Very disappointing game. Economy system is buggy and broken, several AI issues, obscure (and overly complicated) POP mechanics, a lack of control and SLOW code make this game a major waste of your time. Vicci 1 was so much better in every respect, which is sadly true for so many Paradox titles.
I spent 100s of hours in Vicci 1, gave up on this game after 10-20 hours.

The other reviews have said it all Yes, version 1.0 was buggy, but version 1.2 has made this a remarkable game - and Paradox doesn't stop adding to their games for long after their release, so prepare for it to get even better!

Paradox has a habit of releasing buggy games. They have such a habit of releasing games in such a poor state I just cannot abide by getting any of their titles until a 5-6 month cooldown period has passed.

Case in point Hearts of Iron 3. What a mess this game was at launch. I wanted many many months and just got it for 8 dollars on Amazon. Now I feel that I will get my value out of the title. Europa Universalis complete is also 7 dollars on Amazon for the holidays so I will probably snatch that one up also.

Victoria 2 was a notoriously bad game. My suggestion? Wait and go for the AGEOD title Pride of Nations. A tried and true engine and I am sure that they will release a fairly stable product. In fact the only one I can think of that did not work out well for them was World War One. At least at first. Since its release it has been fixed.

Link here to Pride of Nations: http://www.ageod-forum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=250… Expand

Paradox games is one of my most disliked game companies. Victoria 2 is a pile of jetsam, the game just don`t got what it takes. I keep asking myself why did I buy this game, I will never get another Paradox game again.

I consider myself well read of history. I love to read about the period which this game takes place and have always done the 'what if' senarios in my head. What if the CSA won the Civil War? What if Germany never unified? In this game I set out to play those what ifs. I played as the House of Lippe (a german province) never unifying with the rest of germany. Instead I conquered it. conquered parts of poland and later became a great power. I ended the game colonizing africa and being a super power. This game is full of those what ifs.… Expand

Victoria 2 was a game that I bought on a steam sale, booted up, and than after about 30 minutes of tutorials, shut down and didn't revisit for six months. That short experience left me baffled. That said, I saw that there was something to the game, and promised to devote a Saturday afternoon to it one day. About a month ago, I did just that. I spent a full day doing the tutorials and trying out a game of it in earnest. I was left baffled. Confused. Humbled like no other strategy game ever has. Strategy is my genre, and this was the most monstrous game I have ever seen. But it left me utterly compelled. Fast forward a month, and I am STILL learning how to play this game. But it is worth it. I would give this game a 10, but it is simply not accessible to the average STRATEGY gamer. If I was to rate is as a game for whoever, it would be lower, simply because of the ludicrous learning curve. That being said, for those that take the time to learn the game, kudos. You have discovered a classic. It is stable, the ai is a reasonable challenge, and there is only victory in your own eyes. For those who claim there is a problem with the underlying game mechanics, they have not scoured the forums and found out why the game works like it does. For the vast majority of things, this game was designed to work like it does, and after understanding why it was designed the way it is, you will say to yourself "Oh, now I see why they did that." I give it an 8.5 out of 10, siding on a 9. If you buy the DLC, A House Divided, it improves the game to an even further extent.… Expand

Paradox games are generally only playable after their first expansion by which most of the worst bugs and imbalances are ironed out (EU 3 is an exception that took more than one expansions to be the great game it currently is). I think this is also true for Victoria II even though it was released much more finished than the horrible HOI 3. The good thing about Paradox interactive is that they actively keep updating their games even several months and years after their release. As of the current version the game still suffers from many small problems but it has an active modding community and an expansion on its way.… Expand

