Europa Universalis IV (PC) Review

Honestly, that introduction about sums up the entire game as a lot of it is like Crusader Kings II, to the point where there is even an official adaptor to bring save files from that game into Europa Universalis IV. Much of the gameplay is the same, with the player simply managing the politics on an international level in a pseudo-turn-based set-up (well, it is technically real-time, but in reality it plays closer to a more detailed game of Risk.

Once again, the player will take charge of one nation in a field of many, each brimming with potential but also with the possibility of eradication, and attempt to guide it through history - a history where things can end up mimicking what happened in reality, or end up wildly deviating from it to the point where things are unrecognisable due to the sheer insanity.

However, whereas Crusader Kings II was focused on inter-family politics, Europa Universalis IV is focusing on the Renaissance period, as well as the colonisation of the Americas right on up to the Napoleonic Wars. In place of marrying off daughters and finding the right brides for sons is exploring the strange new world, boldly heading off into the unknown, and praying to Thor that the newly established colony won't be pillaged by natives or get these bizarre notions of 'independence' in their minds and making sure that the backstabbing nation to the south doesn't make a pirate fleet in the middle of sending troops over.

On the whole, though, it is the sister to Crusader Kings II. It shares many of the same strong points, such as its wild political system that can result in worldwide wars due to a poorly made alliance, many of the weak points, such as the tedium, and much of the gameplay on a simpler level, as it removed the family politics. That is a blessing to those who felt they were too daunting, but a curse to those who enjoyed them… but it's still the sister-series.