Europa Universalis IV
Review
Never get involved in a land war in Asia
by William Thompson
reviewed on PC
Never get involved in a land war in Asia
Beginning a war has major implications though. Firstly, a nation requires a Casus Belli to commence a war - an excuse if you will. This can be something as simple as a rival nation bad-mouthing you, or the fact that sometime in history, you had some claim to a particular province now occupied by your enemy. You can wage war without a Casus Belli but other nations will frown upon your actions, often deteriorating your relationship with them. Once war has been declared, be prepared to struggle with internal unrest and an ever declining bank balance as long wars cause war weariness to rear its ugly head and military wages to spiral out of control. On my first playthrough, a minor skirmish with a neighbouring province quickly escalated into a much larger, lengthy battle. The cost of the extra units required to keep up the war effort quickly rose to the point that I required loans, which then began to snowball. After the war, all I could do was quickly reduce the size of my army to prevent my country from going bankrupt.
You mean you wish to surrender to me? Very well, I accept.
But Europa Universalis IV is not all about war. For those less bloodthirsty megalomaniacs trade and diplomacy are viable options. The tutorial gives a brief overview of the trade system but it isn't until you are a few hours into the game that you begin to work out the intricacies of directing trade income into your coffers. Diplomacy is a little more straightforward. Having the right allies can be more important than having a large army, as the combined strength of your allies can often mean the turning point in a war. As well as alliances, royal weddings can be arranged to solidify relationships and diplomats can be used to discredited opposing nations or sent to improve your standing with a potential ally.
Graphically, Europa Universalis tends to look like a board-game on steroids. There are dozens of map 'views' that give you an idea of how you are faring in the different aspects of the game such as the political situation, the religious state of affairs and the risk of revolt in your provinces. These colour coded overlays can be quite handy and do a great job of displaying the required information. The screen itself is full of information and the interface has been designed in a way that most of the commands are only a couple of mouse-clicks away. But with so much to organise and keep track of – building in your colonies, checking your finances and making sure your allies still look at you warmly and much more - it is comforting to know that the game can be paused at any time to plan and implement moves.
The various units look decent enough and with the flag indicators, it is fairly simple to identify one nation's units from another unless, of course, the flags of two nations look similar. Battles are fairly sedate, but show all the required information in a visual form both in the battle screen and on the main map. The sound effects are rather dull with the typical battle cries and weapon effects depicting that a battle is in progress but little fluff beyond that. The background music on the other hand is wonderful, setting the scene beautifully for the grand scale that is Europa Universalis.
Have fun storming the castle
Europa Universalis IV has retained much of the core gameplay that has made the franchise a favourite amongst strategy gamers, but is also a slightly less daunting undertaking for newcomers to the series. The tutorial could definitely be improved, but after playing for a few hours most players should have little trouble keeping their empire afloat and the missions do a lot to help guide players along the right path. The screen can feel a little cluttered though. Trade and diplomacy seem to be viable options when the ideas are fully grasped, so war isn’t your only option. Indeed, all three components need to be utilized if your empire is to flourish.
Europa Universalis IV won’t be for everyone, but those who like grand scale strategies that Paradox has been renowned for will find this an enjoyable experience. The game had me playing well into the nights and if that is any indication of a great game, then Europa Universalis IV passes the test.
8.5
fun score
Pros
Grand scale, great musical score, some functions have been simplified
Cons
Still has a quite a steep learning curve for newcomers to the series and the tutorial is woefully inadequate
