Europa Universalis III

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Europa Universalis III - PC

What if the world belonged to Cuba?

This has to be by far one of the best historical games ever! The whole "What If" thing is the best! You can practically rewrite history in this game. What if the Aztec Indians took over the world, the whole world would be, one big ass mexico! That is the best part about this game. You can take a small little province and turn them into the rulers of the world. But the one and only thing that dissapointed me about this game, was the fact that it did not show any battles. It simulated all of them with a nifty little automatic dice roller feature to pretty much determine the outcome of all the battles. But other than that, I don't think there is a historical game that can top this one.

Europa Universalis III - PC

Europa Universalis III

Europa Universalis III, like its forerunners, covers the early modern period in a day-by-day real-time turn-based mode from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the start of the French Revolution in 1789. Unlike other games in the series, the developers have let users select the date they would like to start a new game on - resulting in historically accurate monarchs, existing countries, boundaries and easily allowing players access to a period or event they'd like to partake in. Many of the game's core fundamentals have been redesigned, the most significant being the movement away from strict historical observance and towards a system of fluid dynamics. Although lacking some of the informative aspects of the old system, it has the distinct advantage of removing scripted events and instead having events occur automatically and in a dynamic fashion. Nations can therefore mold themselves far more realistically as time goes by. Several other changes have allowed the furtherance of personality within your selected nation. First, as your nation increases its knowledge, progressively more advanced forms of government become available. Also, with the introduction of 'National Ideas', you may further specialize nations and allow them unique advantages; for example you may adopt the Scientific Revolution and receive reduced technology costs. For Better or Worse? PROTIP: If you've got the resources, stake your claim in the New World and grab the best provinces first. One of the weaknesses the series suffered in the first two iterations was its model of land and naval warfare. Europa Universalis III manages to improve to a small extent by copying many ideas seen in other Paradox games. Land combat is now organized around the regimental system, and your technology will advance with research. Naval combat has likewise improved and now nets players captured prizes. Despite these additions, both forms of combat are largely hands off and determined by numerics rather than skill. In a major change from previous games, Paradox has ditched the half-decade old graphics engine in favor of a totally new 3D engine. Unfortunately, it's sometimes best to stick with what you've already got; textures and units are now muddy and lacking detail, while province borders are jagged messes. There are some improvements however, as many of the overlays prove more adept at conveying critical pieces of information, such as what provinces are disputed. Sequels often forsake innovation to become cash grabs, but Paradox Interactive has certainly not taken this path with Europa Universalis III. While it covers the same ground, there has been enough of a shift from the old roots to ensure the experience stays fresh while maintaining the features that have made the series the premier example of grand strategy on the PC today.

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Europa Universalis III Recent Articles

  • Jan. 24, 2007 Review: Europa Universalis III

    Paradox Interactive has made itself a niche since the start of the decade, steadily pumping out new historical grand strategy games every year or so.