14 DAY TRIAL // 
I choose to build another mine shaft in Dresden and to then encourage development in Frankfurt. One of my advisors needs to be replaced, hopefully with a politician with better stats. The German block is set to expand if Belgium accepts my proposal, bringing me one step closer to dominating Europe. I also plan to put down another barrack and raise some more division, just in case Russia chooses to move aggressively against one of its neighbors. And as soon as I get some more currency I plan to invest it in resources for my next major development project.
Realpolitiks II is a video game developed by Jujubee S.A. and published by 1C Entertainment. Get it on the PC via Steam and get ready to try and take over the world using diplomatic, economic, military, and other means.
This is a grand strategy game set in the modern era, giving any player the ability to select one nation to lead from the close to 200 that exist on Earth. There’s no story to follow but every aspect of a country’s identity can be tweaked. The game does feature random events, with some solid writing and options, although a higher number would have been appreciated.
But the core of the experience is in its grand strategy mechanics. Pick a country, then pick a set of victory conditions, then try and find the best strategy to achieve those milestones. Each nation has a set of resources, ranging from money to metals to oil to Action Points. And leaders can use them to develop infrastructure, raise military forces, send out spies, work diplomatic channels, and more. If a modern country can do it in the real world the action is represented, maybe with a degree of abstraction, in Realpolitiks II. There’s no micromanagement but plenty of macro choices to make.
The core of development for nations is in the special projects they can undertake. They stimulate development in a range of fields, from physics to infrastructure and ideology. The most important are the civilization and country-specific ones, which cost quite a bit of resources and Action Points and deliver solid bonuses.
The game works well in the meaningful choices department. There are never enough Action Points to do everything. Make sure to keep projects running as much as possible and then invest the rest based on the chosen nation. The USA can work on a massive economy and libertarian principles while Germany has a clear pathway to become a European powerhouse and lead the continent in the global competition. German Empire revival and other alternate history paths are also present.
War is more present in Realpolitiks II than in the real world and gets its own specialized screen. It is hard for a small nation to become a powerhouse but flashpoints between majors feel important and can lead to major changes in the world order. The biggest problem with the mechanics is, for me, the relative lack of international interactions and reactions. As China, I conquered three of my neighbors and took Taiwan in three years and there was no nuke coming from the United States and no massive condemnation from the United Nations.
I understand the game needs to give players some freedom to make the game engaging. And there is a warmonger penalty that aims to limit aggressive modes. But a more complex and consequence-driven international relation model would have improved the simulation. Realpolitiks II is a mixed bag when it comes to presentation.
When zoomed in the game looks pretty good and, more importantly, delivers a lot of information about the situation of the world at a glance. When zoomed out the colors of the various nations look garish and somehow out of place. Stay as close to the terrain as possible to see details about the provinces and rely on messages to find out what’s happening around the globe.
The interface, a very important element for the genre, takes a little time to get used to but once everything makes sense it is easy to navigate and perform actions. The soundtrack is limited in terms of variety but it does have the big orchestral pieces required to power a player as he tries to dominate the world.
The Good
- Grand strategy mechanics
- Special project concept
- Detailed world
The Bad
- Limited international system simulation
- Needs a faster game speed
- Interface could be improved
Conclusion
The development team at Jujubee has also focused on the modern world, a period that not many titles in the genre try to tackle (Paradox has not yet moved much beyond World War II). Realpolitiks II might seem complex for newcomers but its mix of ideas and execution will work well for anyone who has even a little experience with the grand strategy space.
Review code provided by the publisher.
