Europa Universalis III

 PC
User Score
8.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 225 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 185 out of 225
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 225
  3. Negative: 16 out of 225
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  1. JohnB
    Jul 10, 2009
    0
    Just don't buy this game. It's buggy as hell. Not the "Well, some users experience issues" buggy. The "I run into bugs every play session, the game crashes for multiple reasons, the patch introduces new issues, your save can get borked, the tutorials don't even work and aren't likely to get fixed ever" sort of buggy. And in a game where your average game session can Just don't buy this game. It's buggy as hell. Not the "Well, some users experience issues" buggy. The "I run into bugs every play session, the game crashes for multiple reasons, the patch introduces new issues, your save can get borked, the tutorials don't even work and aren't likely to get fixed ever" sort of buggy. And in a game where your average game session can easily last dozens of hours, running into a bug every hour or two really adds up. While it's true that the game is built for a very small fan base, and some of that fan base really loves it, I wish they'd vote with their pocketbooks and go buy something from Strategy First instead.… Expand
  2. andreai
    Apr 23, 2009
    2
    This game is easy to understand and to menage, imo too much to be called a real strategic, but the heavy issue is about bugs. As many ppl told before, it does not match the historical simulation that is supposed to be as all the "factions" seem to operate quite random during time. Personally i could pass by that historical fake giving a sufficient rate or better if the game was a good This game is easy to understand and to menage, imo too much to be called a real strategic, but the heavy issue is about bugs. As many ppl told before, it does not match the historical simulation that is supposed to be as all the "factions" seem to operate quite random during time. Personally i could pass by that historical fake giving a sufficient rate or better if the game was a good one, but bugs and frustrating situations happens too often. Trying to be sintetic when you start to be used to the game you also start to understand that all the messages shown in boxes as results of various actions are completely random, sometimes very funny as you are supposed to ally with yourself or discover a new area that you never tried to reach. But that random mood happens for discovers, economic or war matters. In example a box shows that your merchant beaten one another in a specific trade area and took his place, than you see.. first your merchant is not listed there, second that the merchant of the other country who was suppoesed to be beaten is not there too. So basically that game is random for everything that count in a strategic game. Also you can add the nearly zero possibility you have to negotiate with other countries, expecially asking or recieving an offer of peace during war. Every single battle AI usually ask you to surrender paying a tribute even if you did not start the war and even if you are defo winning. Other things made me wander if they have beta testers that played in their life something on a PC.. like you cant know in game how many regiments could be stored in a fleet of transport boats before trying it one by one, or worse then this, you cant load troops on boats when the boat is docked, but ony if you move it on the sea, really WTF situations. I really cant understand some scores and reviews about that game.… Expand
  3. Paul
    Jun 24, 2009
    0
    This vote isn't about the game play - though, the game play is not so hot, it really didn't change all that much from EU2, it feels more like they slapped on some bad 3D graphics and shoveled it out the door with minor updates. What this vote is about is about how buggy the game is and the terrible tech support. The tech support forum -which you can only access with a registered This vote isn't about the game play - though, the game play is not so hot, it really didn't change all that much from EU2, it feels more like they slapped on some bad 3D graphics and shoveled it out the door with minor updates. What this vote is about is about how buggy the game is and the terrible tech support. The tech support forum -which you can only access with a registered copy - Hmmm does someone not want the general public to be able to see how many bug reports there are? I think so! - is full of reports about issues that generally point to data corruption and save file issues - yet the typical response by the unpaid, non-technical 'support' staff is "What are your graphics settings" "Update your drivers" "Check to make sure your system is over heating (WTF??? This game is not FarCry2)" Needless to say, it's completely unhelpful and useless tech support that, if you try to go along with it, has you running around spinning your wheels - most people seem to just give up. One thread I saw had a guy who took their machine to a computer lab to test the chip heat (guess what, it was fine, yup, definitely a wild goose chase). One issue that actually HAD gotten resolved had you manually editing your save file, looking for a broken entry among 1700 province records. And given the small user base + the number of bug postings, you WILL run into bugs if you play this game. End result : Get EU2 from the bargain bin if you want to play this sort of game. Don't support a company that's shoveling out bad merchandise.… Expand
  4. CharlesH.
    May 24, 2007
    3
    Outdated, nerfed, less years then EU2(1419).
  5. ShaunG
    Oct 9, 2008
    3
    John A's review hits the mark (albeit unintentionally)...a historical simulation that deviates from history, often excessively so. I can't think of any greater condemnation of a historical strategy game, and IMO the ones who "don't understand" are Paradox themselves. Simply unfathomable. In any case, to each his own...for those who don't care for actual historical John A's review hits the mark (albeit unintentionally)...a historical simulation that deviates from history, often excessively so. I can't think of any greater condemnation of a historical strategy game, and IMO the ones who "don't understand" are Paradox themselves. Simply unfathomable. In any case, to each his own...for those who don't care for actual historical accuracy in their historical strategy games, this won't be a bad game to play. For the rest of us, this is astonishingly overrated garbage.… Expand
  6. Coeco
    Dec 15, 2012
    3