This is a game that fits into a very thin niche in the strategy games' market, and as such it either works well for you or it doesn't. What it does it does very well and what it doesn't do...well it just doesn't do it for some people. If you are a huge strategy game fan (especially of other Paradox titles) or a real history buff then you will probably enjoy this game, but if you're more of a Call of Duty fan and looking to get into a different genre while you wait for the next shooter then this game is definitely not for you. The tutorial is rather boring and all text with no hands on experimentation and this leads to a lot of frustration and searching on the forums. I think the devs wanted you to experiment in-game and play with your own style and in this forces you to do so as a lot of the game is learn as you go, but the first few hours can be very frustrating. The interface is very disheartening even for a seasoned strategy player but it soon becomes your best friend and the more information the better. Diplomacy is definitely this game's strong point over competing RTS games, indeed if you wanted you could play the entire game without going to war and still accomplish many of your nations objectives. That's not to say warfare isn't an integral part of the game, but you are presented with many options for working around a rival nation, the Prussian/Austrian Campaign is especially enjoyable in this regard. Warfare is fairly well done, however you take no part in the battle and the strategy is in getting all the right technology, luring an enemy army into unfavourable conditions, maintaining supply lines, and trying to keep your economy running enough to keep your armies moving. It is really focused on the grand strategy where winning a battle takes a back seat to winning the war. The economy is also very well done and it's management is absolutely critical to your success or failure. All in all I enjoyed Victoria 2 and if you have a lot of time and patience on your hands then you probably will too, but know that you get what you put into this game and if you put in little you will get little in return.… Expand

I quite enjoyed it although it has it's share of issues including a persistent problem with the world market and a few other pesky bugs. The game has tremendous potential though. I think with a strong expansion pack, it'll become a classic.

Though a bit buggy when first released Victoria II is still a solid strategy game. Victoria II has a lot of detail, from tech trees, to POPs, trade, diplomacy, and a lot of historical data. While in other games of paradox this level of detail is usually accompanied by a steep learning curve which would make many people hate the series, but Victoria II seems alot more balanced and straight forward. Worried about the tech tree? Well don't worry it's literally straight forward at what you need for the next tech, and not all techs are available to you at once unlike HoI 3 which you literally could research everything way before you should, especially if you like to cheat. Diplomacy in Victoria II is a bit screwy, but is still manageable and usable. Sure, vanilla Victoria II doesn't allow you to kick out **** members of your sphere of influence but that isn't reason enough to not like or play this game. The political system seems to be well balanced on reality, with my only complaint being that's really really hard to try to get 1 party from 3% to 20+ unless it's the basic liberal or conservative parties aka really hard to create a Fascist, Communist, or anything else really nation. Now the economy system is not as straight forward as it could (ease of use), but is significantly easier when compared to other paradox games, where controlling the economy is important (I highly suggest looking into an online guide for this). Administration, is really easy to manage, make the tax levels for each of the 3 classes (lower, middle, upper), set tariffs, and decide what to spend on. (Education, Administrating, Recruits, Raw materials you need, etc.)

All and all Victoria II is a good game with some flaws, and a bit of a learning curve, but is still playable. Though I wouldn't pay more than $30 for it. 8/10… Expand

Victoria II was a mess when it was originally released, but the latest patches have fixed most issues. The game is focused on the social and economic changes that occured in the 19th and 20th century, and you job is to guide your nation through them. Victoria II does not focus so much on combat as other Paradox titles, but there is enough depth in the rest of the game for it to still be really entertaining. If you are a fan of other Paradox Interactive Titles, Victoria 2 is a must have!… Expand

Victoria II is a game that makes you able to change history, the easy (and boring way), or the hard (and interesting way). The possibilities are all up to you and the decissions you make. One thing Paradox excels in, is their long support for their released games and their commitment to create easily modable games. They have recieved a lot of acclaim because of this from all over the world and Victoria II is a prima example of this. The most apparent difference of Victoria II over its predecessor Victoria I, is that it's graphically improved a lot, this in my opinion is a good thing. I really appreciate the fact that you can now actually see crisp borders, instead of random blobs all over the map which should portrait your country. Another part is gameplay, with which combat and diplomacy have been improved considerably, but also some differences have been made in the overall economy and pops. These changes cannot cater to everybody, but to an extend I appreciate most options. However, I really miss the possibility to buy and sell provinces. The AI is also a bit stale, but every game I play, I notice all the other countries are building their armies to prepare for the Great War, which is quite interesting. Colonizing is very dependant upon what and how you research, making it more of a rat race around 1870, rather than colonizing Africa/Asia at a steady pace. England is also massively overpowered for a long stretch in the game, but it's your call if you'd like to keep it that way, or bring them down by force.. The combat makes it possible to keep better track of your armies and also (very important) keeping them supplied and reinforced. In total, Victoria II is a great update on the original. It doesn't give my the ultimate observer feel I've had in part one though, so it's not perfect, rather pretty close..… Expand

