Europa Universalis IV

 PC
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1463 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,250 out of 1463
  2. Mixed: 115 out of 1463
  3. Negative: 98 out of 1463

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  1. Klewer
    Sep 15, 2013
    8
    Another very strong and feature rich game from Paradox. Continues to improve on the previous version and adds new features. While it does not bring anything overly exciting or brand new the amount of time and enjoyment you will get from this makes it well worth the price.
  2. Tytos
    Nov 5, 2013
    8
    This is nothing for the mentally handicapped. A lot has improved since EU3, especially the multiplayer-features. My only critique here is that there is too much focus on rulers, it's pure luck due to this system how easy or hard your nation is going to be played and that's pretty frustrating, especially in multiplayer.
  3. Jockedamus
    Aug 18, 2013
    8
    Other than the huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge rebel groups that sometime appear and ruin the game I'm starting to enjoy this more and more. However I really do think you should be able to spend cash for research boosts.
  4. metagray
    Aug 31, 2013
    8
    The text is not sharp or big enough at 1920x1080 resolution. Too bad that they make such a good game but can't solve basic problems that existed in previous games.
  5. SchnitzelPoof
    Feb 20, 2014
    8
    After sinking (way too much) time into this game, I can say that I absolutely LOVE it.
    However, be warned that this style fits a particular kind of strategy gamer, not all of them. For example, if you enjoy Total War games (which I also love), EU IV might not necessarily give you the right thrill.
    For one thing, it has a steep learning curve for newcomers (such as myself), who didn't    After sinking (way too much) time into this game, I can say that I absolutely LOVE it.
    However, be warned that this style fits a particular kind of strategy gamer, not all of them. For example, if you enjoy Total War games (which I also love), EU IV might not necessarily give you the right thrill.

    For one thing, it has a steep learning curve for newcomers (such as myself), who didn't play EU III or similar installments from Paradox, but if you have the patience to learn the details (and there are many of them), you get to play a game that covers a fascinating historic period, on an unsurpassed scale - the entire span of the globe, no less, from East to West.
    It has a deep diplomatic model, which can be very satisfying to use. Wars, in particular, are not a matter of extermination, but can rather serve as a means to weaken an enemy, gain some territory, or (my favorite) force enemies to grant independence to countries they had annexed earlier.

    On the other hand, the satisfaction EU IV provides is mostly cerebral. There is a lot of satisfaction in seeing your carefully laid plans bear fruit, but your time is spent gazing at the map which, as pretty as it may be, is still a map; and at numerous icons, texts, and information sheets. EU IV might be a very complex board game, but that's what it is, basically. In regards to audio-visual entertainment, the cover image is the most exciting part of the game, so if that's what you're after, I suggest looking elsewhere.

    Still, if you enjoy strategizing, outwitting foes, and growing a country that you picked to scary proportions, I believe you will love Europa Universalis IV almost as much as I do.    … Expand
  6. mcmanusaur
    Oct 20, 2013
    8
    ---Rating---
    Design: 4 /5 (good strategy gameplay, frustrating randomness, a few design issues)
    Polish: 4 /5 (graphics are acceptable given the game's nature, some bugs are present) Value: 5 /5 (huge map with excellent replay potential and emergent storytelling aspect) ---Review--- While Europa Universalis may never be as flashy from a technical or "eye candy" perspective as some    ---Rating---
    Design: 4 /5 (good strategy gameplay, frustrating randomness, a few design issues)
    Polish: 4 /5 (graphics are acceptable given the game's nature, some bugs are present)
    Value: 5 /5 (huge map with excellent replay potential and emergent storytelling aspect)

    ---Review---
    While Europa Universalis may never be as flashy from a technical or "eye candy" perspective as some other historical strategy titles, its fourth installment provides significantly more depth and freedom than any of those competitors. This is simply a must-play for history buffs, but otherwise it's a very solid and functional (cough, TWR2) grand strategy game with an emphasis on expansion and trade. Although the interface and controls are much more accessible than in previous iterations, some of the mechanics remain quite clunky; trade is heavily abstracted and the combat system is relatively simplistic. There are even a couple instances of what might more-or-less objectively be labeled poor design decisions, including the occasional punishing random event over which the player has no control. The fact that the rest of the game is excellent unfortunately makes its few obvious flaws stand out even more, but that said if you can get past the randomness and arbitrary abstractions Europa Universalis- with all of its immense replay value- can be a very rewarding experience.    … Expand
  7. CopyPaste
    Aug 29, 2013
    8
    EU IV for me is one of the most eagerly anticipated games of the year. I’ve played all the previous instalments and just couldn’t wait for a sequel. Now we have it, and it’s great. For the most part.

