Review | East India Company
It means there’s often an awkward barrier to your effortless enjoyment of East India Company. Picking up and starting to play couldn’t be more straight-forward for this level of high-strategising, helped especially by a collection of excellent tutorials and a solid in-game hints system, but the enforced stop-start nature of the game does begin to grate.
//Making waves
The game comes equipped with a small collection of different mission sets, but the one you’re likely to spend most of your time in is the Grand Campaign, spanning acentury and a half between 1600 and 1750. Your victory conditions are reasonably simple – gain control of all 12 ports surrounding the Indian coast, or manage to entirely take over the European trade racket in India.
Meeting these conditions is a more complex affair than it might sound, however. It’s all about making as much money in as short a time as possible, then using that money to invest more highly in valuable items, as well as sturdier ships in which to transport them. Along the way – increasingly on the higher difficulty levels, it would seem – you’ll find you’re not always the most popular nation among the other European regions vying for power over India, meaning you’ve also to juggle diplomatic relations and, ultimately, be ready for a bit of healthy violence.
The only hands-on action you’ll see in East India Company takes place out in open water, as you do battle with enemy or pirate ships out to steal your goods or knock you down a peg or two. It’s a decidedly less impressive affair than the immediate reference point of Empire: Total War, with less cinematically rendered explosions and running, screaming crew members, but it remains functional, exciting and reasonably attractive. It’s also surprisingly versatile, with two control mechanisms to choose between, depending on the situation and your preferred style of play.
RTS Control is a straight-forward right-clicking affair, where your ships largely manoeuvre themselves into the correct position to launch a barrage of cannonballs at the opposition. Direct Control allows for a more careful and meticulous approach, whereby each individual vessel can be sailed using the keyboard controls, and shots can be fired in a more methodical manner. Though it takes a little getting used to, the tactical advantages to be gained from flicking freely between the two are numerous, and before too long it becomes second nature, as you plan your moves, line up your enemy ship with the battle camera, and fire your cannons just as the opposition rides the crest of a distant wave.
//Passing the time
The satisfaction of playing out in the sea means the surprisingly small amount of time you spend doing so is slightly disappointing. But it’s a feeling that doesn’t last long, as once you’re back on the campaign map it’s easy to get lost in your own little word of tactics and finances.
Indeed, it’s because of its subdued nature, rather than despite it, that East India Company becomes thoroughly riveting. There’s something convincing about the way this world behaves, something involving about scouring around for the best deals, working out who’ll give you the highest price, navigating your way there without running into trouble, and maximising your influence through a careful balance of friendly relations and angry snarls. This isn’t thrill-a-minute stuff, even by way of comparison to similar titles, but that doesn’t make it any less absorbing.
There’s the frequent moments that snap you out of the experience – the achingly slow clock speed, the auto-pausing of events, the incessant loading screens as you dive into the unnecessary Port View environment – but after a while they all blur with the rest of the gentle ride that East India Company offers. It’s a highly addictive lazy afternoon activity, a perfect hangover cure, one with an impressive amount of depth and the ability to satisfy a multitude of audiences. It’s a warm, engrossing strategy game that you’ll struggle to walk away from – but it could have been an exceptional one with a little more care for the details.
7/10
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