Europe files

After devastating wars in the 21st century, the advance of radical fundamentalists in the 22nd century - who plunged the world into a "second Middle Ages" (called the "restorative phase") - and after their decline in the 24th century, democracy was reintroduced as it is the least fallible form of government. Former confederations of states emerged again, whereupon humanity unified under the United Nations in the 25th century . Their space agency United Planets was founded to develop raw materials in space . But the taxes and duties for the space program rose immeasurably, which is why United Planets became more powerful than the United Nations itself. Massive sloppiness on the raw material moon Ansgar 15 heated the general mood against the United Planets and strengthened the many terror and resistance groups. In addition, the European Union is providing most of the funding and is building a new super weapon called ODIN .

The player takes on the role of a UN commander and has the task of preventing its construction.

technology

A graphics engine is used , which shows what is happening from an isometric perspective . Even if the engine was declared as "real 3D", the models are pre-rendered in different perspectives and the perspective is given. Rotating the view and enlarging the section is not possible. In addition, the engine enables a resolution of up to 1600x1200 pixels, which no commercially available PC could provide at the time of publication, as well as a dynamic display of the fog of war : Units that are at higher points in the terrain, for example on a hill, have a larger one Visibility as units standing in the valley. This was unusual at the time.

particularities

Comparison of the unit expansion of the Europa and KKND 2 files

Unlike in most strategy games, the player is not able to build a base. However, buildings can be captured, destroyed or repaired.

The units can be assembled from a variety of modules such as chassis and guns. The modifications have a direct influence on the properties of the unit, such as speed, firepower and armor. New technical advances can be achieved through research.

The units' ammunition and fuel are finite, so supplies must be guaranteed.

The landscape is of strategic importance: units that are elevated can see further and are harder to hit. In addition, forests can be set on fire and the wind affects the spread of gas clouds and fire.

reception

Europe files received good to very good reviews when they were published. In particular, the variety of units and the setting were praised. The graphic display, which had a high level of detail for the time, was highlighted positively.

"Some lack of detail [...] prevent a place in the absolute top group, but experienced real-time strategists will love European files"

- Gamestar 11/1997

“Acts Europe brings a breath of fresh air to the genre. It's always amazing what game manufacturers have to come up with in order to stand out from the competition. "

- PC Player 11/1997

There was criticism for a number of minor bugs as well as for the setting and the cutscenes. These were far behind competitors such as Command & Conquer .

Web links

Europe files at MobyGames (English)
Europe files on The Legacy

Individual evidence

↑ MobyGames : Description text on the packaging .
↑ Gamestar rating: 83%
↑ PC Games Database: Europe Files: Ratings & Quotes

[1] MobyGames : Description text on the packaging .

[2] Gamestar rating: 83%

[3] PC Games Database: Europe Files: Ratings & Quotes