Europa Universalis: Rome (PC)

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History is a poor guide to game design, but the entire point of the oligarchic republic was to share power and promote competition. For many years in Rome, the republic might as well be a monarchy, with people in the same positions perpetually and no sense that elections bring change. There are friendship and rivalry traits; why not use them as more than civil war countdown clocks?

For most people, this might be a minor issue, but there are so many provinces and so many characters that the game becomes less about managing a living world (as in Crusader Kings) than about balancing a cosmic ledger of pluses and minuses. The realization that the computer elections are so rigid in their considerations doesn't make the world feel any more real.

In spite of all these issues, Rome is the most approachable EU game yet. Explanations are everywhere and the designers have made excellent use of alert tabs, tool tips and descriptive color. Dabblers will be drawn to it because it is very easy to build an unstoppable empire and to plan what your next step will be. You can start your game at any date between 278 and 25 BCE, so you get a tiny (if imperfect) history lesson while you're at it.

If you are an experienced EU player, though, you might wonder if Paradox has learned much from its own games. Diplomacy is a weak cousin to war and the AI is too weak to provide much of a threat (and too stupid to fight wars well). These aren't new problems for Paradox games, but the low number of actors and constant warfare make these failings more obvious. The depth and variety make the game appealing, but a little more testing could have made the classical theme another classic in its own right.

This review was based on a gold master version of the game provided by the publisher.