
	Platform PC Genre Strategy Developer Paradox Interactive Publisher Paradox Interactive ETA Spring 2007
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Europa Universalis 3

Paradox Interactive has garnered a reputation for producing excellent titles for those who like their strategy extra-crispy and their game play as deep as the Mariana trench. Past Europa Universalis releases as well as Paradox’s Victoria and Hearts of Iron series required the equivalent of a graduate degree to fully master, often demanding months of extracurricular study on discussion forums. Although this certainly scared off many gamers, just as many found such challenge and depth appealing. (Check out Paradox’s devoted / rabid core of fans online if you don’t believe me.)

EU3 seems not so much an attempt by Paradox to dumb down or pretty up the EU series as a top-to-toes makeover with some mechanical and interface improvements, similar to what Firaxis did with Civilization 4, retaining the core play but making the gaming experience easier and more enjoyable.

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Like its predecessors, EU3 is a grand strategy game of world domination, set between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, where trade, industry, diplomacy and espionage are as important as military conquest. The preview copy I examined was bare bones and a little sluggish (and lacked a tutorial or guide to clue

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me in to what the heck I was doing) but didn’t seem lobotomized and contained more than a few pleasant surprises. Paradox seems to have borrowed selectively from a few of their other titles, copping Hearts of Iron II’s intelligence system, Victoria’s leadership system, and an interface that resembles the excellent Knights of Honor (itself influenced by EU’s earlier versions.) The influence of rival biggies Civ 4 and Rome: Total War are also felt, particularly in the easier and more intuitive interface, and the ability to adjust the degree of micromanagement.

One of the most exciting features in this and many of Paradox’s other grand strategy games is the open-endedness, the ability to play as any one of hundreds of nations. While, of course the game experience will be profoundly different depending on whether the player selects the British empire or the tiny Republic of Togo, such versatility makes the game almost infinitely replayable. A past complaint of a number of Paradox’s games, that play was too tied to real history, seems a little more relaxed this time around. While historical people and events are retained and the game has a number of scenario-like starting points to make nation selection easier, the developers seem very conscious that part of the fun of a historical game is messing with history. (Switzerland uber alles!)

In a move that will certainly divide EU fans, part three comes laden with state-of-the-art graphics, detailed modeling and 3D maps. Paradox’s decision to make EU3 more accessible and attractive is probably a good one, given recent trends in the PC game market. While old school grognards may lament these concessions to fashion, I suspect the complaints will stop as soon as the fun begins.

I did have a few lingering problems this time around. One difficulty, shared by other Paradox games, was that game play (even with pause and time shift options) seems either excruciatingly slow or murderously (blink and you’ve lost an army) quick. As with its predecessors, EU3’s real time play can be a little daunting considering the vast scope and the sheer number of decisions, especially when things get hot. I hope some of this may be worked out by the time EU3 releases in Spring 2007.

Paradox are hoping that some sweet new graphics and features will make the brain-shredding micro and macro-management a little easier to take, and they very well may be on to something. If only we didn’t have to wait until next spring.

John Tait

(October 14, 2006)