    It’s still the good ol’ EU, with some improvements in graphics and UI departments, and many new bells and whistles. The new game engine we know from Crusader Kings II is much more eye    EU IV for me is one of the most eagerly anticipated games of the year. I’ve played all the previous instalments and just couldn’t wait for a sequel. Now we have it, and it’s great. For the most part.

    It’s still the good ol’ EU, with some improvements in graphics and UI departments, and many new bells and whistles. The new game engine we know from Crusader Kings II is much more eye appealing than the oh-my-God-it’s-so-ugly EU III. UI is much more streamlined and isn’t as over-cluttered as before, and aims to make the player’s life easier. Some game mechanics are overhauled, some new are introduced, some are abandoned, but the game as a whole seems very well thought out. Again, for the most part.

    I have a feeling that you as a player have less direct, and more of an indirect influence on the functioning of your country of choice. For example, unlike before when you could compete for trade virtually anywhere in the world, now your country can net trade profits only in a couple of hubs, so you must steer trade flow to benefit those hubs, while your opponents will try to over-steer your efforts in a different direction. It’s an interesting mechanic that directs gameplay in new and interesting ways. Trade income, tax income, tariffs and so on, everything is automated now, and you as a ruler have only indirect influence on money earning and spending. All this is new and good, and once you get used to the new system, you can exploit it to great effects.

    Diplomacy was always the weakest link in the EU chain, and that hasn’t changed. We got rid of spies from EU III (and good riddance it is), and the new envoys mechanics are great. Now we have option of making coalitions, a viable way for small guys to survive in the neighbourhood of a big, bad aggressor. But peace-making mechanics are more broken than ever, and sooner or later you’ll find yourself in situation where you can’t possibly (I mean, literally, theoretically) make peace, so you’ll get stuck with an endless war that will break your country sooner or later. Only option is to loose (and badly) on purpose, or load an earlier saved game.

    For example, I play as Sweden, declare war on some single-province German state and puff, I have on my hands a war with half a Europe. OK, fine, but now Turkey (of all things) is in charge, and even if I crush the little German fellow, I can’t make peace unless I crush the Turks as well. I have no chance of marching across the entire (hostile) continent and winning anything, so there you have it, an endless war. They can’t beat me, I can’t beat them, and AI doesn’t seems to accept white peace any more. Even if I offer ceding some provinces and what-nots in situation when war score is positive for me, it’s a no go.

    So there you have it, a brand new Europa Universalis game. Somewhat broken, but still one of the best strategy games available today. I think I’ll wait for a couple of patches and let them fix stuff before I start playing it again, because, as things stand right now, it can get really frustrating, and that beats the game’s entire purpose having fun.    … Expand
  8. Lokomoko99764
    Sep 4, 2013
    8
    By all means one of Paradox Development Studio's better games (Although I like them all really). They've made much-needed improvements in comparison to EU3 in most areas, and although there is some controversy over the monarch point system and to a lesser extent trade, it's definitely worth the money. The visuals and season system is one thing in particular that is quite nice which IBy all means one of Paradox Development Studio's better games (Although I like them all really). They've made much-needed improvements in comparison to EU3 in most areas, and although there is some controversy over the monarch point system and to a lesser extent trade, it's definitely worth the money. The visuals and season system is one thing in particular that is quite nice which I wasn't expecting to enjoy as much as I did. I've yet to get the full enjoyment out of it after many hours.… Expand
  9. Back2c
    Nov 25, 2013
    8
    First of all, I'm a new player to EU. Then, to briefly sum up, that game is great but unfinished.

    Let's start by the wrong side the game crashes quite often (like 1 time on 5 or 6 when I accept a peace treaty), the translation isn't over (I'm playing the french version, and lots of stuff are nearly un-understandable due to translation that doesn't always make sense, sometimes not even    First of all, I'm a new player to EU. Then, to briefly sum up, that game is great but unfinished.

    Let's start by the wrong side the game crashes quite often (like 1 time on 5 or 6 when I accept a peace treaty), the translation isn't over (I'm playing the french version, and lots of stuff are nearly un-understandable due to translation that doesn't always make sense, sometimes not even translated), there's code in some pop-ups (FRONT_Stuff), and so on...

