- Flexible Nation Building ¿ decide on your type of government, the structure of your society, your trade politics and much, much more
- Highly detailed and interactive cities which are unique for each culture
- Use historical Ideas and recruit Great Men in order to make your country flourish the way you want it to
- Co-operative multiplayer over LAN or Internet
Product Description
Delves deeply into the areas of exploration, trade, warfare and diplomacy, is an epic strategy game where players take control of a nation and guide it through the ages to become a great global empire. Unparalleled in its depth and historical accuracy, EU gives players freedom to rule their nation from an impressive choice of over 250 historically accurate countries….
May 11th, 2010 at 9:38 am
Europa Universalis III Complete contains the original game and the two online-only expansions. This is the best grand strategy game on the market for several reasons. It is chock full of content: you can control any of the game’s 313 countries from the year 1399 until 1820. It is very deep and you are constantly doing things: forming colonies, trading, declaring war, sending missionaries, undertaking specific missions, building troops, fighting rebels, declaring national ideas, forming your administrative court, drafting laws, balancing your budget, researching new technologies, and way too much more. Europa Universalis III has a very active modding community that has come up with some fantastic changes to the basic game, from more historically accurate simulations like Magna Mundi to simple map changes. In short (too late!), if you have ever wanted to run your own country and you lack the money to run for president/prime minister/dictator for life, then this is what you need.
Rating: 5 / 5
May 11th, 2010 at 11:55 am
I am new to the EU universe, but I find this game to be very challenging and alot of fun… Just realize that this is not a game for the fainthearted… It is very challenging and very long… depending on how many years you set the game for, it has an option from the year 1399 to the year 1820. I am still on my first game and probably have over 60 hours in on a long game. Basically you are the hidden controller behind the country you choose to control and you guide it throughout the ages as new rulers are born and pass on… The fight are all autodecided based on mathmatical formulas and random rolls of dice, so if you are looking to control the battles as well look to the total war series, but if you love the other side of the strategy coin this game offers incredible depth and options.
Rating: 5 / 5
May 11th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Unlike your typical strategy game, EU3 has multiple layers. This game is not just about building the biggest army and then running out and killing your opponents. There are countless strategies, and this game is not about conquering the world (althought it has been known to be done). You can play any nation in the world from this time period, and it makes for a unique gaming experience with every game. In addition, there is an active multiplayer community. Typically, groups of 9 or more players get together and set a time to play at once weekly. This results in campaigns that last up to several months and add a whole new layer by making your opponents human and allowing you to make complex diplomatic decisions with them. Overall, this game is many times better than your average strategy games (AOE, Civilization, etc) and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for something new.
Rating: 5 / 5
May 11th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
What can I say about this game that has not already been said? Strategy lovers should get this game hands-down (though, if you do not have a version, get the Europa Universalis III Complete, so that you get the two expansions and the patches that are included in them).
The game does have a learning curve, but nothing that cannot be cured by playing the game, and referring to the manual or the online forums if you do not understand how something works. A couple of points that I found that helped me is to watch your inflation (though it cannot be helped raising it in the beginning), and have the advisor window open when time passes so that you can pause it and snatch the advisor you want whenever he comes along. Unless I missed it in the game, one pop-up option they could have included is notification of when a certain kind of advisor or certain class of advisor is available for hire, so that you did not have to babysit that window. That is a minor gripe really, and a matter of preference.
Refer to the other reviews on this site for the game mechanics and details, as I feel mentioning them will just be redundant. Bottom line, if you are a strategy gamer, and enjoy involving strategy and planning things out, and a strategy game where war is not the end-all of the game, this is a game for you, and you will get tons of replay value for your dollar.
Rating: 3 / 5
May 11th, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Do you like Age of Empires, but wish it were a little more complex? Do you wish that you could have intense wars at some times, but at other times focus on developing your culture and economy, and keeping your citizens happy? Do you wish that diplomatic relations were more complex than just giving tribute? Then this game is for you! This is easily the best real-time strategy game I have played. I does take a day or so to learn how to play. But it’s completely worth it. Runs great on Vista, but remember to update the drivers for your video card for best results. The instruction booklet is on the DVD, but you can print it out. Comes with a cool map of the world that is actually helpful for the game.
Rating: 5 / 5