User Reviews (1 - 11 of 29)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Another fine game from Paradox Entertainment

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 36 / 37
Date: May 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Victoria is perhaps one of the first near-perfect political/military simulators to come out in a long time. You can not only decide who's tail to kick, but you can also decide what rights to give your people, and how conservative or liberal your nation will be.

On the military level, the game is pretty much what you might expect from other Paradox games. The one exception is that, unlike Hearts of Iron, the troops themselves gain experience instead of commanders. Otherwise, it won't be any thing unfamiliar. Troops still move out to ships at sea, they can land any where (not beaches like Hearts of Iron), and moral can be more decisive than numbers.

On the political scene (country via country) things are fairly the same but more fleshed out to reflect Paradox's earlier games. As you could in Europa Universalis II, you can make demands to end wars and don't have to annex the entire nation to gain territory (as you had to in Hearts of Iron). Interesting, however, is the extra feature of "negotiations." You can ask for territory, tech, make demands, or give or offer money using this option. It makes for a fare more interesting diplomacy engine.

In regards to internal affairs, this game makes you actually care (or hate) your people. How? Well, you can actually make social changes with regards to health care, working hours, minimum wages...you can even decide if the press is free and who can vote! Start your own social government, or just oppress the working man. The way your main civil rights function goes (as well as your limitations on your budget) comes from who is in power in the government. You can ban/allow parties based on your government type, and you hold elections to get choose which alignment your nation goes on issues, as well as to get one party out of power or, inadvertingly, get it back in power.

Overall, it is a very impressive and ambitious game. I must warn people that this game (if you haven't noticed already) is A LOT of micromanaging. Particularly the economic part of the game, which has turned many players away. If you stick with it, play a few times, and learn how to manage it, you CAN get the hang of it. Trust me, I'm awful at economics and even I figured out how to work it.

Even though Paradox recently said they would try to do less complicated games in the future, I believe this is one of the greatest engines to use in regards to foreign diplomacy and internal affairs. I have spoken with many people who agree with me that a game set in the modern day age using Victoria's engine would be a fun game. Hey, Paradox, did ya hear me?

Amazing Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 21 / 41
Date: November 06, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to rule a nation during the cultured Victorian era? I know I have, and now thanks to Paradox entertainment we all have our chance.

Running a nation is no easy business, but with many options available to you, why not give it a go? Ruling from the mid 19th century to early 20th century, it is possible to establish a colonial empire, gain land in the civilized continent of Europe, mayhap to save the decaying Ottoman empire?

This has to be one of the most fun games out there, and I think it will exceed even the acclaimed Europa Universalis series. It is INDEED a good purchase if you are a fan of strategy games or history.

It is also an excellent learning tool as if teaches 19th century history in an amusing game setting.

J.

Beats Civilization ..... Very Complex

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 21 / 23
Date: December 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is the best strategy game I have played. I have been an addict of the Civ series for years, this takes strategy games to the next level. The diplomacy and economic aspects of this game are very hard to master (if you love detail this is great - if not you will hate this game!).

This is very addicitive, the gameplay and complex models make for very compulsive play. The level of historical accuracy is educational.

Sophisticated Real Strategy Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 16
Date: May 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I hesitated to buy Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun owing to some of the negative reviews it received here. It is my pleasure to report that those criticisms are largely unfounded.

Some people have problems when a game is buggy, crashes, etc. As the owner of a computer software company, it has been my experience that it is not the game that is a problem but the PC on which the user is trying to run it. New games and other software take advantage of technological advances in the hardware to do things that older machines can't do. If your PC crashes, look at its capabilities before you level criticism at the game.

Some people enjoy what are usually called Real Time Strategy games. My observation is that such games are anything but strategic in character. They are all 'build a village' games that actually emphasize tactics and have no real strategy to them. They rely upon flashy graphics and sometimes arcade features to attract users, in the same manner that the film industry now substitutes special effects for a good plotline, often resulting is visually attractive pablum.

Victoria is a real strategy game. It requires forethought and planning, and doing so not only in a small scale tactical environment but also seeing the big picture well in advance and adjusting how you run a country accordingly. Small strategic mistakes can have longterm consequences.

This game is well thought out and presented. It has three scenarios: the American Civil War, World War I and the Grand Campaign. The latter gives a player the chance to manage a country throughout the Age of Imperialism, building not only that nation internally but forging 'a place in the sun,' as Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany put it, founding and developing colonies around the globe in competition with the other imperialist nations.

If you want a mindless shoot-'em-up, play something else. If you want a game that challenges you to think, buy this one!