    Now the good side I find it a great strategy game, for it is complex (sometimes a bit too much, considering there are some information lacking, mostly about trade, and the ingame help is not really helping for it is far too short) but still manageable. The system of diplomatic alliances is complex yet you can't but use it if you plan on becoming important (and not being override by your foes), your economy is quite hard to manage (wars nearly always ruined me in the first times), and even after hours of playing, you still discover stuff you never noticed.

    Then again, it might not be different from previous EU, I can't compare. But this game is definitely great, though I advise you to wait for its development to be really ended.    … Expand
  10. 68Camaro
    Dec 16, 2013
    8
    Great game. Very addicting. A few minor quarks but every game has them. Paradox is getting better and better over time though. In a few years, I bet I have all their major titles, instead of just Hearts and Europa.
  11. Raybit
    Jan 29, 2014
    8
    This is my second review on this game and I just wanna update a few points I didn't mention before.

    First of all, to open the real door of this game, you need to active "Iron Man" mode in the option, which allow you to obtain achievements and also limit your saving file to only one. And during the game, it will auto save each month or when certain events happens. These setting will    This is my second review on this game and I just wanna update a few points I didn't mention before.

    First of all, to open the real door of this game, you need to active "Iron Man" mode in the option, which allow you to obtain achievements and also limit your saving file to only one. And during the game, it will auto save each month or when certain events happens. These setting will greatly alleviate pain of random dice issue in the war since in the most of case you will not put your army into a dangerous situation(or even in the balanced one) due to the fact you may win a battle but lose the war and there is only one record you can reload.

    Secondly, I guess most of players who just played within 40h may the part of exploring and colonizing. As you see, the whole game map only get charted a small part, and a big world is waiting for you to discovery. Unfortunately, there is no words mentioned this fact in EU4 tutorial... Go youtube, and find a way to allow allow you to do so.

    Last, I said technology upgrade is not that effective in my previous post, and that is totally wrong. Actually, their effects could became very obvious, especially when your tech tie is over other by 2 or more( at least, it is very true for military tech line). And normally, you can't over tech other countries too much as there is a limitation/roof for each tech line could reach in the certain age unless you are willing to expend substantially extra points and time for that.

    By understanding all these design rules, I think it is worth a score of 8. However, this deep depth will restraint a lot of people to find the fun from the game. After all, most of the reviewer of this game who give 9/10 score are very likely to fail to understand these rules& complicity but do the comparison superficially.

    Anyway, the Paradox game seems to be designed for player to learn not play in their first 50h :)    … Expand
  12. Vespa
    Feb 11, 2014
    8
    EU4 is a grand strategy game that keeps its predecessors model (EU3), with updated graphics and a more enriched feel to a grand strategy game its a joy to play. Each nation can rise to power and fall only to rise again within the same game, something all strategy games should copy. I like the new ideas, and tech system which allows u to upgrade tech then ideas to enhance a nationEU4 is a grand strategy game that keeps its predecessors model (EU3), with updated graphics and a more enriched feel to a grand strategy game its a joy to play. Each nation can rise to power and fall only to rise again within the same game, something all strategy games should copy. I like the new ideas, and tech system which allows u to upgrade tech then ideas to enhance a nation abilities, with a variety of choice, will u be an explorer or a conquer a merchant or an innovator, all is possible. The new diplomatic, military and administrator point system works great forcing u to think about when its time for peace so u can save military points for new military tech or go to war also they affect the construction buildings, they also have to b shared between ur ideas and tech. I found it a delight when they brought out an expansion pack that gave new native American nation and tech ect about time really....
    1 down side is that the AI doesnt really compete over the new world like I would have like, with only 2 - 3 nation really making an effort to colonise it becomes easy to take over the new world. Also I would have liked a more dynamic events system which allows for a nation to activily go though a civil war with regions divided up according to faction within the civil war similar to crusader kings 2 (mayb that will b in the expansion packs). Also colonies dont tend to want independents at all unless ur a complete dick to them. I would have liked random events that allow France to have a revolution at any time during the game or a more aggressive cultural change for the American culture from the English culture ect, in addition it would b nice if it was easier to cause spys to create political problems in other nations (that includes the AI sending spys to cause riots in my regions) as it seems pointless even using spys. That being send its a great game and I look forwards for further updates and expansions.    … Expand
  13. Greywolf2001ca
    Oct 11, 2014
    8
    A much better game than its predecessors. It is better made, the interface is similar but some tweaks have improved it greatly. The game itself is more pleasant to play and does not seem like a job like EU3 or the others, albeit being decent games too. EU4 is far from being as good as Crusader Kings 2 though. There are no family trees and you have no control over the succession of yourA much better game than its predecessors. It is better made, the interface is similar but some tweaks have improved it greatly. The game itself is more pleasant to play and does not seem like a job like EU3 or the others, albeit being decent games too. EU4 is far from being as good as Crusader Kings 2 though. There are no family trees and you have no control over the succession of your monarchs.
    You say, this is going to remove a way to take over a realm... but no, it is much easier to conquer land in EU4 than in Crusader Kings 2, especially if you have a good military or great prestige and reputation.
    I bought it at a huge discount on steam, but I think it worth at least 20$, so if you see it at the price or lower, buy it if you like strategy games. :)    … Expand
  14. mvm900
    Feb 5, 2016
    8
    I, unlike others apparently, enjoyed the game. Sadly it seems that some people couldn't figure out the game and I must confess that, in my 400 clocked hours on steam, have never touched the tutorial. I learn myself from just jumping in and seeing what happens and EU4 wasn't too hard to figure out. Some mechanics are still kind of weird and alien to me, like the trade system which isI, unlike others apparently, enjoyed the game. Sadly it seems that some people couldn't figure out the game and I must confess that, in my 400 clocked hours on steam, have never touched the tutorial. I learn myself from just jumping in and seeing what happens and EU4 wasn't too hard to figure out. Some mechanics are still kind of weird and alien to me, like the trade system which is actually kind of weird. All in all as a game I liked it for it's historical accuracy it aims to have.

