14 DAY TRIAL // 
War was always one of the most important human endeavors, a shaper of history, deciding how the world has evolved, which nations became winners, which fell and how the modern geopolitical landscape we live in was created.
We currently live in one of the most peaceful moments of mankind’s existence on Earth, despite the constant stream of info that suggests otherwise, so we need to look back in order to reconstruct major conflicts, like the Thirty Years War or the conflict over Spanish Succession.
The Art of War expansion for Europa Universalis IV is designed to make the grand strategy experience more focused on the conflicts between nations and to show how much complexity elements like alliances, rivalries, religion and social issues could add when armies clashed on the field.
At the same time the developers at Paradox have completely overhauled the map of the title, meaning that some regions that were previously neglected in many ways should offer some interesting gameplay choices and challenges.
The narrative of the game remains, as always, focused on the destinies of nations, which gamers can choose at will by controlling diplomacy, economic activities, development, the adoption of new ideas, and of course, the ways armies are used to secure territory or to simply make sure that rivals do not become too competitive in the long term.
Any nation is available and there are plenty of starting dates to choose from, which can create a feeling of paralysis when considering who to control, but Paradox helpfully offers a few hints about cool potential campaigns.
I have been fascinated by the history of the Holy Roman Empire and the Thirty Years War for a while, so I chose to play most of my games of Europa Universalis IV – Art of War using the scenario with the same name.
Paradox has introduced the new concept of Reformation Center, which makes the spread of Protestants more organic and the Leagues that religious rulers can join guarantee that a conflict will be launched at one point to prove which alliance is the most powerful.
Playing as Austria, I initially made the bad decision to try and retake Eastern Europe from the Ottomans, who are in decline, and managed to regain control over modern-day Romania pretty quickly, but I paid a price in manpower.
Then Brandenburg, the leader of the Protestant League, decided to try and assert its supremacy and a Europe-wide war was quickly launched, involving every German state, Sweden, the Commonwealth, Great Britain, France, Spain and more.
The mechanics of Europa Universalis IV are well tuned, and because so many nations are battling, initial victories for the Protestants quickly turned into a stalemate where ground is lost and then gained back, and most nations are throwing away their reserves of both manpower and money.
It is easier than ever to raise armies and organize them in Art of War, but the biggest challenge, especially when dealing with these kinds of major conflicts, is finding a way to secure peace in order to be able to rebuild and tackle other objectives.
A quick look at the map of the expansion also reveals that many regions of the world have more included provinces, and with them come a range of new cultures and new political setups that should please those looking to spend their time with more exotic nations.
During peace time, gamers will also have to get acquainted with the new local autonomy value, which determines how much a province contributes to the nation it is part of and how happy the population is, and with better organized rebels.
Paradox has also used Art of War to introduce changes to the revolutions that start hitting in the late game, with the aim of making them reflect actual history, and there’s also an option to create new client states and completely reshape the map in the final stage of a Europa Universalis IV campaign.
When it comes to religion, there’s also a new organization for the Catholic Church, which simplifies interactions with it, although the favor the Pope feels a little too weak.
The multiplayer support in Art of War seems to be affected by some issues at the moment, but a beta patch designed to eliminate them is already offered via Steam for all gamers who want to try it out.
When it comes to both graphics and audio design, Europa Universalis IV is almost unchanged and the game still offers a wide variety of modes to get info and deliver more info than ever using the map.
The Good
- New warfare-focused concepts
- Thirty Years War simulation
- New detail for the map
The Bad
- Learning curve is still steep
- Some performance issues
Conclusion
Sure, the streamlining and extra options linked to warfare and to the Reformation period are also very welcome, but the focus here has clearly been on making the world feel more accurate and generally more interesting.
Playing the various scenarios changes the type of challenges gamers will face and there’s a nation, a set of ideas and a development pattern for every type of fan that picks up Europe Universalis IV.
The biggest problem with the expansion is the fact that it throws a lot of info at the gamer, even if it manages to eliminate some management hassles, and a newcomer might be scared by everything.
