Subject: Fw: Europa Universalis is out in Germany Oliver Weber wrote in message ... Fredrik Rask wrote: >Anyway, it's not out in Sweden yet, so spill the beans...how is it? >How is the AI, etc? Any German who feels like doing a review, the one >at cdmag.com is the only one I've found so far and it's not very >informative. Unfortunately I don't have the time for a full review of EU (all my spare time goes right into playing the game :-) Please check out the forum at www.europa-universalis.com for a in-depth discussion of the AI and other aspects. But I can offer some remarks about my experiences. First the negative points: - Boy, it takes a lot of time to play! On the slowest setting, the Grand Campaign takes 300 hours. That is, if you never hit pause... :-) - Although there are "State Marriages" and such, the "dynastic" element is almost entirely missing. - Wargamers might find the combat resolution being too abstract. Personally, I prefer it to the somewhat chess-like combat resolution in Imperialism. "Micro-managed" battles would, IMO, contradict the scope and whole concept of the game (you being the gray eminence "behind the scenes" overseeing grand strategy, not a general commanding troops in the field). - "Static" new world map - everyone knows where the Incan Gold will be. There should be some random element, not in the map itself, but in the distribution of resources ("Inkan" gold in New England, etc). - Parts of the mechanics are not explained thoroughly in the otherwise okay manual. - Some irritating bugs. On the positive side: + Good communication with the developers - first patch already out fixing some bugs. + Convincing simulation of the "limited warfare" approach in the 16th and 17th century - waging a war is expensive, "total war" pretty impossible, and annexation of countries by military means is very expensive diplomatically. Even declaring a war can be difficult, if you have no casus belli, or if you try to attack a state of the same religion. + Campaigning just feels right - attrition is a major factor in warfare, it's very difficult to maintain a large army, and the AI is quite competent both attacking and defending. Example: Playing Austria, I tried to annex some Bohemian provinces (having a permanent casus belli with Bohemia). I managed to gain control over two provinces militarily, and Bohemia offered me peace and one of the provinces as a reparation. Being greedy, I declined the offer. Winter came. And the Bohemian Army regained its morale, while mine plunged due to lack of supplies. What followed was a two year war with heavy campaigning in almost all border provinces of Austria and Bohemia, very much like the actual historical events between 1618-1620 (but minus Mansfeld and Tilly :-) + Good diplomacy model, which allows for state marriages, military alliances, vassalization (sp?), claim of other thrones etc. + Religion is a major factor (never saw that since Colonization). Example: Playing Austria, I managed to annex Hungary around 1515 by diplomatic means. Unfortunately, around 1520 half of Hungary turns Lutheran, and now I have to deal with uprisings everywhere... To sum it up: Very good, especially for history buffs. If you liked Imperialism despite its shortcomings, you will love Europa Universalis. I took the opportunity to read Wedgwood's book about the Thirty Years War while playing the game, which adds to the historical flavor of Europa Universalis. On a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being absolutely perfect, Europa Universalis is getting an 8.5, with potential for a 9, if some of the negative aspects could be fixed (like random resources in the "New World"). Strong buy :-) And you all learned French at high school - major mistake ;-) ----------