    And onto the DLC. This game has been updated and changed since it's inception. It is now an almost completely different game. The DLC only adds stuff and you lose nothing by not buying them, and they go on sale quite a lot. A lot of paradox games do. In fact I picked up CK2 and all of it's DLC for $40. And they do it rather fairly on multiplayer because if the host has it everyone can use it.    … Expand
  15. tima26tl
    Dec 3, 2019
    8
    Europa Universalis is one of the most re-playable games that you can find. You can play for Any country from 1440-1821 period. Compare to the previous game it became much more diverse and detailed. All big nations feel unique thanks to the tree of missions and special mechanics. For the person who wants to start to play this game for the first time it will seem too complex, and most peopleEuropa Universalis is one of the most re-playable games that you can find. You can play for Any country from 1440-1821 period. Compare to the previous game it became much more diverse and detailed. All big nations feel unique thanks to the tree of missions and special mechanics. For the person who wants to start to play this game for the first time it will seem too complex, and most people will quit after few hours. It is a common problem for almost all Paradox games. Therefore, when you get into it will become one of your favourite strategy games.

    Strategy Element- 5/5 From the first moment you get a full control of your country. You control micro and macro econ, you have control over foreign policy, control over army...

    Re-playable element-2/2 As I said you can play for any country and as soon as you finish playing for one of them you would want to start playing for the new one.

    Multiplayer-0/1 Unfortunately it is almost impossible to play multiplayer. Me and my friends tried to play together but we couldn't play even at speed 4 out 5( speed of time). Our best result was speed 3, in the end we gave up since it would take us ages to finish the party.

    DLC-0/1 generally most of DLC are good and add interesting mechanics, but the problem is that there is more then 10+ DLC for which you need to pay 50+ dollars in total.

    Music-1/1 It is OK, a beat repetitive, I liked more the one in Stellaris    … Expand
  16. Thunfish
    Sep 28, 2019
    8
    EU IV is a fantastic game but with a massive caveat that really hurts the game. In itself, it's a pretty fun game that allows you to take any nation in the world somewhere before the start of World Exploration all the way to the French Revolution and basically turn them into a superpower. Even if you're not playing the game, you can just sit back and watch the AI spin the world in allEU IV is a fantastic game but with a massive caveat that really hurts the game. In itself, it's a pretty fun game that allows you to take any nation in the world somewhere before the start of World Exploration all the way to the French Revolution and basically turn them into a superpower. Even if you're not playing the game, you can just sit back and watch the AI spin the world in all sorts of ways. The only real downside (and why I'm not giving this a 10) have to be the DLCs.