!!!!!!!!A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!!!!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: November 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Three cheers for Paradox! Truly outstanding! Amazing! This game is the funnest game I have ever played. If you're a history buff like me, you will not be able to stop playing this game. Play as the U.K. ,France, Russia, Sweden, Prussia(Germany), U.S., Austria, Mexico, Confederate States of America, Sardinia Piedmont(Italy), Belgium, the Netherlands, the Ottoman Empire or over 100 other nations. Progress through history as you colonize, wage war, inmdustrialize, initiate social reforms, and negotiate with other nations. Instead of reading history, you MAKE history. I like how real events happen to you, but they don't have to go the way they did in real life.

The idea that this game is unplayable is a myth. You don't need a tutorial, it's fun learning on your own.

PROS:
Addictive
Very, Very Fun
Historically Accurate
Playable
Real Tactical Strategy
Bulked-up Navy
Not insanely easy
Realistic concept of Manpower
Good colonial simulation
Adjustable game speed
Good for students studying Victorian era

CONS:
Strangely miniscule amount of "manpower" at start
Russia is !UNPLAYABLE!-they have -350 manpower at game start
Resources and factories sometimes difficult to manage

As I said, this game is not super easy. You have to put an effort in, and you'll have even more fun. This game is SSOOO educational-even the names of your units are accrurate. The manpower at the start is wierd, but convert laborers and farmers into soldiers in your provinces by double-clicking on a province, clicking on the population button, clicking on farmers or laborers, and pressing convert to soldiers. That is an important concept. Also, manage your resources and factories carefully and don't let clipper shipyards take all your lumber-close them down until you're buying or producing enough lumber and stuff to have enough for railroads and other things. Yes, Russia is strange in this game, but convert enough populations and you should be fine.
Have fun!

I Love this game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: March 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Despite a few of the bad comments on here, I went ahead and bought the game anyway since I'm a big fan of these historically accurate wide scale games. It took about a week to get used to the game but after that the game became easy. But its weird, even though I did conquer Europe with several different countries, I always lost the game because this game is all about prestige, in that regard this game is hard. But just dont get into many wars and choose your politics carefully and you should win this game.
On the bad side I don't know if its the game or my new computer, but the game kept kicking me off

A REAL strategy game, not a click-fest

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: April 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Victoria is, by far, the most enjoyable gaming experience I have had in years. It is not a game you can pick up and play in half an hour. It actually requires you to read the manual, to play numerous games and learn the system. This is in stark contrast to the huge number of copy-cat real time strategy games, where the only difference are the graphics and what buildings to construct.

The newest version of Vicky (1.03) is very stable, and a vibrant mod'ing community has created new countries and events.

There is literally no other game like Vicky--you can play any country in the world, from small states in India to the British Empire, and be challenged every time you play. While this game is not for everyone, if you enjoy a tough strategy game that rewards your gray matter and not your reflexes, Vicky is the only choice.

History Buff's Dream

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: July 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Like its predecessor, Hearts of Iron, this game doesn't disappoint. Play any country of the 19th century as see if you can bring it to glory. While complex, Paradox runs the best forum around to provide answers and updates to this game. I highly recommend it for those who enjoy not only reading history but also, may want to change it.

Excellent Historical Simulation and Strategy Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: May 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is an extraordinary historical simulation, you can pick any nation and guide it from the beggining of the 19th century to 1920 managing trade, taxes, production, diplomacy and last but not least the army. The manual contains the basic information necessary to play, but it takes a first game, I suggest with a small nation, to practice and get a hold on the rules to fully enjoy the simulation. Reading the reviews I was afraid of bugs but although sometimes the game crashed it was tolerable, I suggest to set the autosave feature every few turns. Finally, for those who played Europa Universalis, I think Victoria, being more realistic especially because of the trade feature, is a consistent improvment.

Incredible, Deep Strategy Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: March 20, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Ignore some of the bad reviews you see here. It's obvious from reading them that out of all the bad reviews, only one of the people who wrote them (so far) has actually played the game.

However, if you're looking for a simple strategy game, Victoria might not be for you. It doesn't seem so at first glance, but it's a very deep and complex game. For those who enjoy deeper games, this just makes it more rewarding to play. I bought this game when it first came out and now, months later, I still play it daily.

One of the complaints I've come across a few times is the number of patches that Paradox usually makes to their games. Why is such continued support a bad thing? Years after the games come out, Paradox still updates the games for free. In the past, this has not only included bug fixes, but new music, new scenarios, and other new content to the game. It's just one more reason that Paradox games are worth their cost.

The economic simulation Victoria provides is much deeper than the simple one given in EU2, and much better because of it. With supply and demand economics built in, you can manage a large number of different types of factories to build products to sell, and develop the infrastructure to boost production and your economy.

This game is far superior to Hearts of Iron, and I believe it to be better even than the original Europa Universalis II.

Review Page: 1 2 3 Next 

Actions