Europa Universalis IV
I’m a divorced woman of color. Recently, my ex got our son Larry a video game called Europa Universalis for his 14th birthday. It seemed good for him, because it takes place in the distant past and he’s always been interested in history, so it seemed like a nice enough game, no graphic violence or anything, at least until I sat down and watched him play at it. I don’t know what sorts of racists made this game, but it’s basically a colonialism and genocide justification simulator. If you want to survive, you need to have access to money and soldiers, and the most (only) reliable way to ensure you have enough is to attack and conquer your weaker neighbors. If you don’t, you can be sure someone else will eventually come attack and conquer you.
– Real player with 4558.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Alternate History Historical Games.
So EU4 was a good game. Then they released the 450+ ‘bug fixes’. The entire game outside Europe has now been put back behind a new paywall unless you have the paradise DLC as it is now impossible to develop your provinces to spawn institutions as army tradition gives you impossibly high dev costs. I played one game and when I needed to dev an institution from a 1/1/1 grasslands province and starting cost is 120. That is only with 33 army tradition giving a 150% penalty. This was a custom nation and I had -20% dev cost. Good job paradox forcing everyone to buy your shittiest dlc in order to use any of the other DLC’s you have paid for. The game is now broken outside of Europe without the paradise dlc. You make me sick Paradox!
– Real player with 1819.5 hrs in game
Hearts of Iron IV
Let’s be real, you’re here because you want to finally have the chance to play as a Nazi.
Maybe you’re someone like me. I’m always the good guy, the Jedi, the Paragon, the lawful good.
Then when playing Hearts of Iron IV something in me snapped, I came to see that in these strategy games you are the villain, you are evil.
Embrace it, let the hate strengthen you, harden your heart to the lamentations of your foes, sit atop a throne of skulls steeped in blood and command all you survey.
If I’ve learned anything by talking to other gamers, it’s that if someone makes a game where you can kill people, some gamer is going to kill everything that can be killed in that game. Be that gamer, and enjoy this gem of a game. 10/10
– Real player with 3419.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Alternate History World War II Games.
after 1500 hours i can tell you the developers dont care about this game, mod creators make better and more enspired content as 1 or 2 people they charge 20 dollars for them to break your game and kill the community with there unenspired lazy dlc filled with expliots and bugs tank designer is so broken and transport planes are actually supply a whole army with 200 planes and its taken them more them weeks and they still havnt fixed it it is just a value they have to change in the game code modders have already fixed it in days sad to see that this company is all about the money so sad man i just want to play a game that is made by people that care
– Real player with 1562.3 hrs in game
Espiocracy
Disclaimer: Trailer & screenshots are early work in progress
GRAND ESPIONAGE STRATEGY
Choose one of 102 countries and guide character-driven national intelligence agency through rough seas of the Cold War. From Soviet KGB and American CIA, up to Israeli Mossad and British MI6, expect different approaches to grand strategy gameplay.
INNOVATIVE MECHANICS
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Espionage finally made as it should be
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Precise modelling of views & ideologies
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Direct links between causes and effects
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System of geopolitically active actors
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Emergent multipolar simulation
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Operation plans, campaigns, and opportunities
MEANINGFUL DECISIONS
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Prioritize grand scale and leave micro to your operatives
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Establish contacts, threaten, exploit, and trade
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Manipulate public opinion, support and establish political factions
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Launch coups and proxy wars, falsify casus belli
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Hunt spies and terrorists, protect internal stability
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Form alliances, prepare all-out attacks, break rules
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Advise country leader on critical decisions such as military interventions
DANGEROUS TIDES OF HISTORY
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Nuclear race: first atom bombs, thermonuclear revolution, mutually assured destruction
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Huge progress in technology, simulated in the game with Kuhn’s paradigm shifts
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After-war poverty, civil wars, controversial past
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Configurable balance between alternate history and determinism
Read More: Best Alternate History Simulation Games.
NovaMundi: The Spear of Chaquén
I love the game. It is very refreshing to find a game in a new world and based on a new-old mythology and set up. This is not a medieval fantasy or your generic story. This is about real events, with some changes in order to improve gameplay and storytelling but in such a way that is interesting. Of course, because it is in early access it has a lot to improve and tweak but I recommend to give it a chance and help the developer to develop…
Now, gameplay wise you have a party and you need to explore the (huge) map to finish missions. There are towns with markets where buy supplies and hire party members. At least for now and for me, the game can be hard. But there is a lot to learn that scratch that final part.