    Don't get me wrong, Paradox still updates the game and the DLCs do keep the game alive as well but they can be pretty expensive at times, which really hurts the game, as some of those DLCs are actually pretty important for the game to be... well, properly playable. Still, a blast to play nonetheless, but this does become a bit of an issue pretty often.    … Expand
  17. YigidOx2
    Feb 12, 2021
    8
    Paradox Interactive is already the god of strategy games. EU4 is a bit of a complicated game. But the playing time is very long. One of the best strategy games.
  18. JanuszekPLY
    Sep 8, 2021
    8
    Very great game. I really appreciate my amatour 500h in game. I had and i will have so much fun with my friends playing ths. I like strategic games from Paradox. And even that i still cant normally exit to main menu bc of popup and playing without dlcs is mess that still. i like this game
  19. kitru
    May 23, 2021
    8
    Отличная стратежка, с друзьями позависать самое то, из-за относительно понятного большинству временного промежутка игры ( до первой мировой ), где мы наблюдаем уже знакомые нам Польшу, Пруссию, Османов, каждый найдет себе страну по душе. Как только поиграл за все страны и испробовал все страты - забрасываешь (у меня ушло на это 500+ часов).Отличная стратежка, с друзьями позависать самое то, из-за относительно понятного большинству временного промежутка игры ( до первой мировой ), где мы наблюдаем уже знакомые нам Польшу, Пруссию, Османов, каждый найдет себе страну по душе. Как только поиграл за все страны и испробовал все страты - забрасываешь (у меня ушло на это 500+ часов).
  20. Jackie_Jackson
    May 26, 2022
    8
    Всё очень просто как играть в эту игру почему все говорят про высокий порог вхождения если ты заходишь за Францию и можно сразу сдаться?
  21. Marube
    Oct 12, 2022
    8
    It's a great game if you like history and strategy games. It really makes you feeeeel like a 15th century tyrant. The dlc system is very rough, many dlcs completely change the way you play the game, and there is like 30 of them. I dont think that you should lock whole core game mechanics ander such a paywall.
  22. donatodo
    Dec 27, 2022
    8
    As the name suggests, the game is very euro-centric. They don't do a good job with Eastern concepts. For example, Buddhism is a dharmic religion, which should be categorized under Hinduism and Sikhism. As someone not from Europe, the game gets boring very quickly.
  23. Mikimax
    Aug 21, 2013
    7
    This game is gonna make your head, eyes and back hurt, it's gonna eat your life away and give you insomnia. If you have a life, stay away, if you have time to waste, this is the game for you!
  24. Tubey
    May 16, 2015
    7
    Hmmm what to make of this... on one side of the coin, this is an absolutely majestic bit of game making with an unparalleled amount of attention to detail. But on the other side, it is horrifically dictated by RNG random events and has the smallest UI text known to mankind; which is bad because this game lives and dies by its' massive amount of menus and sub menus.

    Intricate is the    Hmmm what to make of this... on one side of the coin, this is an absolutely majestic bit of game making with an unparalleled amount of attention to detail. But on the other side, it is horrifically dictated by RNG random events and has the smallest UI text known to mankind; which is bad because this game lives and dies by its' massive amount of menus and sub menus.

    Intricate is the buzzword here. It is a horrid game to try and get into, and a lot of players will turn it off within 30 minutes because not since the likes of X-Com (the old one) has a game been this reliant on literally hundreds of micro options. So it's crucial you get the UI and navigation right - EU4 does and doesn't in equal measure. The menus are strategy gamer porn - but you need a magnifying glass to see them. So it makes the game a pleasure and a chore in equal measure.

    A key part of the game is a stat called Stability, and it is this that is very much in the hands of the RNG gods, as random events pop up at... well, random, to undo your best laid plans. Rather than add to the game an element of dynamism, they serve to by and large annoy.

    You can pore hundreds of hours into this, then look back with satisfaction but also an element of "what the hell did I just do all that for?" It's fun and tedious, compelling yet labour intensive.

    In summary, if you love Civilisation and want an extra challenge (albeit an overstated one; when you get the hang of this, it's positively easy), then EU4 is for you. If you haven't played Civ, consider picking up Civ4 first and getting your feet wet before delving into this, as it's a game where even the tutorial takes pleasure in complicating you.    … Expand
  25. thenerdmaster
    Aug 19, 2013
    7
    This installment of the europa universalis series has improved alot of features about the game, making the game easier to play, keeping complexity but making the game less complicated. What I don't like is that the AI is still pretty bad in the EU series. While the opponent wont send troops to random suicide missions like previous installments it's basically still broken. For exampleThis installment of the europa universalis series has improved alot of features about the game, making the game easier to play, keeping complexity but making the game less complicated. What I don't like is that the AI is still pretty bad in the EU series. While the opponent wont send troops to random suicide missions like previous installments it's basically still broken. For example during a long war the enemy had stacks of 20 troops which they were just moving between the same provinces for the entire war. This ended up with me winning against a enemy that had a vastly superior military than me. By killing of his weaker stacks first and then going for the big one.

