Europa Universalis III Complete review (PC)

It's hard for me to admit this (I'm Irish), but I always admired the British Empire because of the way it went about global domination. It managed to conquer three quarters of the world without excelling in any department of warfare and no foreign army has invaded the homeland since 1066. Instead it relied on developing tactics and building a powerful economic nation. So I decided to emulate the British and go about global domination. They say the British Empire was founded on cups of tea so I decided to brew a big pot and see if that statement was accurate.

Globe Trotting

Europa Universalis III: Complete does exactly what it says on the tin by providing you with EU III and both expansion packs: Napoleon's Ambition and In Nomine. This means that your main campaign can start as early as 1399 and go right up to 1820. For anybody who played has the original EU III you can now move in the Napoleonic era and play as France during their golden period without being frustrated by it ending at the start of the French revolution. These expansion packs don't really change much in gameplay, but offer more time and scenarios enhancing your original EU III. They do, however, improve upon some of EU III gameplay mechanics such as enhancing trading, adding more historical options and improving interface.

For those unfamiliar with EU III it is a strategy game of epic proportion which appears turn based upon first glance, but is all run in real time. You can choose to play as any nation that existed within the time period of the game which can provide some excellent replay value. If I get tired of taking Great Britain to glory, then I can try my hands with factions such as the Netherlands and Portugal or even an even smaller faction such as the Province of Munster. With a wealth of options from the beginning the first difficult task is choosing who you want to play as.

Once you're dropped off on the map what you do is up to you. You can build a great nation through trade, war or diplomacy. How you go about this domination is completely up to you. EU III doesn't expect you to conquer the globe so just surviving is a fantastic achievement in its own right. My British Empire ignored mainland Europe and instead I focused on colonisation and trade. I rarely engaged in large scale combat focusing more on putting down any resistance that reared its ugly head. Diplomacy is done well in the game with a wealth of options available to start and end a war. You can even gain control of a territory without even raising a blade or firing a musket. This provides a less expensive way of taking more territory, but it can take quite a long time.

It's the Never Ending Story

When war is forced upon you then you can train both land and sea units to help you in your effort. Controlling the seas can be critical to help any empire. All this means that micro management is a vital part of the game. Some will be turned off by the number of options you have available while others will welcome it. For me it's a double-edged sword. While I did appreciate the options available to me I did find that the micro management became more annoying as the game progressed. The amount of options available can also be daunting to new comers and the games poor tutorial system doesn't help much and really needs an interactive version. The interface is also poor and the endless amount of clicking in order to find out the most trivial of information can drive you berserk. It's still a hell of a lot better the EU II and the expansion packs have cleaned it up a little as well.

After such a slow start you would expect the game to make up for it with unrivalled gameplay and EU III delivers just that. The amount of depth in the strategy is amazing and you will see yourself plan every invasion with great detail. Management of your economy takes a front seat in all the planning you do so you can end up being the next Adam Smith or end up being Gordon Brown. Either way if your economy is in the toilet, then you can expect all military operations to grind to a halt. Playing any campaign can easily take many days/weeks. This in turn can also lead to many sleepless nights.

Revolution

Graphics don't play a major part in EU III. They don't look particularly spectacular, but they don't diminish gameplay in any way. Battles are done in the same style as the Civilization Series so don't expect any 3D encounters where thousands upon thousands of men are locked in epic battle. The ocean looks nice and when you zoom in you can see some level of detail. You can also easily see your armies and navy and even identify when they are laying siege to a city. The sound is also a mixed bag for me. The musical score adds great atmosphere and can make you feel completely immersed. On the other hand, the gunshots, explosions and melee sound is rather poor and feel like they are better suited to a game from the early nineties.

EU III is a great game. It's strategic depth is in a league of its own and can make both the Civilization and Total War series look rather remedial. It's also the best game in the series. With the Complete Edition you get plenty to see and do with both expansion packs and after nearly a year and a half after release the game still feels fresh. For those that are turned off by the micro management I would advise them to stick with the game because after you get the hang of it then you have only scratched the surface. If you already have the original EU III, then I would also advise you to pick up this collection because the added dates and gameplay changes really enhance your experience of EU III. This collection retails at about £20 and for that price it's a shining example of the word bargain.