Rise of the Crime Lords is a mod that adds the Black Sun Syndicate and The Hutt Cartel as playable factions along with multiple additions to the original ones as well as adding some new unplayable ones.
This is a really nicely done mod. The look is very clean and professional- sharp looking icons, nice additional artwork etc. Textures and models are all good quality and in general the mod really looks and feels like an official extension of the original game. The gameplay mechanics and balance are continuous with the base game and the new factions work more or less like variants of the ZC from FoC.
The main attraction, however, is the addition of extra playable factions. Even though EaW/FoC permits an open ended number of new factions, very few mods manage to make the formula work with more than the standard three. Most mods that have tried to add extra factions like this have failed miserably, and suffered from poor unit diversity, gameplay imbalance and screwy mechanics. As a general rule, they always seemed to involve at least one poorly thought out faction that was assembled using leftovers and stitched together out of the other factions.
RoTCL does about as good a job as can be expected with the addition of Hutts and Black Sun. Both factions are pretty well rounded out and have a decent number of units and heroes. The balance is also reasonable given the limitations on the new factions.
Unfortunatley, having three underworld factions seems a little redundant, because the new sides are so similar in terms of gameplay and unit diversity that they effectively run together. The heroes and units could have been reshuffled without seriously changing the basic mechanics or feel of the game.
This is a minor complaint, however, because on the whole this mod is a pretty solid piece of work which succeeds where so many others have failed. I wouldn't put it in the same elite category as mods like RaW or AoTR, but this is really well executed and is definitely worth a download.
Great mod. Love the unique units and buildings.