iPad Review: European War 2

War is never fun. Unless of course you’re talking European War 2. As a follow-up to European War, European War 2 is set against the European backdrop of World War II. Goodbye muskets, hello planes, guns and battleships!

Just like the first European War game, European War 2 is a lot like Risk. European War 2 boasts two different modes of play, conquest and battle mode. In conquest mode, you choose an Axis or Allies country, leaving the rest of the European countries to be your enemies, allies or neutral. In battle mode, there are 4 campaigns in which you play for Germany, Britain, France or the Soviet Union. Each campaign has 4 chapters of play, with a total of 16 battles for battle mode. In either mode, your objective is to take over capitals which will in turn give you more money and troops. To ensure that a military’s size isn’t the only factor in winning a battle, a dice mini-game is put in place to put things up to chance. At your aid are special military cards that will grant your troops momentary stat improvements ranging from increased attack and defense points to fortress walls.

Although fun, one thing European War 2 lacked was balance. Once your strategy is in place, gameplay became easier rather than harder as you progress on, especially when you acquire more land. To achieve balance, I’d suggest limiting the number of airstrikes to 1 or 2 per round and to add more corruption as you expand your territory. More corruption spells out less money for a bigger empire and more of a challenge for the player. It also keeps things realistic.

Additionally, I also wish there was a bit more fanfare or backstory once you beat a campaign. Once you win a campaign, all you get is a message that says, “Success.” And that’s it.

As far as graphics and sound go, both were excellent. I just had one problem with the interface buttons — at times, I had a hard time differentiating between the cards, main menu and end turn buttons. I can’t tell you how many times I accidentally hit the ‘end turn’ button when I wasn’t ready! One thing to improve here is to make the buttons look different rather than uniform.

Overall, fans of war simulators, namely Risk, will enjoy European War 2.

For more information or to purchase, head here.