Review: Europa Universalis III game

In the real world, having an empire is generally something that’s frowned upon these days, so it’s nice that Paradox Interactive has provided an outlet for all the would-be Napoleons of this world with the third instalment of its popular strategy series.

But, while it’s certainly possible to tear your way through Europa Universalis III fighting wars and building up your nation to be a vast global superpower, it’s also feasible to a whole lot more besides.

EUIII puts all of history between 1453 and 1792 at your disposal and you can pretty much redefine the course of events the way you see fit. Instead of invading every country on the map, for example, you can play a much more subtle game, forming alliances with other powerful nations and developing the way your own country works internally. Warfare will inevitably come into play, but you can choose to divert your focus towards a career of exploration, for example, or build up complex trade networks.

In fact, it’ll probably strike you fairly early on just how vast this game actually is. As well as covering well over 300 years, it spans more than 250 countries, all with enormous populations and military resources to control. It sounds pretty daunting, and things can certainly get a little hairy at times. But, thankfully, the developers have found ways of making the game feel very manageable.

A good example is the way that the game allows you control over its pace. Europa Universalis III’s gameplay works in real-time, but you can slow it right down when you need to and even pause time so that you can put the kettle on and plan your next move in peace.

It’s not the best-looking game by modern standards and whether you get into it or not really depends on whether historical strategy is your thing. Europa Universalis III is, however, an engrossing and addictive title.