Diehard GameFan writes: "Strategy games have been around for a long time, and titles like Risk and Axis and Allies eventually made the transition to electronic media. Many people have heard of those titles, but a lesser known French board game by the name of Europa Universalis was also made into a PC game in 2000. Developed by Paradox Interactive, there have been three sequels to the original: EU2, EU3, and now Europa Universalis: Rome.
The common thread between all four titles is that you are wanting to lead a European empire to dominance. In the case of EU:Rome, you lead a country during the height of the Roman Empire, be it Rome, Greece, Carthage, or any number of outer countries.
There is no story to the game, per se. You aren't really trying to recreate history. You are given the opportunity to run the country as you see fit. There are no real goals either. If you want to lead Rome to total European domination, you can do that. Or if you want to lead a lesser known country to be a trading powerhouse, that's an option to. The world is very open, which could be a good thing, or a bad thing. A lot of people like things to be open ended, but I personally like to have an eventual goal to achieve."