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East India Company

EMAIL PRINT pc

5.6 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 28 critic reviews
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Based on 34 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Paradox Interactive

Developer: Nitro Games

Genre(s): Real-Time Strategy, Wargame

Players: 8

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: July 28, 2009

Summary

In East India Company, players enjoy building the World's most powerful trading empire and engaging in fierce battles in both single player and multiplayer modes. Players fight, manage and rule their trading empires from Europe to the Far East with eight nationalities to choose from: British, Dutch, French, Danish, Portuguese, Swedish, Italian or Spanish. Starting modestly, you build your fleet, establish connections to far away countries, and keep rival nations at bay. Choose from a wide array of ship classes, including a variety of transport and military vessels. Create diverse fleets and assign each of them specific trading routes. Control and upgrade well situated ports as you form your strategy for domination. Conflicts and wars are inevitable. When hostile fleets engage each other, the spectacular naval battles are fought on a real-time tactical level. Devastating broadsides are fired with a deafening roar and cannon balls tear through enemy ships and their crew. For greater tactical depth, you can, at any point, take direct command of any of your ships and feel the battle close up! Fight against the other European powers to create a trading empire that will rule above all others in this groundbreaking strategy game. [Lighthouse Interactive]

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Gamer Limit

East India Company offers everything it promises - an enthralling experience of power, greed and sunken ships.

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Pelit (Finland)

The game has a nice blend of economics and naval warfare. The basic idea just needs little more variation and wider range of victory conditions to keep the game fresh. [Aug 2009]

GameTrailers

The most demanding sim aficionados might not find enough to hold their interest for the long haul, but East India Company is definitely worth checking out if you're new to the genre or merely have an itch to make lots of virtual cash.

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IGN

Players who are interested in the concept or the period will definitely find a worthwhile game here but the appeal wears thin long before it should have.

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ZTGameDomain

ImpulseGamer

At the end of the day, East India Company is a competent game, however it fails to deliver any real advances in this genre which is a shame as the interface could definitely be expanded. However if you're after a sturdy interface and a realistic trading game, than East India Company is definitely your cup of tea.

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Cheat Code Central

Even the game's most tedious moments will offer a good measure of entertainment for strategy gaming fans, though a number of issues may eventually have you questioning whether it's worth sticking with in the long run.

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Strategy Informer

A good blend of economics and warfare, Paradox fans and newcomers alike should like it. Those who liked the new trade system in Empire will love this game, as whilst not being perfect, it sure as hell is addictive.

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Gamers.at

If you want to plough trough the oceans from time to time and don't want anything too sophisticated this is the right game for all the part time captains.

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GamePro

In the end, East India Company is a game that manages to merge effectively its twin themes of trading and naval combat. Unfortunately its also a game that is plagued with several important interface issues that make the game more frustrating and tedious than it really should be.

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Boomtown

There is some fun to be had with East India Company but not everyone will have the patience to stick with it.

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Level7.nu

This title, as the name implies, offers you the chance to take the reins of a trading empire during the 17th century trading wars. You'll get to use diplomacy, trade and warfare as your tools in your quest for trade monopoly. The campaign mode is very meaty and will let you trade, wage war and use your strategic wit for hours on end. The only major drawbacks is the lack of land based warfare in the campaign mode and being limited to naval warfare only online. Nevertheless, this is a great game for trade junkies everywhere.

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AceGamez

It's great for fans of Eighteenth century nautical flavoured strategy games, but everyone else is better off playing.... well, you know its name by now...

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RealGamer

There are some changes I feel would be beneficial before release, mainly to the battle system. But it looks as if East India Company is shaping up to be a solid strategy title.

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PC Zone UK

East India Company manages to whisk you on a sedate journey through teatime. [Nov 2009, p.75]

GameShark

Ultimately, East India Company is a wonderful idea with a lot of great gameplay, but there’s a lot of missteps; too many, really.

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GameStar

The basic gameplay is always the same: send your fleet to the east, sell your goods, buy goods, send the fleet home and repeat. Except for a sea battle from time to time, there's not enough diversity, no special missions, no hidden areas, no buried treasures.

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PC Format

Diplomacy, sea battles, trade, construction - it's all here, but sadly it never quite gels to fulfill East India's potential. [Oct 2009, p.96]

PC Gamer UK

DLC and diligent modders could make it seaworthy, but until then, a galleon-T attempt that lacks necessary depth. [Oct 2009, p.76]

Game Informer

I'd hoped it would be a compelling hybrid, but it unfortunately does not hold up in that arena either. [Sept 2009, p.92]

GameSpot

This naval-centric strategy game merely treads water.

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Worth Playing

It is ultimately this lack of personality, engagement and in-depth contextualization that makes East India Company just another run-of-the-mill trading game that doesn't really live up to the allure of the greatest historical simulation games that can actually transport you back and let you loose in another time and place.

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GameFocus

While fans of the genre will find the game fun those purists who need a lot of beef on their gaming bone will find this game lacking immensely and head to other games with more features and better gameplay. This is only a buy if you have played other Empire games to death and need something new to play.

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Total PC Gaming

An enjoyable trading and strategy experience, let down by lacklustre combat. [Issue#23, p.56]

Absolute Games

Here is hoping that modifications and patches will turn East India Company into a good, captivating game, because right now it is shallow, vapid and monotonous if you’re not a venturesome sailor.

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LEVEL (Czech Republic)

Trading goods is quite fun but in no time you become bored. And there is not much to do except the tedious and too-easy naval battles. [Sept 2009]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

It’s all the tedium surrounding the trade that sinks this ship.

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Teletext GameCentral

A game insensitive to both the subject matter and the need to offer any real variety or intrigue.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 5.6 (out of 10) based on 34 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ricki N gave it a0:
this game is a joke really boring and the campaign map looks really crappy they havent put any effort in making some good graphic. DONT buy this buy empire total war instead

jon w gave it a2:
was good at start but slowed down too much and crashed was lucky to get a 2

Lysander S gave it a7:
A disappointment to say the least. Could have been some very fun combat and trading, but this is offset by terrible interfaces, horrible controls, huge amounts of micro-management when in battle, sickening camera controls, daft AI, and a huge amount of bugs. There's still fun to be had, but not much of a lasting appeal.

matt n gave it a2:
Quite dissapointing. I play and enjoy empire total war and read somewhere that the naval battles in East Inda were better. This is completely false. The graphics arent great, no realistic damage, poor interface, relatively small fleets and variety of ships. The only thing that this game has that etw might be lacking is the effect of waves and weather conditions on your ships movement and stability. Also the ability for each ship to carry specific cargo. That being said the economic side of this game seems midly interesting if you have the patience to play long enough to get into it. This game is much more an economic and trade sim than anything else. And even with that it offers a low amount of excitement and replayability

Chris R gave it a3:
Looked to have promise but never materialized. Simple start but never quite gelled into a complete game. Wait for the bargin bin before trying.

Rasmus L gave it a0:
Poorest game i've ever played you just trade the Resource that is worth the most it never loose value and its boring, Naval Combat is not even close to any of the previous Naval combat games. if you like trading Port Royal is way better and graphics not that fare away from this. If the date didnt say 2009 i would have believed 1999 was the Year of release for this game

Bob P gave it a0:
This game is marketed with the strong suggestion that it has a multiplayer campaign mode, when in fact all you can do in multiplayer is tactical ship battles (which are the most un-fun thing ever insterted into a PC game). Further, the game is buggy as hell, requires constant patching, and isn't any fun when it's working. What a collossal waste of bandwidth.

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