Victoria II

Victoria II

The sun never set on the British Empire in the 19th century, but finally we arrive at the series of games in Victoria, the grand strategy. Paradox Interactive because of their buggy and confusing game in the 2003 national construction during the industrial era was well worth the wait. Victoria II dumps most of the insects, micro-demanding and complex that induces headache original game earned him much criticism. Instead it is a game (mostly) stable Kinder, gentler than the mechanics to remove the most capricious of problems of separation at the helm of the ship of state. There is also an intuitive interface and a complete set of tutorials that teach you the basics of the game is still not a walk in the park, such as hours of experimentation is needed before learning the art of government in 1800.

But it is a game that Victoria: Empire Under the Sun should have been, and is both playable and addictive once you get past the initial steep learning curve.

Concepts behind Victoria II will be familiar to those who played some of the many articles in the series of Paradox, as grand strategy Europa Universalis and Hearts of Iron. This is a geopolitical simulation on a large scale, where you take control of the state you choose at the beginning of the Victorian era in 1836 and guide them in real time for a century. Playing solo is the main way to play (there is just one campaign great option here), although there is support for multiplayer really hardcore who spend many hours to process and duels with LAN / online rivals. Most screens set consists of short detailing hundreds of thousands of nations and provinces (rather dated, but the game style graphics board yet credible - even if the text is now microscopic when playing at resolutions higher than 1680x1050 ).

All these complex factors are put together pretty well. If the original Victoria was a little more than a shoe box full of random bits and ideas, the result feels like a well-planned offside. You will notice that when loading the main menu, the game offers now a fairly complete set of exercises as you go through the interface and most of the situations you encounter in the real Grand Campaign mode. The new interface is a godsend. All the main features of your nation are accessed via eight buttons on an information bar at the top left of the screen. So if you want to change diplomacy, to adjust the tax rates that technological improvements, or field an army, you just click a button to access the appropriate menus, and then you can get to work .

Making changes is also easy for most. You can manipulate the scroll bars, things like taxation trees technological and technical innovations, such as railways and assembly lines. It 'a little more' scared at first, because you have reached a huge list of policy initiatives and business ideas of how they affect your country until you start to try (in-game advisers would have been some suggestions for cabinet very useful). The policy of the screen only has dozens of hotels, where you can do almost anything, such as trade unions illegal, OK'ing of slavery and the return of the votes so that the rich will have more say in elections. Although a number of options, but you can gradually understand how to move to change the structure of your country. All necessary information at hand, although the form of pie charts and columns of various stats.

Entering a great strategy game by itself can be addictive too, at least when it has gone through a trial run a few games that do not wait until the end. The games are complicated, but you can automate the demanding functions, such as trade (which is so complex that it seems almost impossible to manage manually). Population is the biggest twist of the head around the concept. The game features a dozen classes and professions, that all is well controlled. It is necessary to dig the point often enough to maintain a balance and ensure that every group of citizens have access to employment, to meet their basic needs, and have access to luxury goods. This is not as difficult as it was the first Victoria for good luck because now you are more hands-off leader who nudges people in the right direction to support specific groups of occupations and products, thanks to things like national focus.

Not surprisingly, it can be very difficult to keep people happy for a long time. When things go well, they tend to go very well. You can easily settle into a stable growth in a long time, to provide periodic reforms, the economy humming, and even holding the river in the middle of the scale to compete with large, such as Britain and France, all the while listening to classical to calm the soundtrack of the biggest hits of the 19 th century. But rebellions happen too often, people demand reform, as the years go by, and are not able to give them, because the power to "stay the course" the Conservatives over the house of government. Expect problems after 1860, with all the turmoil of beer, often exploding into massive riots communist reactionary, Jacobites, and friends. This does not happen all the time, though. Some of the games to roll along smoothly, while others see a nation after nation of descent into chaos with the revolutionary uprising in every province.

Although it is not revolutionary enough to win those who have found a great strategy for Paradox exhausting effort in the past, Victoria II is a more accessible version of this demanding style of play. However, it remains a challenge, a complex experience that is not for everyone. It's still hit you with a learning curve that initially resemble the north side of K2 for beginner who has never played this kind of game before. Question of the rebellion is also frustrating when it happens, especially as it usually does, so after you've spent two decades in a campaign. Yet it is a leap forward from its predecessor and it shows that Paradox has listened to its critics and to bind to its traditional games as possible without turning the hardcore fans of historical strategy is that the bread of Business and butter.

There is also a list of menus covering all aspects of Victorian society, including population, religion, trade, taxation, diplomacy, war, and many of the technological advances of the time. The decision of a state involves delicate balancing act, where you play with things like taxes and fees required for a country to pay the bills against the will of the great wash of keeping a few shillings in their pockets for personal items luxury. You also have to balance the demand for progressive reform of society against the conservative will keep everything the same. If you go too far in either direction, complete with unhappy people who might rebel.

Requirements increase over time, of course, to reflect the progressive liberalism and the rise of living standards of the industrial era. You should see some statistics here, especially to ensure that the national consciousness that govern how people are demanding reform and militant who dictates how people want to go down the street at the same time grow to no more than a tempo slow and steady.

Modders are already working on solutions, so maybe the paradox takes this into account and provide a patch sometime soon. Yet even insurgency discomfort, is surprisingly small: "How can I do this?" and "How the hell happened?" moments here. Only the small desktop Crash odd implies instability.