Europa Universalis III: Heir to the Throne Demo

Managing a kingdom is not for everyone, as history clearly showed us in multiple instances over the centuries. Being the supreme leader of a nation requires much more than a clear head, especially back in the day when the king/emperor had a say in anything from politics, to economy and military operations. However, one could at least nudge everything in the right direction and choose the right advisers to manage the different aspects of a kingdom.

Europa Universalis III: Heir to the Throne is a grand strategy game in the truest sense of the word, since it can be as complicated as you wish and provide you with basically endless choices when it comes to ruling over the chosen nation. Heir to the Throne is actually an expansion pack, though, which aims to improve on the original release and introduce a wide array of additional improvements, in order to make the experience feel as complete as possible.

Naturally, the game itself is largely unchanged, in the sense that it still behaves in very much the same way as it always did. The core mechanics are still there and you can pick it up very quickly if you happen to be an old fan of the franchise, or if you know your way around the grand strategy genre. Thus, you start by choosing a nation out of all the available ones and the possibilities are endless from there on out, given the fact that you can declare war, form alliances and subjugate countries left and right if you wish to do so, or just focus on developing new technology.

The game runs a bit smoother as well, although it still uses a rather high amount of resources, despite the simple appearances. A great deal of calculations must be tackled in the background, however, which puts tremendous stress on the CPU. Obviously, there are still some optimizations issues as well, but most of them have been resolved and it is possible to run the game smoothly on a decent configuration.

There are more than enough options when it comes to diplomacy, politics, research and military actions, although each one of your decisions affects the prestige of your nation. Moreover, you can start various missions to gain certain bonuses along the way, such as send expeditions to discover America, or even talk your way into subjugating a nation without raising a single sword. The power is in your hands, but you should use it wisely and save often.

All things considered, Europa Universalis III: Heir to the Throne is still not a game that can be enjoyed by just everyone, because it requires a lot of spare time, dedication and a real passion for strategy. If you happen to possess these qualities, then the game at hand is certainly one of the best of its kind out on the market and there is no good reason to overlook it.