Series Europa Universalis, Perhaps the only project that is able to fight the great and terrible on equal terms Civilization in strategic and proceedings. The rest is past the cash register. But once a long time ago, few people believed in the success of a plain duckling, daring to rise to the very luminary of the genre-the brainchild of Sid Meyer and Co. However, a real diamond was hid behind a terrible graphics – the game was quickly overgrown with an army of devoted fans, received honor in the ranks of journalists and brought its creators, the Swedish studio Paradox Interactive, world fame.
Strategives, along and across Europa Universalis, Passively desired supplements. And the developers descended to the public requests. True, in return an ardently expected sequel, the Scandinavians presented the ideologically authentic Crusader Kings, or, in other words, they presented an old filling in a new, knightly wrapper. Over the next years, the packaging has changed twice. Victoria And Hearts of Iron They did not lower the product quality plane installed at a solid height "Made by Paradox", But they did not become a revelation. High -quality Harcthor strategies – and nothing more. There was no revolution and with the release of the sequel of the head series. Europa Universalis II was more, deeper and more convenient than the original, however, the absence of any serious changes was depressed. Sensing the need for gameplay reforms, players began to create a tricel. The wind was in the wind.
Paradox Interactive did not think to joke when I attached a stamp on a box with a game "great strategy". Europa Universalis 3 Not only covers the time period of more than 330 years, passing through many eminent eras, it allows you to take control of any of the 100 nations and bring it to world domination by various ways. It is this fact that the Swedish product elevates over other representatives of the genre.
If hardcore strategies have always aroused yawning calls, you can safely pass by, otherwise you will have to rethink your attitude towards the gameplay point of view by the titles. The game meets newcomers with open arms, slipping a sweet lollipop – friendly to the user, an intuitive interface. As a result – a substantially overgrown target audience. Even those who did not tolerate games, screenshots from which were like the pages of geographical atlases, will receive pleasure from the process.
At first glance, Europa Universalis 3 It may seem like a trial strategy. This is wrong. All events take place in real time. However, you will always have time to think about further actions. The pause button and the speed control function help to soberly assess the situation at the right points without falling into a cet.
The single campaign begins with the choice of the starting date: you can poke at random on any number located between the 1453rd and 1792 years. Then you should decide on the national issue. In fact, the game presents all the European powers that existed in a given time interval. So amateurs to complicate their lives will be happy to lead some tiny state, the existence of which is often forgotten by powerful neighbors. For less advanced users, developers have provided complexity levels. A souredient of each country is the corresponding scale by which it is very easy to determine how difficult it will be to bring it out of the mud to the buncture. Do not forget about the presence of training missions, accessible and unobtrusively introducing newcomers to the course.
After the Shaman Ritual with the settings, it is necessary to determine the development strategy of the selected nation. Military expansion is one of the most obvious ways to achieve your goals, let it not always be viable. It is allowed to build an infantry, artillery, and cavalry. Plus, the sea fleet is presented in a wide range. Freshly built shelves can be united in huge armies and dissolve to small detachments. The efficiency of the troops increases significantly if it is headed by the general. But first you need to hire the commander. However, with the proper level of confidence, you can entrust the command in the battle of the national leader. For all its attractiveness, the militaristic path is very difficult. And the point here is not that someone will not allow you to build a giant army. Constant conflicts form a negative attitude from other powers. And with neighbors, as you know, you need to be friends. All these terminated unions and popular uprisings.
Thus, the game begins to be like tug of a rope – it is necessary to support every aspect of your state. For example, if you want to attack without a preliminary provocation, you will have to come to terms with a deterioration in internal stability. The less stable your nation, the greater the likelihood of flashing unrest and riots that distract from achieving the main goals.
