Europa Universalis III: Napoleon’s Ambition

Games by Paradox are often like fine red wine: the first swig of a recently bottled vintage may not taste great, but it shows potential. Be patient and lay a few bottles down to await improvements. In game terms, these improvements take the form of patches and add-ons. The Europa Universalis III series has been patched three times but, with the Napoleon’s Ambition add-on, the product seems to be at a mature stage with a 2.0 engine.

Time and Tides

This add-on continues the major change in the base Europa Universalis III: context-driven play instead of a historical script. As designer Johan Andersson says in the strategy guide included in the deluxe edition, players “create” instead of “experiencing” history. On any given day of the standard campaign, starting May 1453 and now ending in 1820 with the add-on, players begin with historical set-ups but the course of events are influenced by play. Advisors and leaders appear almost at random and dynasties don’t necessarily follow their historic course. This concept also holds for the eight scenarios. Thus, bizarre circumstances such as Gustavus Adolphus dying in battle when Sweden is not at war are avoided. Some players, however, liked the strict timeline so Napoleon’s Ambition has added thirteen options to make elements such as the death of rulers follow history.

Although players might be interested in fighting the Thirty Years War or seeing if revolutionary France can pull off the conquest of Europe, the game’s extraordinary depth can be best experienced when playing the standard campaign game. Elements such as technological progress, religious conversion, colonization, or control over the Holy Roman Empire or the Papacy require time to have maximum effect. Creating a viable state out of one of the over 250 countries composed of over a thousand provinces, the building blocks of the game that yield taxes, resources and manpower, takes centuries of game time and hours of playing time. Even if a war-like strategy is followed, finance, province stability and improvements, and diplomacy must be handled. Non-military factors are even more important when handling a weak state. The Europa Universalis III series gives players opportunities to progress down their chosen path by hiring and sacking advisors based on the expertise they bring and by recruiting generals, admirals and explorers. Tired of a ruler? Put him in command of a bad, small regiment and send him off to glory.

Napoleon’s Ambition makes several sub-routines simpler. Merchants can be handled by the computer through an auto-send option with ranked Centers of Trade on the Ledger. Low-yield Centers of Trade can be destroyed and new ones created. If a province is rich enough, recruited regiments and ships can be queued. Right-clicking on a province brings up a mini-build menu and a poor province can build worthwhile units through use of the new “discipline” attribute that allows choosing quality over quantity. The effects of all new changes are explained in a 26-page PDF guide to the add-on but the interface to the new features are not explained as they are in the 148-page original manual or the eight tutorials in the original game.

Advisors have new tricks such as spymasters who can instruct their minions to perform more dastardly feats such as passing counterfeit money. Traders, theologians and colonial advisors also give more spark to activities in their respective areas. Good diplomatic advisors can reduce the number of “bad boy” points affecting national reputation. The number of National Ideas has been expanded to reflect the new concepts of the late Enlightenment and early Romantic periods. Of course, Napoleon has his own form of government and the Revolution brings an array of new advisors and generals. The Revolution itself changes some concepts in that attacking some forms of governments do not require a casus belli and reactionary governments must stamp out the revolution or face revolts at home.

Nice Touches, Inconsistencies and Marketing Options

Napoleon’s Ambition continues the new 3D graphics by adding scruffy looking French blue-coated infantry and slick dragoons. The combat animations add a nice dimension while the new trade map makes handling manufacturing, trade agreements and Center of Trade strategy much easier. On the other hand, the portraits of advisors and rulers don’t keep up with the times; Talleyrand wears the same clothes as Cardinal Wolsey.

Relatively small functions speed this day-to-day game along. A new battle report screen shows the losses of both sides of land and naval combat while a war screen displays the relative strength of a war’s combatants, useful for possible diplomacy. Both these screens aid in diplomacy and military decisions, i.e. “know when to hold ‘em; know when to fold ‘em.” Capitals can now be moved, although at great expense. Recruiting regiments and buying mercenaries now have separate buttons and under-strength regiments can be consolidated instead of waiting for the slow replacement process. A new colonization screen provides status of colonies easily while the expanded ledger now allows quick links to province for building purposes.

The Europa Universailis series and its numerous spin-offs grant players the broad sweep of eras rather than minute details that grognards love. These games succeed very well with the grand campaign. Nits such as giving Brandenburg a king instead of an elector before 1701 doesn’t affect play. However, such inaccuracies can damage specific scenarios. The new Revolutionary France scenario is the best example of this. In 1789, France starts out with a nice treasury and a positive cash flow, hardly the bankrupt mess that spawned the Revolution. The two initial generals are Massena and Ney, both rankers at the time. How hard would it have been to make some of the early revolutionary generals like Hoche available? In the Mediterranean, the French are challenged by the Prussian navy. The Prussian navy? Riiight!! Mods may correct these issues but they may not be able to fix the military model. Warfare continues to be a matter of posts with defeated armies usually retreating in good order to fight again. Nowhere is a chance to fight truly decisive battles such as Austerlitz or Jena. The game lacks the ability to represent the clear break between Enlightenment and Napoleonic warfare.

One unusual note not related to gameplay is very interesting. Paradox has opted not to furnish a CD version of the add-on but make it available as a direct download through GamersGate for $19.99 USD. The theory, evidently, is that a CD edition would not sell enough to cover costs. Did Europa Universalis III not create a large enough fan base? Is Paradox waiting to produce a “Gold” edition of the game? Assurances that the download can easily be burnt on to a CD for storage do not assuage some customers who don’t like downloads or serial numbers. The age of instant delivery may be here but the company that stakes everything on that method of sale is taking a risk.