Europa Universalis II

"Ever wanted to rule a colonial power? Me neither. But this game changes all that."

A few months ago, I was digging through my closet. Well, it wasn't technically *my* closet, it was my cousin's. Game boxes, old CDs, a few tapes, and a few broken consoles, monitors, and PC screens were the fare. I was bored, and looking for something to do.

So I found a box. Europa Universalis II. It looked fairly fun. Of course, there was no CD. But the concept wormed its way into my mind.. and I bought the game. Installation was quick and painless, and the game itself started off fairly well.

I hit 'new game', and decided to play the Grand Campaign. It looked like a good bet, being fairly long. There were eight countries arrayed across the top of the screen. It was likely that I never would've realised that you could change them, until I right-clicked on one.

WHOA! That was my first impression of the game's versitality. Hundreds and hundreds of countries awaited me. Overwhelmed, I decided to play as the Scots. Scottish history had always interested me, and the country seemed like a fun bet.

I started off. Luckily, I'd gone through a few hours of tutorials first, so I had a fair idea of what to do. I built up an army of thirty thousand men, and promptly invaded Northumberland. The English army was slaughtered, and the province was soon mine. Hah! The war was on! Of course, this was when I learnt the one defining factor of Europe Universalis II. It isn't a war simulator. It's a POLITICAL one.

Of course, the game is real-time. This simply makes it the more realistic. Can you pay attention to your far-flung colonies while you're fighting a war at home? Can you delegate traders efficiently when you're trying to manage a spreading rebellion? It forces you to manage the most important issues, and gives you a feeling of realism and immersion that any other game is hard-pressed to match.

My army soon outstripped my income, and rebellion began to grow in my provinces. Not only that, but my fleets were sunnk by vengeful English navies, and England's allies started to invade me. Ah! My Stability rating went way down, and two of my provinces stood in open rebellion to the Scottish crown.

Not good. I sent half my army back, and reclaimed those provinces. Then, of course, my Northumberland invasion army was slaughtered. It was looking fairly grim. From my initial victory, I now controlled one of my provinces. I made peace, ceding one province, and about half my treasury, for peace.

And that, you see, is where the sheer beauty of the game's gameplay stems from. You can't win through war, and war alone. You need to provoke enemies into attacking, create alliances on the sly, cheat your rivals out of valuable trade centres, to weaken their economic position.

And 'winning' is an utterly abstract concept. In Starcraft, you fight for resources, and slaughter the enemy. In Civilization, everyone starts off on an equal footing, and your goal is to go to the stars, or conquer the world.

In Europa Universalis II, you can't conquer the world. Or, you probably could - if you were one of the most skilled players in the world. But blatant imperialism is met with hostility, and political maneuvers is where it's at. Just keeping your country afloat requires a deft hand, and constant attention.

The gameplay itself is incredibly complex - the above examples detail an hour of gameplay, at most, and you can get weeks from a single game. The complex diplomacy model, the troubles with your economy, and the interesting war and trading models make the gameplay the intriguing factor that will keep you hooked.

(Gameplay: 10/10)

On the other hand, the graphics are fairly poor. They *serve*. And that's being generous. The map itself is hard to decipher at a glance, armies are not easily distiguishable, whether they be cavalry, infantry, or artillery, and events are often hard to manage. They are functional, however, they could be much better in many areas.

(Graphics: 6/10)

And now, to the music and sound. Horrible. The EU music is something, thankfully, that you can turn off. There's a reason people have music collections on their computer, or CD players. The music itself doesn't even deserve a mention. The sound is functional, sounds telling you if colonization has failed or succeeded, and drawing your attention towards battles.

(Sound: 3/10)

Replayability is where the game truly shines. Where the political model can bore you if you play England fifty times - after all, although each game differs, it only differs so much. There ARE certain strategies that work better with certain countries, and you'll often find yourself falling into a rut.

On the flip side, playing as China, or Japan, or the Iroquious.. each have their charm. Fighting against colonial powers in Africa, vastly out-teched and outnumbered is something that you'll want to do at least once. The simple matter of the fact is that Europe Universalis can only really be won if you feel like it. Certain countries will end up 'winning', because they're bigger, and more powerful. The major powers of the world, Spain, England, France, and Austria, will almost always being in the top five.

Trying to come first as the Knights, a little-known religious faction that controls a single province, cannot be done. But personal goals make this fun. What if is the premise of the game, and it's something ANY history buff, or even just a politics buff, will love to death.

What if England decided to eschew her American colonies, and invade Portugal? What if Scotland managed to conquer the English mainland, creating a new colonial power? What if the Aztec Empire never fell, and managed to conquer the entire continent of South America? What if..

The list goes on and on. Simply testing these things out will enthrall anyone who loves strategy, and, by the time that you finish with the last country, you'll have long-forgotten what you did with the first.

(Replay Value: 11/10. This game breaks reality with its replay value. It's that damn addictive and replayable.)

Overall, the game is brilliant. Although it has a steep learning curve, the versatality in what you can do, the relative historical accuracy, and the sheer AMOUNT of things you can do will keep you playing for months, if not years on end.

The only problem this game truly possesses is the abysmal music - and the bugginess. The second can be fixed quickly and easily with a patch, and listening to the first is simply stupid.

Apart from those few minor problems, Europa Universalis II is a simulator of European politics, the way they intertwined with the new world, and an accurate depictor of how economies worked back then, and the control a sovereign would have over his or her wars.

If you're a strategy buff, not just a *tactics* buff (as in Starcraft, or Age of Empires), but someone who enjoys grand strategy, deviously plotting alliances, betrayal, and managing a country with a deft but firm hand, this is certainly for you.

Overall, this game earns 10 out of 10, with the only problems easily avoidable, and addictiveness that outpaces that of any MMORPG, and demanding that you think, letting you exult in your well-planned successes, and mope when your enemy outmaneuvers you.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/11/06