The developers of "Total War: Rome II" are not deserting the four-year-old game anytime soon, as "Desert Kingdoms," the new downloadable content (DLC) for the game, has been unveiled.

Publisher Sega and developer Creative Assembly have announced the latest expansion "Desert Kingdoms" for the acclaimed strategy game, which is set to be released next month. This DLC brings in some of the most formidable eastern and southern civilizations to have existed during the heyday of the Roman empire and republic regardless of whether they became friends or enemies.

Most notable among the said desert factions is the Egyptian empire ruled by its Pharaohs including the revered Cleopatra. This also marks one of the few instances in the historical "Total War" franchise that a female faction leader become playable, meaning players will be able to take charge of a Cleopatra-controlled Egypt and decide how they continue their relationship with the Roman empire.

Apart from the previously available Egypt, four new factions will also be added, namely the Kingdoms of Kush, Saba, Nabatea and Masaesyli, all of which are natives to the deserts of Africa and Arabia. All four factions are somewhat culturally similar though each of them has their own unique roster of units and leaders that provide historically faithful advantages and characteristics.

Being desert empires, the main advantage of said factions are the significant upper hand they have during real-time desert battles, meaning Roman legionnaires will be hard-pressed to win in the home turf of the mentioned civilizations.

Since women are now becoming readily available as faction leaders in-game, a new mechanic has also be included during the story campaign of "Desert Kings." This is the Dilemmas feature that are special events that portray the trials and tribulations associated with women coming to power in ancient times, these all have different benefits to players during specific scenarios in the campaign and will provide twists in gameplay.

In addition to that, marriage between leaders of opposite genders of each faction can now marry, potentially conceiving or strengthening an alliance and has added political implications. All this will be available on March 8 for "Total War: Rome II" for the PC.