Europa Universalis vs The Third Age
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.
The Third Age
The Third Age is a pretty typical MMO strategy game that uses a more modern gameplay formula, allowing for more real-time interactions between warring factions, and hence, players. Set in a world that was taken over by the Demon King, it is now up to you, the fabled lord who will finally bring an end to his evil reign, but first, you’ll need to gather up an army!Overall, The Third Age is a pretty decent browser-based MMO strategy game with a much more interactive world map and casual-like gameplay due to auto-combat, despite its generic storyline. Progress can be a bit slow once you hit level 3 Castle, however, so the game may end up becoming one of those more casual MMO games whereby logging in once or twice a day is enough.