#SHOULD I GET EUROPA UNIVERSALIS 1 PC#

The graphics are clear and intuitiveĪs if by following Sun Tzu's famous advice, you'll quickly find in the game that war and diplomacy are inseparably entwined.

But in spite of this lack of flourish, diplomacy is unusually well integrated into the game. It's all handled abstractly, so you won't see talking heads or even much of a description of your diplomatic efforts' outcome. Relations with computer-controlled nations are indicated clearly by a numerical scale, which is influenced by such things as diplomatic gifts or letters of insult.

In times of conflict, this can make the game seem chaotic, as declaration of war by an ally on the opposite side of Europe can soon engulf the whole continent in war. Since there are so many minor independent powers, diplomacy in Europa Universalis involves numerous loose alliances that can string together half a dozen countries at once. It's pretty unusual for a game to make religion such a dynamic political force, but it works out to be a global setting that you'll tweak only once in a while, rather like government types in Civilization. There's the option of converting to appropriate alternatives to your nation's religion (including Calvinism, Counter Reformation Catholicism, or Shia Muslim, depending on the region) and to set tolerance levels for other faiths, which consequently affects how adverse their believers are to your government.

Shortly into the game, the Reformation breaks out across Western and Central Europe, which suddenly makes religion a factor in diplomacy and in maintaining the internal stability of your empire. Real historical events punctuate the campaign, often changing the dynamics. While commerce and steady research are important considerations, the path to power lies between the complementary poles of war and diplomacy.Įuropa Universalis starts out right at the turning point for modern Europe, when newly united major powers set their sights on the wealthy Italian states and started profiting from early overseas colonies. But the sheer number of nations competing for power means that no nation is big enough to go at it alone. The campaign doesn't artificially level the playing field, so some nations are much stronger than others from the start. But truly, the heart of the game is the campaign that starts you out in 1492 and challenges you to be the clearly dominant force by 1792. The game contains 11 scenarios that center on key periods like the War of Independence or the Thirty Years War, where each major nation involved has specific objectives to accomplish. There's plenty of opportunity in Europa Universalis for expanding your empire through military conquest, diplomacy, and mercantilist economics, but it's less about outright world domination than swinging the balance of power in your nation's favor. Europa Universalis features dozens of different nations However, once you get past the initial shock of how big and occasionally unwieldy the game is, you'll find that the detailed mechanics work to produce an unparalleled level of depth. Given how much time was necessarily involved in compiling the game's extreme level of historical detail, it's hardly surprising that it's based on a board game. This tighter focus lets the game be amazingly specific, as the world map encompasses more than 700 provinces to be explored, conquered, and developed by the 60 or so major and minor nations. It plays somewhat similarly to turn-based games such as Civilization II and Imperialism II, but with a focus on the European continental and overseas empires from 1492 to 1792.

#SHOULD I GET EUROPA UNIVERSALIS 1 PC#

Although there have been many conquest and empire management games for the PC over the years, no such game to date compares with the historical detail and scope of Europa Universalis.

Should i get europa universalis 1