The game is mainly viewed from an atlas-style perspective, looking down on the cities and ships as they go about their business of sailing, trading and occasionally fighting. The meat of the trade is done through a series of well set out and easily understood menus. You can choose your ships in port, look out for the best exchange prices and task the captains with buying where it's cheap and selling on dear with a handful of mouse-clicks. Trade can even be automated between ports to give you a steady income at a local level. Or everything can be individually chosen for the perfectionist deal-grabber.
When I first started to play East India Company I thought I’d dedicate about twenty minutes to it to get an initial reaction, and then come back to it again for a bit more of an in depth fiddle. Three hours later I was still playing, and the game wouldn’t acknowledge the fact that I was trying to be as nice as possible to Sweden. They just wouldn’t accept my offers for a pact, which cost me £50,000 in lost rewards, a port and several thousand more pounds in wasted bribes. “Bloody Swedes!” I think I screamed aloud. Then some pirates attacked and sunk one of my key fleets after a drawn out real time battle. “Bloody pirates,” I muttered. Then I got annoyed and quit.
Paradox Interactive have announced that East India Company Collection, the naval war strategy series developed by Finland based Nitro Games Ltd, is now available for both digital download at all major digital download portals and in a boxed retail version for a suggested retail price of €29.99. Based on the historical East India Companies of the 18th century, East India Company Collection comprises of East India Company (both the original game and the Director’s Cut), along with the expansions Pirate Bay, Privateer and Battle of Trafalgar.
GIN writes: "The 17th century brought to the world exotic goods and competition between eight companies supported by their respective nations. East India Company: Designer's Cut, published by Paradox Interactive, and developed by Nitro Games and brings to life what it was like to be that trading company. The Designer's Cut version is actually an upgrade to the original game and makes some improvements. When installing the game, it will ask if you want to upgrade. I'm not a really big fan of naval games, though I have tried a few in the past. This one caught my eye due to its different game style."
