I’ve always been curious to play a Europa Universalis game but never got around to purchasing the earlier versions. It intrigues me when we have a strategy game of this scope why I never got my claws on it. I should have because I love a good strategic game that has lots of complex thought processes as this one does. Europa Universalis III: Complete didn’t let me down.

Paradox Interactive’s franchise has always filled a niche for those who love a deep historical grand strategic game. Its unique approach brings a series an appealing dearth of updates that should give fans of the series a breath of fresh air. Players can take charge of up to any of the 250 countries, giving them freedom to commit to different strategies — from small weak countries to budding empires. From the grand campaign starting in 1399, to any of the 10 other scenarios, you’ll find your time occupied for hours in real-time gameplay.

As a leader, you will be able to explore, trade, develop your infrastructure, colonize and make treaties. This all in real time, but so as to not overwhelm you with that feature, you can pause the game, make your decisions and then get right back into the action. There are no victory conditions to speak of in this game. You can determine how successful you are by setting goals that will obtain the objectives you have planned — whether conquering your neighbors to establishing trade routes.

Since I haven’t played previous versions, all I can say is that the user interface is nicely placed so that the majority of the screen is filled with the map. Popdown boxes and screen notes are nonintrusive but quite packed with information that aids in playing. Pausing the game frequently will help you in gathering necessary information without losing out on what the previous important message might have been that affects your decision making.

The tutorial portion while helpful doesn’t explain all the various features that will help you in your decisions. Such things as spies and traders are skimmed over; others such as ship movement aren’t explained at all. You’ll have to hit the manual every now and then for explanations for a game this massive.

One of the neat features is starting in any of 11 scenarios from the Grand Campaign to the 100 Years War or the American Revolution. The political map shows who controls the countries; the religious map shows how far various religions affect what geopolitical areas. Each area is color-coded to indicate what you control at all times. In my case, I kept it on the political map to indicate what countries were being controlled by what major powers or were independent, jumping to other maps as needed.

Again not knowing the AI of previous versions, all I can indicate that the AI in this game is very smart and can follow through with decisions that will surprise you. In the games I played, I either lost to the AI or boxed myself in where I could not make any major decisions without starting a war that had three or more allied countries attacking me. One thing you may consider is that playing a small country will be hard work as income does play a role. Ducats don’t flow freely in this game, and unless you want a revolt down the road, you will have to watch your taxing policies.

Decisions that influence the ebb and flow of the game can be unpredictable at times, and you may have a country breaking apart after the death of a ruler or vassal states may revolt if things get too bad. No game is ever the same as the AI bases its actions depending on what you may or may not do. Government types, royal marriages, alliances and trade agreements, are just a number of things that can have countries coming over to you. You have to pick and choose carefully how you will become a major power player.

There are parts of the game that I can’t compare to previous versions. Such things as national ideas and the Holy Roman Empire piqued my interest due to being manipulative, but one problem is not knowing when a person was bribed or that insulting your neighbor might inflict a declaration of war at the wrong time. I had to be very careful in forming alliances as some resulted in crossing nations that would be detrimental.

Another thing that I thought was interesting was the concept of hiring generals and admirals depending on your military tradition. If you were at war, footing the chance of hiring one of these was better than a nation that didn’t engage in war a lot. You can specify different types of troops or hire mercenaries. Again everything is based on the ducat, so you have to watch carefully your spending habits so things don’t run into the red. If that happens, you’ll need to take out loans to pay for the upkeep of the country. New money always comes Jan. 1 and out-of-pocket expenses are spread throughout the remainder of the year.

Graphics of this game were great. I can’t speak for the earlier versions, but with the layers of maps, a journal, dropdown menus and pop ups, it definitely wasn’t bland. The musical score was pleasing, though nothing stood out. Although, as things changed, the score accompanied and complemented the action. This game had good animation so that you didn’t have cardboard characters to look at when you zoomed in the map. And the village pictures changed when you were constructing new buildings — all in all a very detailed game.

My closing thoughts are that this is a game that fills a niche for those players looking for something different in nation-building games with a big kettle of managing to micromanaging every aspect of your nation. I liked the well-thought concepts and never felt that getting a whipping would cause me do discard this game. There was always something different each time I played. For those who have played previous versions, I think you’ll enjoy Europa Universalis III: Complete very much. For the beginner looking for something different in a strategic real-time simulation game, this might just be up your alley.