Europa Universalis 4
Ah , Europa Universalis ... already the fourth installment . It was with the release of the expansion In Nomine Europa Universalis 3 I put my fingers in a terrible gear after two pathetic attempts to approach Paradox games. Since then I have spent thousands of hours on Europa Universalis 3 and also a lot of other games developed by the studio. Now you have been warned.
Europa what?
Let's start by explaining what we mean . Europa Universalis 4 is a great strategy game , in which you take control of the country of your choice in 1444 to finish in 1820. During this time, you are free to set your own goals because there are a whole simply no . Your sandbox is the world map, it is very likely that you're looking to expand your domination over other countries , so diplomatic and / or military . You can have fun to rewrite history , and incidentally to educate yourself if you are not very versed in history.
The superficial aspect of things : 1 Paradox - Creative Assembly 0
europa - universalis -4- 97Ca becomes a constant when Paradox develops a suite , you can admire the work done on the graphical aspect, namely the interface, map and units. Never forget that far from the subject, because the interfaces of their games have not always been so stylish and intuitive. The card is in turn very well, and the units are now more detailed.
Compared with the depth of the game can be seen as the look is superficial , but it is indispensable to provide a pleasant gaming experience . You probably already (and often do ) the finding that a developer who pays attention to detail of a game, its coating lends even more attention to the heart of the game
Take The Creative Assembly with the Total War series , whose main interest is to us an eyeful . In 2013 , the board has not changed and is ridiculous compared to that of Europa Universalis 4. Legitimately So you can say that is not the heart of Total War craft . Just do not be surprised after other " side to " receive no attention AI , graphics ( completely bogus in the options, so in 2013 a single anti-aliasing filter) performance. Yes, all these " side to " make a game Some understood , others are not.
Technologies and interactions
europa - universalis -4- 93The biggest change in this series is undoubtedly the addition of administrative power , diplomatic and military . Defined as points whose accumulation is limited, they are investing in technologies, national ideas and buildings. As these items are in limited quantity , you will have to constantly make choices. These points will depend on your skills and your advisors monarch . The latter having a cost, it will once again make a choice issue .
Overall you will often feel lack administrative power because it is not only possible to "spend" in investments, but also to lose by trying to increase the stability , or through events .
From a gameplay perspective , it makes the investment management much less linear than in Europa Universalis 3 , but it also shows a historical trend of centralization, more administration .
Always compared to EU3 , units such as merchants, colonists, diplomats and missionaries are no longer used at all as a resource that would accumulate over the months , but as unique characters, the Crusader Kings 2 for performing a specific action on the card .
doctrines
europa - universalis -4- 94Afin to bring a minimum of historicity and avoid a country is a generic entity , a single national doctrine is released by each country whenever three general doctrines are enabled. It is cumulative bonus . Troubling for insiders , cursors domestic policies EU3 became the famous general doctrines . Where we had to choose an orientation involving a bonus and malus , and imposing to go in one direction, Paradox preferred design a progression that offer bonuses and that can go a little in all directions . So you can combine innovative and religious doctrines , offensive and defensive , etc. . The goal is probably generate less frustration for the player, and from this point of view it is a welcome change .
trade
europa - universalis -4- 95L'inintéressant system centers shopping gives way to a trading system nodes crossed by roads that will seek to control at any price, to enrich themselves. Specialized in trading boats optimize these flows, while correctly placed merchants can redirect resources towards the capital. It is welcome to have swapped a completely theoretical system of commerce for a system that materializes via fleets of each country on the map .
artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence is an important part of the game that has been seriously revised , and should absolutely be. As with the last two extensions EU3 , some game mechanics became unbearable : any war sometimes became global , and AI was as if they were only waiting for the right moment to strike the final blow thanks , landing with its allies tonne.
In EU4 , things are much clearer , each country develops an attitude based on the opinion he had of another country and interactions with him over the long term . AI means rivals can apply " the enemy of my enemy is my friend " strategy, creating heterogeneous coalitions , etc. . With all this, the gaming experience becomes more consistent. The troops are also much better used by the AI , which if your ally seek example by combining hers with yours.
War . War never changes
europa universalis - last -4- 92Les patches EU3 had shown the way : Paradox wanted to give more room for mercenaries. This is even more the case in EU4 , since the revival of manpower per month regular armies is extremely low. Concretely this means that if your armies are not crush the hope to re-engage completely before many years. The concept of a lost generation takes on its full meaning .
Mercenaries are in turn more expensive, but cost nothing in manpower . Do not neglect them , they can change the course of a war! Great Poland ( above) approve this message . Another tip , try as much as possible to associate a general your troops to every battle , because as long as he is competent , it will weigh heavily in the outcome of a battle.
interface
Explains that when the interface is intuitive , this aspect alone deserves to be explicit with concrete details. Firstly , never hesitate to place your cursor over text, an icon , a user interface element . You will always have a tooltip that provides useful information. Thanks to the notifications ( small flags lined up next to the flag of your country) , you will know that actions are possible, such as : managing rebel recruit a counselor, vote for a cardinal, recruit a general, select a mission etc. .
The recruitment of troops and buildings have been simplified. It is always possible to go through the interface of each province for this, but also to go through a production interface , wherein simply select a type of unit / building then apply it on the map. For large countries, this feature is not luxury. Note the absence of a rallying point system (from Victoria 2). This is quite a shame , especially since the studio had accustomed us to extend the functionality of their other games via patches or suites.
Multiplayer: "Before I was unstable, but that was before "
The multiplayer in a Paradox game was often synonymous with mismatches . Already the parties are long , if we raise more , load the backup , wait until everyone load ... Except that this time , the studio has done things correctly with the integration of Steamworks and took the opportunity to review its netcode , which is now very stable. It is even possible to join the game being a friend, if he has activated " hotjoin ."
Performance , stability, regret
Nothing to report side bugs or performance on various configurations ( based Core i3 , i5 ) . The game is well past the Quality Assurance box and has optimizations for multicore configurations. He received a few patches since its release.
Go regret for the form: it is no longer possible to move from a monarchy to a republic in the deciding oneself , Paradox has decided that the concept of enlightened despot was invalid. To achieve this, it will let the rebels win.
With Europa Universalis 4, we are faced with a much better result than its predecessor , a great strategy game more accessible. No party like the life of the game is immense. To put it simply, lots of fun .
All is not reviewed in this test, because as often with a Paradox game is too long to mention all the features . Feel free to test the demo of the game Do not try to understand everything immediately , test one by one the opportunities available to you , and see what happens because despite appearances, the game is very laid . At the slightest question , wiki and forums of the game will be very useful .
