Posted on: April 15, 2015
Spinorial
Games: 601 Reviews: 1
Paradox's first hit, still unsurpassed
Some sequels are happy to simply build and improve upon their predecessors. Others insist on changing things up with every iteration. Paradox did a bit of both. There is no question that Europa Universalis 2 is a strict improvement over EU1. However, it is almost impossible to compare it to its successors. To capture a broader audience, Paradox made them quasi-sandbox affairs, with plenty of random events and a more-but-not-really-realistic 3D engine: good for a Civ-like romp, but awkward if you're looking for historical scenarios. EU2, in contrast, feels like a quaint amalgam of a board game and a king's map. A gorgeously illustrated map, with a familiar pattern to the world, and a period orchestra setting the tone (no A. Waldetoft here, but an exquisite selection of period and classical music - it's actually better!). The mechanics are mostly simpler, more rigid - makes for that board game feel - yet that is not a bad thing. Your units don't get miraculously reinforced - you need to raise new levies yourself. Money is VERY tight and wars cost dearly. The scenario history is governed by event-chains, in lieu of random ones popping up. There's still the occasional random flavour event, and the sporadic insult will throw a wrench in your carefully-laid schemes, but it's all tempered. If you add in a mod like AGCEEP, you end up with giant sequences of history and alt-history, meticulous if-then-else patterns, and rich and flavourful descriptions. I learned more history from this game than in some university courses, all the while guiding my tiny German principality through the perils of French, Habsburg, Polish, and Swedish expansionism. The event-chains don't railroad the player, they empower you to guide your state through a history that, hopefully, remains largely familiar. And in the end, battles still hinge on a roll of the dice. There is nothing quite like EU2 out there, and even Paradox knows that. They made different games, but none that surpassed this one.
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