Europa Universalis 3 sees the life of a nation from the 15th through to the 19th century so not only does Rome blast way back in time but it’s also a completely different political and strategic animal. Gone are the near countless nations to choose from as well as the global stage it was set upon, Rome barely stands on its own and the land is overrun with unwashed barbarians – eww.
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| A small yet thirstier world | Settlements are harder to “grow” |
Visually the game hasn’t evolved much though the ‘world’ map has been under the hammer and chisel, with the scope made smaller during this time period the map needed to be redone with better focus on Europe, North Africa and the Middle-east. The music is fantastic and really helps set the mood, sound effects are less impressive they don’t do any harm – as this is a preview version anything could change.
Expanding an empire be it Roman, Carthaginian, Egyptian etc will take a long time indeed especially when it comes to settling untamed provinces. There’s no quick firing of colonists and then just waiting for the frisky population to rise while you gallivant off to war. Everything runs at a much slower pace than EU3 which at first I admit felt quite odd, even horrible, but I soon felt my imperial thirst synch up with the game.
Armies play a huge role. Where you could skirt the issue of war in EU3 and really have a relaxed economic game if you so wished with royal marriages, vassals and bribery – Rome and its Adriatic neighbours have barbarians knocking at the gates. Once a chief and his horde get moving about you’d better hope decent legions are in place or things soon go south. To help maintain the legions and navies you’ll be able to assign a general or admiral much like EU3, except you won’t be converting colonists or diplomats into generals or explorers but choose leaders from an ever changing list of candidates.
These guys are much like the dynasty system from Paradox’s previous creation, Crusader Kings, where you’ll need to keep a close eye on who you place where taking their traits and stats into account. Historically Rome was dogged with betrayals and civil war so this Rome will be no different as characters have loyalty values, should it drop to low any legion that has sworn their allegiance to their general will happily take up arms with them. This makes for a more interesting management of legions and your trusted (?) military might.
The cities themselves can have governors assigned, depending on the traits they could help with taxes but upset the populace in the process for example. The major change here though will be the trade system; each province will produce goods which can then be trade with neighbours or internally within your lands. This is a critical system as it means certain units can only be produced in certain places, if you have no iron then you can’t train heavy infantry, no wood means no archers and certainly no boats. Other resources like grain and wine can help population growth and keep revolts down; this is a great dynamic as it gives more strategic value to provinces and small financial incentives.
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| It’s dangerous to gamble on omens | National ideas play better role in Rome |
Having control over vast iron deposits can cripple an enemy in times of war as they lack decent infantry and can only churn out cheap grunts. Likewise with grain, you can speed up growth and help your empire expand with colonization faster which in turns leads to faster research. Each province also juggles three types of people, citizens are the way to scientific discovery, the freedmen are your artisans who also fill the manpower pool and slaves generate wealth for the economy. The fourth is the barbarian level in the province which determines the chance of them spawning a raid.
One thing I do enjoy seeing is the alliance system now, when you declare war you aren’t automatically asking your allies to join with you. This means you can get first pickings of an area you want before calling them in though of course they could refuse and then you’ve left yourself in a possible ‘hot water’ situation. It’s great if you know your allies don’t have much of a war capacity and are suffering war exhaustion revolts, you can keep flexing your empires muscle while letting your friends catch their breath – I hope this is patched into EU3.
The UI could do with some tweaking though, getting to the diplomacy screen to take actions against neighbours for example is little annoying – clicking on the neighbour and then on the diplomacy button would act as if I had selected my territory, not giving me any options to interact the neighbour until I reselected them again. Hopefully little annoyances like this will be crushed before the might of Rome reaches retail.
Religion too has a great role to play, not only can it be used to increase stability but there are other options to help aid your nation. A certain sacrifice could net Rome for example a five percent population increase for a year but they can go wrong meaning a negative ‘curse’ for a whole year instead. It’s a great idea but you don’t have to use the system, the gamble is entirely up to the player. Of course religion and culture also have their impact on provinces too and as your nation expands and perhaps conquers enemy lands your religion can spread – there’s no missionaries to send like in EU3, you just have to be patient.
You have government types to choose from too so that republic with an elected consul can turn into an imperial dictatorship. There are advantages and drawbacks too each, either way characters play a pivotal role and can’t be ignored or shunned as easily in Rome. Even each of the research areas has a leader responsible for it, luckily when you choose to replace an individual you can easily sift through using the columns like loyalty, finesse, charisma etc.
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| Characters should be watched carefully, especially generals | New events for a new Adriatic world |
Buildings are important for provincial improvement but you’ll have to wait on research which now has randomised discoveries. Reaching level ten for example won’t guarantee you’ll have certain technologies by then but whatever happens, unlocking roads is one hell of a blessing. Waiting for legions to traverse without roads can be a lengthy process and could cost you dearly if a city gets raided or ends up under siege. National ideas are still in but now they’re split into four categories which are military, economic and civic with the fourth being religion. They carry lucrative bonuses and should never be left empty; unlocking more requires technology levels to be reached.
Europa Universalis combines some of the classic dynasty system from Crusader Kings with the strides made throughout the EU series but its speed is taken down a notch which tends to be a little frustrating in the beginning. It doesn’t take too long to settle in with the pace, players will find themselves staring at their own empire first and foremost a lot more as you juggle characters around and keep your newly acquired lands garrisoned. The ability to opt-in or out allies in war is a great addition and I really hope this stays for the long term for Rome and in future EU titles. I look forward to getting my hands on the retail of Europa Universalis: Rome. Ave Roma!
Top Game Moment: Sticking it to the Carthaginian man! No elephant tamers will get the better of Rome while I’m alive - Semper Fidelis!
