Rating: 
Summary: Forget it.
Review: This one of the worst games I have purchased for my computer. (I have well over 500.) 1. The tutorial is worthless. It tells you to perform a certain function, but it doesn't tell you how to do it or why to do it. 2. The manual, although chock full of information, is terrible. I guess it would be OK if you are using it as resource material for a Masters Thesis in History. All in all I have to say I've wasted my $40, but hey, it'll make a nice coaster for my beer glass.
Rating: 
Summary: A New Standard for Strategy Games
Review: Though Europa Universalis is a Real Time Strategy game I hesitate to refer to it as that since that term may bring to mind unpleasant memories of the whole Warcraft-Age of Empires-Command & Conquer franchise. EU transcends all of these in terms of realism, scope, and diversity of strategy options (it is NOT just a war game). For me the ideal strategy game has 1) scope - it doesn't limit the level of your development. You can advance just as far as your imagination and ability allow. Consequently I hate map edges. I think the first thing that grabbed me about EU was that is played throughout the whole world, on every (habitable) continent and with over 800 colonizable provinces. An ideal strategy game also is realistic, meaning that it has as few abstractions as possible. For example, in EU there are more economic goods than just gold/stone/wood (to name one example). In fact each province has its own commodity and the relative value of that will differ in the game depending on its rarity and the demand for it in the various markets that it is dealt in. EU is also very historically realistic. You play during the age of exploration and enlightenment (1492-1792) and the game designers have done a superb job of setting up the political situation to mirror Europe in the early modern period. There are dozens of nations (even small ones like the German principalities) and you have the possibility of complex diplomatic relations with each of them, even to the point of vassalizing or politically annexing smaller nations. Furthermore, exploration is a major component of the game. and many provinces are inhabited only by a handful of natives that can be easily subdued and incorprated into your grand Empire. These options of diplomacy and exploration provide more ways to succeed in the game than just pure conquest. Religion is also a major element in the game. At the beginning there are two Christian options (Catholic or Orthodox) and two Muslim options (Sunni or Shiite). Of course once the 1520's roll around Protestantism becomes an option, and many of the German and Scandanavian states will make the same switch that they did historially. Wait a few years and you can become a Reformed follower of John Calvin. These religious changes greatly affect the diplomatic dynamics of Europe and spark numerous rebellions and religious wars. In the midst of this tumult new nations may even emerge (the secession of the Netherlands from Spain is a historic event that typically occurs at some point during the game). A final aspect that makes this a great game is that it can be played multiple times and still be fresh. You have the option of playing any of the major nations (England, France, Spain, Turkey, Russia, Austria, Poland, or Portugal) and each is presented with a very unique situation. (If you want to play any of the minor nations simply download the free patch from the EU website.) In addition, there are several smaller scenarios focused on particular historical events that can be played. Europa Universalis is everything that I've been wanting in a strategy game. All that I could ask is that it wouldn't end so soon. 300 years sure flies by when you're having fun! :-)
Rating:
Summary: A New Standard for Strategy Games
Review: Though Europa Universalis is a Real Time Strategy game I hesitate to refer to it as that since that term may bring to mind unpleasant memories of the whole Warcraft-Age of Empires-Command & Conquer franchise. EU transcends all of these in terms of realism, scope, and diversity of strategy options (it is NOT just a war game). For me the ideal strategy game has 1) scope - it doesn't limit the level of your development. You can advance just as far as your imagination and ability allow. Consequently I hate map edges. I think the first thing that grabbed me about EU was that is played throughout the whole world, on every (habitable) continent and with over 800 colonizable provinces. An ideal strategy game also is realistic, meaning that it has as few abstractions as possible. For example, in EU there are more economic goods than just gold/stone/wood (to name one example). In fact each province has its own commodity and the relative value of that will differ in the game depending on its rarity and the demand for it in the various markets that it is dealt in. EU is also very historically realistic. You play during the age of exploration and enlightenment (1492-1792) and the game designers have done a superb job of setting up the political situation to mirror Europe in the early modern period. There are dozens of nations (even small ones like the German principalities) and you have the possibility of complex diplomatic relations with each of them, even to the point of vassalizing or politically annexing smaller nations. Furthermore, exploration is a major component of the game. and many provinces are inhabited only by a handful of natives that can be easily subdued and incorprated into your grand Empire. These options of diplomacy and exploration provide more ways to succeed in the game than just pure conquest. Religion is also a major element in the game. At the beginning there are two Christian options (Catholic or Orthodox) and two Muslim options (Sunni or Shiite). Of course once the 1520's roll around Protestantism becomes an option, and many of the German and Scandanavian states will make the same switch that they did historially. Wait a few years and you can become a Reformed follower of John Calvin. These religious changes greatly affect the diplomatic dynamics of Europe and spark numerous rebellions and religious wars. In the midst of this tumult new nations may even emerge (the secession of the Netherlands from Spain is a historic event that typically occurs at some point during the game). A final aspect that makes this a great game is that it can be played multiple times and still be fresh. You have the option of playing any of the major nations (England, France, Spain, Turkey, Russia, Austria, Poland, or Portugal) and each is presented with a very unique situation. (If you want to play any of the minor nations simply download the free patch from the EU website.) In addition, there are several smaller scenarios focused on particular historical events that can be played. Europa Universalis is everything that I've been wanting in a strategy game. All that I could ask is that it wouldn't end so soon. 300 years sure flies by when you're having fun! :-)
Rating: 
Summary: A intriguing game that is not very fun to play.
