Europa Universalis vs Europa Universalis IV
Europa Universalis
Europa Universalis is a historical real-time grand strategy game that includes all aspects of world history in the Early Modern Europe era, a period of time between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Due to the game's meticulous need to be accurate in its historical accounts (period monarchs, known military leaders, and technological advancements), the game can, in some way, be doubled as an educational game since you can learn quite a lot simply by playing it.That said, the gameplay in Europa Universalis is just incredible for its time. The game is played on a huge world map that is divided into around 1,500 provinces where you can literally govern your nation the way you like. You can get involved in your nation's colonization efforts, explore new lands, trade with neighboring countries, wage war when they renegade on that very trade deal, spread the religion you've adopted far and wide, and of course, navigate the tricky political waters of diplomacy.
Not to mention, instead of using a turn-based format, the game has opted for a pauseable real-time format, so you can pause the game, issues orders and plan out strategies, before unpausing the game and let the world events play out. There are even tons of historically-based missions and events which may affect the world based on your actions and decisions.
When it comes to grand strategy games, there are only a handful that truly embodies the genre, and obviously, Europa Universalis is one of them. However, being the original game in the franchise, the graphics might be a bit worn for wear, but if you don't really mind, you can definitely pick this game up from GoG.com.
Europa Universalis IV
Europa Universalis IV is the fourth game in the award-winning Europa Universalis franchise. Similar to its predecessors, the game has everything you'd need to build your own nation from the ground up and guide it through the ages. The freedom in which you get to customize your giverning style, your nation and even your game is simply ridiculous (in a good way) and of course, the best selling point of this series is that almost everything is based on accurate historical references, be it a historical figure or an event. This time around you'll get to grow your nation over a much wider span of history, arrange royal marriages, form coalitions, support rebels in proxy wars and more. You can even cooperate with up to 32 different players to govern a single nation. The multiplayer mode apparently now has an improved chat and a new matchmaking system.Unfortunately, the major downside about this game is that the developers, Paradox Interactive, have apparently "sold-out" by adding in features that should have been in the original game into DLCs that players actually have to pay extra for, ending up spending over $200 for just a single game. Not to mention, many players have complained that the DLCs they release are priced at the same price point despite having progressively lower amount of content.
That said, the game is still an epic masterpiece and a worthy sequel to the Europa Universalis series, but the game's hardcore player base is admittedly not happy, and honestly, we wouldn't recommend getting this game unless you can get all of the DLCs dirt cheap... maybe like in a bundle.
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