At any moment, your average PC gamer is on the verge of potentially life-threatening excitement. We're constantly in danger of an over-stimulation overdose made of explosions, guns, speed, spaceships and other, bigger explosions. That's why, every now and then, it's important to slow things down. And so, we should take a moment to thank Paradox, who today announced a trade-focused mini-expansion for Europa Universalis IV.
Res Publica is the name of this third expansion, and, in addition to additional trade options, it will also introduce new methods of governance. Paradox's announcement post explains exactly what players can expect:
- "Republic Affairs: Grow your influence with the Merchant Republic faction to create new trade posts and reap bonuses, or exploit the inner power struggles of the Dutch Republic and their unique election events
- "Meet the New Boss: Try the all-new Republican Dictatorship government type, and decide between increases in power or Republic Tradition in new in-game opportunities and events
- "Don't Fight the Power: Retain power for the ruling family by backing heirs in Elective Monarchies; boost your growth with the National Focus bonus and spend your points on Administrative, Diplomatic, or Military Power"
Dammit, Paradox! With all this talk of power-struggle exploitation, we're straight back into over-excitement territory.
Res Publica is due out this Summer.
I tracked down the guy who gave a negative review to Battlezone 98 Redux after playing for over 8,000 hours, and came away convinced he was right
Factorio's expansion is setting record high player counts yet again so I'm expecting the world's IT infrastructure to collapse and innovation to stagnate any day now
