all sides; though the aliens may have created this lifeform, it sure doesn’t feel loyal to them.
The storyline, appearing in event-based chapters as before, has been altered and often totally rewritten to accommodate the planet’s newest residents. It’s one of the many touches that lets players know Firaxis truly wanted to tell a unique story instead of just cadging new graphics onto the old plot.
Add another feather to the caps of Meier and Reynolds; they haven’t lost the magic that makes their strategy games top-notch. | 
