Europa: Universalis II

When you make a game, and dedicate it to the fans of the game, that is a pretty good indication that this program is what fans have asked for, and are getting.

Europa Universalis II, from Paradox Entertainment and Strategy First for the PC, is a real-time strategic civilization game that spans 400 years, beginning in 1419. The game can be played as the ruler of a nation merely trying to evolve his or her country through the centuries. But players can also discover or conquer new territories.

It is somewhat surprising that though the game has been on shelves a short time, that there are three patches available for it. According to Strategy First, the patches “fix minor bugs, game balancing and AI issues, as well as issues encountered in some scenarios and events.” The patches can be found on http://www.strategyfirst.com/downloads/ListFiles.asp?iFileTypeID=2&sLanguageCode=EN

EUII is not a game for the casual civilization game player. On the contrary, this program keys on political and social issues with a strong emphasis on historical events during the game’s time frame. As one would expect, there is a learning curve to this game, one that the tutorial will help players through, but there are some elements that may have you scratching your head, or diving for the manual to figure out.

The game timer has a default setting of one month per real-time minute. That doesn’t’ seem that bad, until you begin building a ship, and find the time to construct the vessel is several months. Movement is also subject to time, not turn. And because your armies are marching, it may take several months for them to move into a neighboring country. A keystroke can speed up the game, but there will be times when you want to slow down and carefully calculate your moves.

There is a tutorial, which will take time to walk through. That, in itself, speaks of a game that is not entirely intuitive. It requires that you think, plan and work on your play. It will take time to figure out the controls, but once you have them down, you will be better equipped to play this game.

The sound elements are very good. The musical score is very well done, and propels the game along.

Graphically, this game is sound, and while not the most innovative in the realm of civilization games, still does a very nice job of giving this game life and personality. Consider this a chess match, the graphics are the knights and rooks, and you move them all along in pursuit of your quest of glory.

Europa Universalis II is an intelligent game that requires players to invest time and thought into the course of action they take. The computer AI, once modified with the patches, is quite good, and the overall campaign mode is well designed.

This game does support multiplayer gaming, through a LAN, the Valkyrienet, or the Internet. The game also supports Windows 2000, ME and NT operating systems.

This game is rated for Everyone.

Other civilization games, such as Age of Empires or Civilization, give game players the opportunity to forge their own futures. Europa Universalis II is the type of game that challenges players to adjust, adapt and try to foretell what the future may hold. If you have a grasp on history, you may be able to anticipate the future and set up your nation to deal with it. But any way you cut it, this game is an intriguing challenge, and one of the better civilization games to emerge this year.

Install: Easy
This game does go on rather easy, and is a one-disk installation.

Gameplay: 8.5
The mapboards are historical, but big. The game does take time to work through, and will require players to invest time in order to move through the game.

Graphics: 7.5
The graphical elements are rather standard for the genre, but still quite bright and well done.

Sound: 8.5
The musical score is terrific, while the environmental elements are standard.

Difficulty: 7
This game is a real challenge, and takes time to learn. Strategy First has released new patches to fix flaws in the AI, and once you download them, you will find this game one of the more intriguing civilization games on the market.

Concept: 8.5
This program selects a definitive era, incorporates exact historical elements, and supports a lot of different PC operating systems.

Multiplayer: 8
The multiplayer aspects of this game are very solid.

Overall: 8.3
This is a terrific genre game. It is readily apparent that a lot of time and effort has been invested to exact the time frame of the program, and the game not only will teach about the history of this world, but will challenge players to stay one step ahead of it. This is one of the more challenging civ games published this past year.