– Real player with 8.6 hrs in game
I’ll update my review as needed, but so far…
The game has huge potential. There are a few bugs, but it just released in early access, so give it a minute. Other than the bugs, I really like some of the game concepts.
The map is pretty big. I’m in day 35 or so and have only explored maybe 1/3 of it. Combat can be optimized, but it’s still pretty rewarding to watch 40 dudes just melt to your warband.
Excited to see what the coming months bring.
– Real player with 4.5 hrs in game
Victoria 3
SHAPE A GRAND TOMORROW
Paradox Development Studio invites you to build your ideal society in the tumult of the exciting and transformative 19th century. Balance the competing interests in your society and earn your place in the sun in Victoria 3, one of the most anticipated games in Paradox’s history.
THE ULTIMATE SOCIETY SIMULATOR
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Lead dozens of world nations from 1836-1936. Agrarian or Industrial, Traditional or Radical, Peaceful or Expansionist… the choice is yours.
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Detailed population groups with their own economic needs and political desires.
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Reform your government and constitution to take advantage of new social innovations, or preserve the stability of your nation by holding fast to tradition in the face of revolutionaries.
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Research transformative new technology or ideas to improve your national situation.
DEEP ECONOMIC SYSTEM
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Expand your industry to take advantage of lucrative goods, taxing the profits to improve national prosperity.
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Import cheap raw materials to cover your basic needs while finding new markets for your finished goods.
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Secure vital goods to fuel your advanced economy and control the fate of empires.
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Balance employing available labor force with the needs for new types of workers.
PLAY ON A GRAND STAGE
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Use your diplomatic wiles to weave a tangled global web of pacts, relations, alliances, and rivalries to secure your diplomatic position on the world stage.
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Employ threats, military prowess and bluffs to persuade enemies to back down in conflicts.
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Increase your economic and military strength at the expense of rivals.
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Accumulate prestige and the respect of your rivals as you build an industrial giant at home or an empire abroad.
Europa Universalis III Complete
Whee. Europa 3, like its predecessors and its cousins Hearts of Iron and Victoria (Crusader Kings as well, but that isn’t as hard to learn), is an extremely complex game that is notoriously difficult to learn, not helped by crappy tutorials. I had an edge having been playing this series since its first installment, but it still took some time to get used to everything. So right from the start expect a significant time investment on learning how to play the game, and learning to do well at it. War, Diplomacy, Trade, Exploration, and more. It’s all here.
– Real player with 535.5 hrs in game
As far as I’m concerned, this is the best game ever - especially in this version with the first two additions to the game.
To a certain extent, it is comparable to the Total War games, if they only included the map mode, which would here be simplified to armies only being able to move from province to province and not within a province. However, you have a more complicated diplomacy and domestic policy to deal with.
Another thing that makes it different, and, for my taste, better than the Total War games, is the greater realism and historical accuracy - in this game you can’t just conquer everything, and it remains challenging for the more than four centuries that its timespan covers.
– Real player with 492.4 hrs in game
Strategy & Tactics: Dark Ages
This game delivers some depth in thinking your strategy and tactics in terms of choosing the most effective formation and unit combination. The game might seem a bit difficult at first but once you start grasping the battle mechanics, the game becomes pretty easy to beat although somewhat time consuming depending on which scenario and how much upgrade you have invested on certain type of units. This game delivers some fun and challenge while providing a reasonable challenge and replayability for the price. What makes this game quite replayable once you beat all the scenarios is that you can choose and spend your glory points to keep highly skilled generals and use them again in other scenarios. Also once you have invested in weapon and armor for certain type of troops of your choosing, that upgrades stay for good so when you play other scenarios, you start those scenarios with upgraded stats for the units that you have invested in.
– Real player with 190.1 hrs in game
Early Access Watcher Public Service Announcement
Game: Strategy & Tactics: Dark Ages
Update Version: v1.0 Patch #1
Disclosure: This game copy was bought by the reviewer.
Game Footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHc0yrOBAjQ
Strategy & Tactics: Dark Ages is a turn-based strategy title by the developers over at HeroCraft. HeroCraft are no stranger to the strategy genre, making several medieval and modern themed games over the past year. It has been over a month since the game released into Early Access and it has already seen some patchwork to fix some of the crippling launch issues. While the tactics are indeed present in the game, some key mechanics and technical issues make the experience feel more like a battle of attrition than coherent operation.
– Real player with 15.7 hrs in game
Supreme Ruler The Great War
To avoid confusion or disappointments, this game is not for people that want fancy graphics and fantasy WWI or WWII games. It’s also not about building up an empire throughout the centuries like civilization or other country-building games.
