14 DAY TRIAL // 
The Olds Gods is the most recent expansion for Crusader Kings II, the video game that many consider to be the best grand strategy experience created by the Paradox Development Studio. It is designed to introduce an entirely new start date, add more options for Pagan factions and deliver other gameplay improvements.
The start date is one of the biggest changes of The Old Gods and it really transforms the Crusader Kings II experience.
With the base game, the map of Europe is somewhat recognizable and players can try to replicate a number of historical trends or fight against them, but moving back a few hundred years means that almost anything is possible as long as gamers are willing to devote time and resources.
Choose one of the Pagan factions and this is an entirely different game, a grand strategy experience that focuses a little more on warfare and on custom and less on subtlety and on assassinations.
It’s very easy for those who stick to the old religions to start wars as they can always get a Casus Belli on nearby provinces (Norse can invade all coasts in the world) but their very warlike nature means that it will be much harder to keep a bigger kingdom united in the long term.
At the same time, my attempts to attack Christian kings were rebuffed and I found that picking on other pagans was the better short-term option.
The earlier start date also makes it somewhat harder to expand personal holdings and it takes time and patience to create a solid power base from which to expand.
The Old Gods also makes intrigue less important, although it can still be a powerful tool to keep one’s own family in check and prune the succession line of the worst candidates.
Might is more important than ever and there are plenty of wars to keep players occupied as time progresses and the small kingdoms that exist at the start of the scenario coalesce into more powerful entities.
A feature that pops up rarely but shows the scope of the overall game are adventures, which allow certain skilled characters to get a fleet and an army and then assault an interesting target in order to get a title and some prestige (play as the Norse to see how this works).
The expansion is also impressive because it increases replayability by offering more options for the long-term development of the game world.
I once saw a powerful Norse unified England that was expanding into Scandinavia and threatened to become the dominant power in the Crusader Kings II world before fraternal wars tore it apart.
Other times, the Saxons win quickly against the Vikings but they fail to unite the island and petty kingdoms have little chance to stand up to new raids from the North.
The Olds Gods really immerses the player, as long as he picks an appropriate nation, in a culture driven by loot and fear and it’s exciting to see the future great powers of Europe cowering in fear as I take their valuables home to fund my own expansion.
Paradox has made Crusader Kings II one of the best strategy titles of the last few years and the expansion continues to add new mechanics and ideas without tarnishing the original vision in any way.
The company will probably now shift its full attention to Europa Universalis IV and The Old Gods makes the entire CK II experience feel complete in many ways while also giving players more time to steer their favorite dynasty to glory.
And I cannot wait to see what the big modding teams can do with the new mechanics and options.
