Paradox still the grand master of grand strategy with Europa Universalis IV (review)

What you won’t like

It can still be confusing
Europa Universalis IV may be easier to play than before, but this doesn’t mean that it’s approachable, even for experienced players of strategy games looking for a greater challenge than, say, Civilization.

Take the new trade nodes. While the tutorial does explain what these are, it doesn’t do a good job of telling you how to exploit them. It gives you the basics, but from this you’d have no idea that using National Ideas would give you the capabilities to squeeze more ducats out of these nodes — or dominate trade there. Even splitting armies and navies can be unduly ponderous — the best way to select multiple formations on one space is to draw a square around it, merge armies, and then separate into newer groups.

Even the map interface can be difficult at times. Sometimes, a smaller nation will rattle sabers at you, but it can be difficult to find that city state or small kingdom on the map — and no tool tip (at least no tool tip that I could find) takes you to that nation when the alert appears on the screen. This may seem like a silly complaint, but can you find the tiny realm of Ulm without some help? I didn’t think so (hint: Look at inside modern Germany).

Uppity city states
Europe’s numerous city states and other small kingdoms love war — a little too much. While playing Venice, I made a number of alliances with the smaller nations in Northern Italy, and these buggers kept dragging me into wars with the large empires around us, like Austria. Venice has power and prestige, but not enough, I would think, to justify the aggressiveness of these city states. This could be a way in which to limit the power of alliances, but these little countries are just too bloodthirsty for their own (and mine) good, and I would’ve appreciated if this lust of battle was just a bit … tamer.

Clueless about Crusader Kings II conversions
This review code lacked one component of the retail release — the capability to convert saves to Europa Universalis IV from Paradox’s grand strategy hit of 2012, Crusader Kings II. At this point, I don’t know how well this works. Crusader Kings II received an update today to help make this happen.

Above: National Ideas are the tech tree of Europa Universalis IV. Yay! I just gained a new diplomatic tech.

Image Credit: Jason Wilson/GamesBeat

Conclusion

Europa Universalis IV is still going to be confusing and daunting to the newcomer, but Paradox has at least attempted to give you some help with the streamlined way of handling administrative, diplomatic, and military growth; your advisers; and trade. The web has changed since the franchise’s last release, and no doubt a number of handy strategy guides will appear not only in text but in video form on YouTube to help interested novices ease into Paradox’s latest strategy gem.

But for those who know what they’re doing, the seasoned grand strategy player, they’re going to find more of what they love — and better ways to exploit what they love and determine their destiny.

Score: 90/100

Jason Wilson/GamesBeat — This is the political map at the beginning. I promise you it won’t look like this hundred years into the game.

Mission window — Missions are a handy way to give you some more concrete goals and reap rewards.

Rebels! — Crete is a province of Venice, but the locals feel they should be their own nation.

Victory at Sea — Battles — land and naval — do have animations. They just aren’t all that impressive.

Culture clash — The English use a bit of diplomacy to convert the locals to its culture.

Building an army — When you build a unit, you can see which provinces will finish your soldiers quicker.

Converting heretics — You can convert other religions and cultures to your own, reducing the chance for rebel in provinces.

Europa Universalis IV is a grand strategy game that came out Aug. 13 for PC and Mac. Publisher Paradox provided a Steam review code for this review.

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