It’s a mixture on warfare strategy and tactics with the emphasis on warfare.
Almost all games I know in this scene get very slow when handling 100+ units or maps larger then 200x100 plots.
Supreme Ruler has I think 1,5 million plots. The earth map is very accurate. So it’s not like you’re unit is crossing Germany in just “next step” it really takes a whole to cross especially if you’re enemies with Germany it will take a while to beat the enemy.
– Real player with 711.8 hrs in game
I’ve played the Supreme Ruler series since SR2020 now 10 years ago. SRGW is an excellent game if you understand how to play it. There is a learning curve.
DIPLOMACY: Diplomatic relations will broadly trace historical trends if you have the default settings on. Otherwise, the diplomatic relations seem mostly random (even if they aren’t), simulating various diplomatic accomplishments or crises going on behind the scenes and outside of direct view to you as the Supreme Ruler. Setting volatility to “High” in the lobby before you start your game can cause relations to improve or deteriorate quickly on their own. If your volatility is set to “None” relations hardly change at all without your direct input. If you have no problem spending your country’s money on diplomacy, use “support the ruling regime” option for a particular country, and the relations will improve with the government you are targeting, apparently simulating diplomatic efforts to increase ties with that nation. On the other hand, if you spend money to “support opposition” the relations will deteriorate with that government somewhat quickly without explanation, soon giving you a pretext on which to declare war. Trading often and generously (on terms more favorable to the other side) will increase your relations slowly with the common people of the country (as opposed to its government/ruling elite) over time. You are able to build spy networks in the countries of your choosing. You can also arm rebel factions in countries that you oppose. There is a wide array of treaty types from which you can choose to build relationships with other regions. That’s essentially it as far as the diplomacy system goes. The diplomacy has dramatically improved with recent patches, and the AI now actively creates alliances and declares war and peace, something it did not do very often before.
– Real player with 141.0 hrs in game
Hearts of Iron III
This game lets you play as any country during World War 2. I played the base game plus all expansions (SF, FtM, TFH).
You can manage every aspect of the war, from diplomacy to espionage to research to actual combat. You can even try to stay neutral and sit out the fighting if you want, but what fun would that be?
There is an enormous amount of complexity - casual gamers beware! If one part of the war is too tedious for you, it can be set to be automated. For example, rather than personally overseeing every trade deal you can check a box and let the computer handle all of your trades. The computer is not as smart as a person and it can’t metagame but in most tasks it does an adequate job.
– Real player with 755.9 hrs in game
The King of Grand Strategy
Most of you who visit the shop-page for Hearts of Iron III probably already know what this game is all about. It’s a hardcore (as hardcore as it can get, actually!) Grand Strategy Game by Paradox Interactive. That one sentence really says it all.
This review is intended for those who don’t yet know what Grand Strategy (the capitals are there with a purpose!) is all about. Simply put: Grand Strategy games are the best, but also the most complex, pc gaming has to offer. They are immersive, complex, and very addictive. They are not for everyone, that’s for sure. You don’t play them for the graphics, nor for the sounds or some great level-design, but only for the gameplay, which can also be very, very difficult to master. There are tons of stats, of units and/or provinces to be controlled and only one person who has the power to control them: you.
– Real player with 408.6 hrs in game
Secret Government
I really want to like this game, and in a lot of respects I do. I actually wish Steam had a middle option between the binary of recommend: yes/no, and the last thing I want to see is the devs give up on this due to negative feedback. However, I’m sure most people would be disappointed by the game in its current state, so “no” it is.
It’s a great concept and it has a lot of promise, but the game is incredibly game breakingly buggy and there are some very obvious gaps where development just never caught up to what was planned. The developers have stated their intentions to keep working on the game, and I really hope I can rewrite this review into a recommendation at some point. Outside of the issues, what the devs were going for is very apparent, and I would love to see it more fleshed out. There is one circumstance in which I would recommend this game that I will include at the bottom of the review.
– Real player with 90.4 hrs in game
Let me level with you: this is a thinking person’s game. Though its aesthetics reminds one of the Europa Universalis games, if you lack the patience to tackle your goals in a subtle, clandestine way, you will suffer. Unlike the EU games, you cannot simply go up to a ruler and order them to go to war with another country, nor can you simply go to the citizens and order them to support your newly created political party. In fact, it is best if neither are aware of your existence at all as they will crush you if their Awareness of your Brotherhood is high enough and it doesn’t necessarily have to reach 100 first for them to start weakening your Brotherhood.
– Real player with 54.4 hrs in game