Rather than act like an uber-reviewer, master game critic, and one who knows the ins and out of every design facet, let me streamline this review to say I flat out just hate this game. I hate the graphics. The maps are so ugly that I don't even want to play half the factions. If you play France, for example you are stuck for 40 hours in a horrible murky greyed-out ultramarine colour. Hey guys! Its the 21st century! Why do you imagine it adds 'historic mood' to your games by making them look like ugly versions of 19th century printed maps? The other thing about V2 is the total pretentious and sham 'histrionics' of it all. Its the same Paradox game as the rest of them, with a new skin. Its all moving parts, the same old sausage machine, and a false promise of control. There are no choices in this game and there is no strategic thought required. I suggest if you are new save yourself a LOT of discovery time. Just find the cheat codes on the internet. Hit your tilda key and gift yourself whatever you need. Conquer the whole world from North pole to South, instant build level 5 train lines everwhere and watch while the sausage machine takes you down the inevitable path to a Swedish social Nirvana with free health insurance and a 12 hour working week for everyone. Its not that the game doesn't have entertaining dimensions. Its historic and intellectual pretentions are hilarious. Be sure to take the effort to study Phenomenolgy and Gesalt psychology in the research tree before you research barbed wire and machine guns! Paradox are old hands at pretending that they know about these things, and that they will IMPACT your gaming experience. They won't. I wish they has spent more time instead thinking up more than the same damned 'dynamic events' that keep opening up little windows every two seconds giving false 'choices' that actually mean nothing at all as the sausage machine whirs away PRETENDING to create variants of history. To play this game as it was 'designed' is nothing but masochism. Cheat liberally and constantly to get it over with as quickly as possible. I assure anyone on the fence that this game has no bugs. Its simply as ugly as sin, and your standard Paradox micromanagement nightmare. This game is NOT nerdy. This game is NOT deep. This game IS a sausage machine. If you genuinely like it stay a country mile away from me. I don't want to know you. The main secret to this game is simply that its so player unfriendly and opaque, that everyone who finally starts to 'achieve' something with their faction begins to feel like Einstein. You are not Einstein. You are a sucker who has been taken in by a micro-management sausage machine.… Expand

This is definitely one of my favourite games!! It is rather detailed, visually beautiful and it is a historic strategy - what more can a history geek want??
It does have some problems, like the insistence of Russia to conquer Oman in EVERY game, but that is (hopefully) something that will soon be addressed with the patches.
I haven't played it since before the patch 1.2 so we'll see - hopefully it'll be even better. Even without the patch, I loved it! Excellent game!!… Expand

great game i loved it even though it had some bugs it was able to keep me happy due to the large about of countries and 100 years of game play long live the Punjabi empire

I had great hopes for this after playing Victoria 1. Vic2 is a disappointment. 2 steps forward, 2 steps back. The interface is much worse, nicer looking but less functional, and no one buys this kind of game for its looks. Tech progression and late game battles are very unbalanced, more or less breaking gameplay. Vic1 had similar problems but no where near as severe. This is such a pity because the game has so much potential. Some of the big mods like PDM fix a lot of the problems, but there is only so much they can do.… Expand

Oh, and by the way, the game isn't confusing at all. Most of the little numbers and windows don't really matter; take a liberal market government if you don't like building factories. Play as France your first time; the game basically plays itself. There's also plenty of hotkeys for most symbols.. Why tell yourself you're overwhelmed? Just decide to learn.

A step back from its predecessor in terms of depth and immersion. Many mechanics have been added that replicate existing mechanics, such as spheres of influence and social movements, and many have been rendered largely pointless, like consciousness. Much of this seems to have stemmed from the inclusion of a libertarian on the development team: as an overtly political game which attempted to portray the world according to Marxism, the overall vision has suffered.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game has lots of depth and really impressed me! But I think it was kind of falsely advertised, as from first glance I thought is was part of the total war series, or at least something similar. When I got it home I had a shock but in many ways a good one! This Game was memorable, but not as good as the total war series. Close though… Expand

I consider myself well read of history. I love to read about the period which this game takes place and have always done the 'what if' senarios in my head. What if the CSA won the Civil War? What if Germany never unified? In this game I set out to play those what ifs. A veryy good game! A very good Stratgie Game!

Originally pretty buggy, but patched well and a great game with continual updates. Somewhat intimidating. Focuses more on economic and cultural development than simple combat which gives it still quite a bit of depth. Substantially better graphics than the original.