Diplomatic relations with other nations are well established through marriages between offspring from royal families, mutual unions, trade agreements, etc.D. And since diplomatic coverage is constantly expanding, it is necessary to sensitively refers to each decision. Fortunately, you can influence other powers in various ways. Spying enters the arena here – one of the main innovations Europa Universalis 3. Spicks have a wide arsenal of dirty tricks – from the incitement of the masses to uprisings to the generation of desertion in the detachment. Of course, a secret agent can be easily discovered by an enemy. In this case, you should safely forget about friendship with the studied neighbor, and in the worst version you need to be prepared for the announcement of the war. Sometimes the conflict manages to resolve the commanding of the ambassadors. The angry lord can be reassured by the offer of a new union, a profitable trade agreement or a small piece of land.
Despite the external ease of managing the economy and government apparatus, these aspects require increased attention – one wrong decision can easily destroy the fruits of your painstaking work. Manipulations with state parameters are carried out using special sliders. I am variating the provisions of various switches, you can achieve really interesting, and sometimes embarrassed results. And yet, the management of the country is a serious matter: to set the settings "From Balda" Not worth it. Strong motivation for thinking gameplay is the fact that the notorious sliders are allowed to move once every few years. So it is worth again to think carefully before proceeding with the next reform, the consequences may turn out to be very, very deplorable.
IN Europa Universalis 3 You can adhere to any political course, thereby opening the new, unexplored aspects of local gameplay. Make paganism in the rank of national religion and get a bonus to the number of available missionaries. The development of the sea direction is quite expected to produce more vessels. Along with sliders that control your economy, religion and domestic policy, these ideas allow you to slowly and neatly outplay the shape of the ward of the nation and increase its prestige in the international arena.
The internal complexity of the game amazingly balances with ease of development. The scale of what is happening is simply huge, events in the virtual space occur around the player, both independently and with his help. That is why you should not be surprised if in the first half an hour of acquaintance with Europa Universalis 3 You will feel lost. In the future, everything will fall into place. With a convenient interface, you can always find any information of interest and take the necessary action. No need to get through the dozens of menu in order to build a single regiment. Click on the area, choose a unit that you want to build, and the case is done 20Bet Casino. You want to see how many merchants, missionaries and spies are at your disposal? Just look carefully at the screen – all the information vital for the ruler is shown there. Bleeard the desire to find out how far the Holy Roman Empire spread its spiritual ideals? The road to knowledge is blocked by one click by mouse. Advisers of a la Civilization were also introduced to the help of beginners in the game.
A complete set of options for multiplayer game is impressive. You can fight living opponents on the local network and the Internet. The network mode is supported by an incredible number of participants – up to 32 gamers on one map: indescribable sensations. Paying tribute to artificial intelligence, you need to understand that nothing can be compared with fights against other people. It is in the multiplayer Europa Universalis 3 starts playing with new colors.
The creation of Paradox is not a demonstration of a sophisticated engine and not an epic strategy with a lot of thousands on the battlefield. However, in the niche of global strategies, the game looks very worthy – a new one, after Diplomacy, a tour of the Swedes in a completely three -dimensional world cannot be called a failure. And the general map and menu are quite colorful, and the objects used are very easy. The developers of the water surface were especially successful. Of the advantages of the transition to the third dimension, it is worth noting the possibility of scaling the camera and visual display of the event. So, for example, burning cities look very picturesque, which eloquently indicates a smooth flow of siege.
Everything is in order with music. The composers tried to glory, creating a really successful combination of melodies. The game is not devoid of voice replicas and sound effects, whether it is the sound of a stroke with swords in the collision of two armies or the noise of the factory that arises with the end of industrial improvements.
Europa Universalis 3 – The best product in its genre. And without that, a huge game has become even deeper and larger than thanks to a couple who hit the same apple of innovations in the very apple: espionage and national ideas. The only negative is that the game eats a catastrophic amount of free time. The main thing is not to forget to eat and sleep, the rest is unimportant.
Pros: an amazing scale of what is happening;huge selection of game strategies;Careful attitude of developers to the slightest details;General thoughtfulness and organic.
Cons: not the most beautiful graphics, even for medium -caliber strategies.