    Allies are also abit stupid and they usually end up standing around at a corner of the country that you are trying to invade instead of actually helping in the battles. This, coupled with a warscore system where the death of 1000 soldiers is about equal to the death of 10000 soldiers, kind of breaks how war works in the game. Alot of the times you will see big territories on the AI map that has been conquered by rebels due to the AIs inability to handle wars properly.

    Another thing that I found disturbing is that the game is also somewhat too european centric (yea i know its called europa universalis).
    http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?657309-IS-Europa-Universalis-3-somewhat-racist
    Where anything that isn't western is deemded as technologically backwards. This clearly ingores the fact that alot of discoveries in the 1400 where made in the east (for example gunpowder and muskets). I know that this is the world from a european point of view but it still seems to be abit baltant to devide countries into technology gropus where some are just "worse" than others. Also making poland a eastern technology group is in my opinion historically incorrect in that case.

    But im really focusing on the bad bit the game has alot of positivies also, if you are willing to spend hundreds of hours on this game then you will probably have alot of fun (and also neglect work and family).    … Expand
  26. some_gamer
    Jan 12, 2014
    7
    This is the first EU game I've played. At first I liked it (once I got past the steep learning curve), but then the flaws started showing- there's way too much randomness in this game which is not bad in itself, the problem is that this randomness has huge, tremendous impact on your game- it can turn it into a boring snooze fest or completely break it depending on what random events youThis is the first EU game I've played. At first I liked it (once I got past the steep learning curve), but then the flaws started showing- there's way too much randomness in this game which is not bad in itself, the problem is that this randomness has huge, tremendous impact on your game- it can turn it into a boring snooze fest or completely break it depending on what random events you get and by random events I mean also the stats of your ruler, whether he dies prematurely and you end up unable to declare wars for a very long time or worse- your heir dies and then your ruler and it can literally mean game over. There are many more examples of why this is all bad design and not fun at all.

    Then you get to the late game, once your nation has reached a certain size it becomes a pain to expand. There are all sorts of terrible mechanics in place to make late game expansion as painful (not difficult, just boring, tedious, repetitive and painful) as possible.

    On the bright side, it's a one of a kind game with huge potential and a must try for every fan of strategy games. It's also very cheap so it's still worth getting IMO despite the flaws I've pointed out earlier. I'll give it a 7 because of good, frequent patches which have straightened some issues and might fix some more in the future.    … Expand
  27. Heraldofmyself
    Nov 28, 2018
    7
    Still absolutely stoked to see which insta-power buttons the Indonesians will get in the 2019 "expansion".
  28. longuigon
    Feb 12, 2019
    7
    I am impressed with Paradox's work. A complex game that makes you learn something new about it every time you play it. It may take hundreds of hours of gameplay to master the harder difficulties.
  29. vvmax
    Jan 29, 2019
    7
    This game is good and has potential, but many of the features baffle my head. I love the idea of colonialism in Grand Strategy Games, but most of the games that use the mechanic add too much to the idea, making it way to confusing. Overall, EU4 is a game with great potential and a great battle system, but many mechanics make it confusing.
  30. WCM320
    Feb 6, 2021
    7
    It's a fantastic game, but its also a game were your either goingt o like it or your not.
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Awards & Rankings

11
#11 Best PC Game of 2013
34
#34 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
1
#1 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 34 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 34
  3. Negative: 0 out of 34
  1. DarkStation
    Dec 12, 2013
    80
    Once players overcome the initial learning curve, Europa Universalis IV will prove a memorable strategy experience that provides as much fun stories as it does sheer tactical complexity.
    Read full review
  2. PC PowerPlay
    Oct 28, 2013
    90
    Somehow retains the series' trademark braininess and complexity while being clearer, simpler and far more fun. [Nov 2013, p.92]
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Oct 24, 2013
    100
    The ultimate strategic simulator of an early modern history state with wide options for both success and failure. Do you want to unite Britain under Scotland, thwart the Spanish Reconquista or maintain the Inca empire? Suit yourself. [Issue#234]
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