Review: WArning: this is not an Age of Empires game and its not like Civilization. This game plays more like a very long and complex Avalon Hill boardgame like Third Reich. The kind that says on the back of the box, "Average Game time: 24 hours. Difficulty: Mind-boggling." In fact this game might be described as the ultimate computer simulation of a turn-based board game. There is just no way you could keep track of the economic and diplomatic complexity of thie game using 1 centimeter-square chips. EU's strongest points are its historical accuracy and its immense complexity. There are some very clever concepts intertwined into the game, such as religious tolerance, forced annexation and military unit attrition rate. And you can play with 80 civs on the board!!! It is extremly realistic.....scientific research is painfully slow ( you can't have Democracy by 2500 BC!), exploration is fraught with failure and consumes time and resources. It is very hard to establish a foothold in the new world without sinking on the way or being massacared by the natives. All this means that this game is not actually fun to play. Challenging and complex but really actionless. Wars take forever and its almost impossible to defeat another civ. Even if you do conquer, you still have to deal with the consequences - basically you are seen as a pariah and all the other nations rise up against you and wipe you out. Actually this can be very refreshing...How many times can you play age of empires before you get bored by its unrealistis military aspects. How many times did you play CIV with the same strategy and wish that the different civs had different abilities or that you could do win via a different route. The hardest part about EU is that gamers have not been prepared to play a game where the goals are not clearly defined. Be the all conquering French Emperor, try your hand as John Calvin converting all the neighboring provinces, be Japan and try to remain isolated from the outside world or try to be spain but this time win the Armada and hold on to the New world. The other problem is that Americans are not historically prepared to understand the period that this game covers. 1492 to 1792 after all is all just taught as a preview to thanksgiving over here...the only history of the period that Americans are familiar with is the movie Pocohantas....since there are no talking racoons in this game and you don't get to slaughter indins with your trabuckets, most Americans will scrap this game and play a real historical sim like Age of Wonders, after all they know who Zeus is........
Rating: 
Summary: Empire building, the hard way
Review: You should definitely buy this game if you want to know what it is like to micromanage the construction and maintenance of a European empire. I don't. Its too much work. I want to build the empire without all the work. I should have saved my money. This product is a good (complex) simulation of Europe with interesting (but not excellent) graphics. Its problems: * Buggy software (It doesn't like running with other software and changed my video mode without restoring it afterward.) * Poor interface (I can't even start to mention all the things that are hard to do and easy to mess up.) * No help managing your units - the only thing they do by themselves is defend when attacked (its a good thing they do!) * No option for alternative geography, so, for example, even though you don't know about the New World, you really do. I really liked the sound of the game so much that I ignored what the other reviews said. I should have listened.
Rating:
Summary: From Europe with love!!!!!
Review: You will be amazed with the quality of this game from Paradox of Sweden. It may look like Risk and some might think it is a Civ game, there is a feel to this game. Ever wonder what if Austria got to colonize the Americas, or Russia? What happened if Columbus sailed more to the North? Turkish South Africa? This game allows you to do it all. A nice blend of political, historical and strategy. The grahics may not be like Quake, but this ia a thinking man's game. Each move has a chance to set the world in war. Marriage, alliance, and good old fashioned back stabbing. Well worth the money. Play and enjoy.
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