    For all it's intense depth, length and re-playability, EU 3 ultimately fails to deliver a solid combat experience which can be a lethal blow for games like this. One example would be on how combat ends with your enemies once either your morale or theirs gets too low, ultimately causing one side to run away even with deaths that can be as small as 300. So for an 12,000 man army to rumpleFor all it's intense depth, length and re-playability, EU 3 ultimately fails to deliver a solid combat experience which can be a lethal blow for games like this. One example would be on how combat ends with your enemies once either your morale or theirs gets too low, ultimately causing one side to run away even with deaths that can be as small as 300. So for an 12,000 man army to rumple over an army of about 3000, you would pretty much need to chase them around the world in order to actually kill the unit off. This develops hair-pulling frustration when you are engaging more than 2-3 different enemy troops, while not big, stray too far from repeatedly kicking the same unit away and he'll grab your territory. Same frustration can also be found in the "Tech" bars, where you have production, navy, government and stability to pour funding into without knowing what the rewards will be in the slightest. And if you want to become especially precise in a certain field, you'll have extremely heavy draw-backs due to the tech being discovered "Too early", leaving you wasting years of in-game time to get a small 1% bonus. Of course you can choose to not spend this money like a proper sane individual but then the game will punish you for "Inflating" your currency, pretty much giving you an guaranteed chance to fail later. In the end, this game has too many angles and I certainly don't blame them for balance-issues but dropping the ball on combat? Come on now.… Expand
  7. ForceMagic
    Aug 17, 2011
    0
    I love historical games and I really like simulation/strategic games too. Looks like everything is in place to have a great game play experience. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case, I pick up Aztec for my first game and it was horrible. I read a lot of stuff on the internet in order to have an idea what to do to get out of this stupid tribal political system. I had to westernize, which II love historical games and I really like simulation/strategic games too. Looks like everything is in place to have a great game play experience. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case, I pick up Aztec for my first game and it was horrible. I read a lot of stuff on the internet in order to have an idea what to do to get out of this stupid tribal political system. I had to westernize, which I haven't been able to do after seven attempts and 37.4 hours of play time. And what is this annoying behavior of those "riots army" who flee when I WON?!? They run everywhere and I have to play cat and mouse all over my territory to fight over and over again until they finally get all killed. Ridiculous, it's as if they had not even tried to play their own game.… Expand
  8. Col.Cathcart
    Jan 25, 2007
    1
    The vote does not so much reflect gameplay as it does my disappointment with the new user interface. It's supposed to do glorious 3D justice to the gameplay underneath. It doesn't. It's 2D with ugly edges. It looks like you're playing Tetris with country sized blocks and that Ireland might drop onto Portugal at any minute. And the price? Prohibiting anyone with a The vote does not so much reflect gameplay as it does my disappointment with the new user interface. It's supposed to do glorious 3D justice to the gameplay underneath. It doesn't. It's 2D with ugly edges. It looks like you're playing Tetris with country sized blocks and that Ireland might drop onto Portugal at any minute. And the price? Prohibiting anyone with a not-designed-for-gaming system to play. And that should be quite a large chunk of core Paradox fans. For shame.… Expand
  9. MarioG.
    Feb 1, 2007
    4
    Graphics: Very poor. We are in 2007, not in 1997. Sound: Very good music. Game sound is normal. Gameplay: Incredible complex. The interface is poor for the user to control the game. The game is very slow and choppy. At first I thougth the game was historic but after the first king history is not relevant more. Final Word: If you like to look at spreadsheets with 3D very poor graphics and Graphics: Very poor. We are in 2007, not in 1997. Sound: Very good music. Game sound is normal. Gameplay: Incredible complex. The interface is poor for the user to control the game. The game is very slow and choppy. At first I thougth the game was historic but after the first king history is not relevant more. Final Word: If you like to look at spreadsheets with 3D very poor graphics and not historic at all, in spite of the title, buy this game.… Expand
  10. KurisuD.
    Jan 27, 2007
    0
    Never would launch the game even with the patch... requires a 128 MB video card or won't even start.. first time I have ever experienced such an issue.... incompetent programmers... I've heard ATI cards have issues with this game... lol the company expects you to buy a card specifically tailored for their game( which I hear doesn't even have spectacular graphics)... I would Never would launch the game even with the patch... requires a 128 MB video card or won't even start.. first time I have ever experienced such an issue.... incompetent programmers... I've heard ATI cards have issues with this game... lol the company expects you to buy a card specifically tailored for their game( which I hear doesn't even have spectacular graphics)... I would buy a new card, but considering Doom 3, Half-life 2, and Black & White 2 run fine on my system why bother as this game may stink anyways..so I've given it a 0 and got my money back.. 2ghz Pentium 4 Gefore4 TI....… Expand
  11. Alien_8Eight
    Feb 12, 2007
    4
    I am worried the choices taken in this version of the game. In spite of the name, the game does not take place in history, but in a alternative world where a minuscule state in Germany can end up colonizing all of North America, while England can end up being force married by another german insignificant state. It would be better if they put the pointy ears, the orks and making a fairy I am worried the choices taken in this version of the game. In spite of the name, the game does not take place in history, but in a alternative world where a minuscule state in Germany can end up colonizing all of North America, while England can end up being force married by another german insignificant state. It would be better if they put the pointy ears, the orks and making a fairy tale map. DISAPPOINTING.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

29
#29 Best PC Game of 2007
36
#36 Most Discussed PC Game of 2007

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. GameZone
    85
    I was drawn to play Europa Universalis III because of the sheer amount of options that it offers. Not many games allow you to control an empire for more than 300 years and allow you to do it any way you see fit.
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  2. 1UP
    90
    Remarkably well-honed-arguably Paradox's finest achievement in the form to date.
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  3. GamePro
    90
    While it covers the same ground, there has been enough of a shift from the old roots to ensure the experience stays fresh while maintaining the features that have made the series the premier example of grand strategy on the PC today.
    Read full review
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