Europa Universalis III Complete
Friday, December 5, 2008
The Europa Universalis series has always been seen as grand strategy games and this sequel follows the same formula with a fresher and more addictive gameplay. In this package you get to experience the original game and both the expansions Napoleon’s Ambition and In Nomine.
Unique in its greatness
Europa Universalis III is definitely a unique game, the game may not be as easy to get acquainted with unlike other great strategy games, but the EU III clearly plays in the same league. For those of you who are new to the series, EU III may appear to be a turn-based strategy game, but everything is really played out in real-time. You can choose to play one nation of all 250 + within a certain timeframe. Once you start playing the game you get the freedom to choose how you want to play your game, you want to create a great nation through trading you can, but diplomacy and war is also an option. It is entirely up to you, the game does not expect you to be able to conquer everything, but surviving is a worthy achievement alone.
However, the game still requires that you learn a lot of the game’s mechanics, this means that the introduction of these mechanics and other information is critical for the player to be able to quickly get into the game and start playing at a decent level. This is something the EU III succeeds in however there is still some small mechanics that never gets explained and you have to find out how they work for yourself. However, it is unrealistic to believe that a game of this magnitude should be able to go through everything but it still feels difficult as a new player to know what to do when the neighbors are knocking on the door armed with rifles and ready for war. It would help if the tutorial was more interactive than it is, but hey, it’s acceptable.
One of the cool mechanics in the game is to choose a year within the time frame and then start playing from there, the game then simulates everything than has happened between the countries before that year. An incredibly fun idea which lets the players dive into all sorts of fun challenges. If a country is about to lose you jump in and turn the whole situation. Incredibly fun and informative.
You would believe that the AI is constantly making choices depending on what has actually happened during that time, but the AI tends to be unpredictable and this makes it great fun when it is not 100% that a larger nation won’t take control over some of the bigger areas. Just because a country is in a crisis at one time in history, does not mean that it needs to be the same when you play the game. Everything is affected depending on your choices, it really gives a good sense of freedom. The same applies to the choice of monarchy or republic in which all countries can be divided in half, even if the king would die. It’s funny how things can go sometimes.
Just because a country is in crisis at a time in history, so it does not mean that it needs to be in the same condition during your game review, things are affected, depending on your choices. It gives a good sense of freedom. The same applies to the choice of the monarchy or republic in which all countries can be divided in half if the king would die. It’s funny how things can go sometimes.
War war and war
When there is nothing more to do and you are forced into battle against a neighboring country, you’ll make the choice to train land forces or navy forces. Both are of course critical in order to win, this simply means that the management of the smaller parts can be critical. When this happens the players almost gets overloaded of new game mechanics which clearly can be a little confusing for the new players.
EU III also introduces a spying operation in which you can send out a spy for just spying on neighboring countries or sabotage. If the spy is discovered however, it may happen that the neighboring country will declare war. So you have to calculate the risks of what chance you have to win and if it will be worth it. It gives a very fresh new aspect to the gameplay, which I appreciated a lot in my playthrough.
Another interesting mechanic of the game is that you get constant information about the different modifications your troops currently have, it may be dependent on what terrain the are located or if they are affected by poor leadership. EU III also reward players that focus on the art of war by allowing the player to create traditions that reinforce the country. A country that is accustomed to battle and training of soldiers will clearly perform better than countries that focuses on diplomacy and trading.
Expansions
The expansions does not change much of the gameplay but they improve the interface and slightly increases the timelimit, which provides the player with a few more hours of gameplay.
Graphics, Music and Sound Effects
The graphics in the EU III is not unique but it is not bad, the graphics do exactly what they should, they exists for the player to obtain a visual view of what’s happening in the world without interrupting gameplay moments. When playing this game you should not expect a grand battle with thousands of soldiers on screen at the same time, that’s not what it’s about. The music makes a very good job and you feel involved and it can be quite dramatic in sometimes. What is not as good however, is the sound effects of gunshots and cannons, it does not destroy the gameplay but it’s noticable.
Conclusion
Even though the game is a little difficult to get acquainted with especially for new players in the series, Europa Universalis III is an incredibly addictive game once you get into it. The amount of depth that exists in the game is amazing, one finds oneself often sit and plan how to invade neighboring countries. To play through the campaign might take days maybe weeks and it will lead to a lot of late nights. I must say I was pretty skeptical about this game in the beginning because it was hard to get into and looked kind of tacky, but how wrong I was. Once get into the game it will be incredibly fun to play. This is definitely a good buy for lovers of history-based strategy games. The game is also very cheap and is good example of the word “Bargain”.
