Victoria, at it's core, is a very good game. It has numerous features to keep the player interested, such as colonies, warfare, politics, technology, industrialisation, and trade. It does a nice job at executing these features, but there are problems. In the initial release, there were many bugs and exploits, but these have been fixed with patches. The interface is ugly and inefficient, the diplomacy is usually very one-sided, and the historical events force one to adapt one's playing style to the standard. Overall, a 3.5/5

I really enjoyed this game, but it was made obsolete by Hearts of Iron 2 and EU3, I would really like to see this game updated and have a sequel made. I loved the fact you could play this game through and then use your save in Hearts of Iron 2, I wish you could have used you EU save game and play on through this and eventually onto HOI, that would be the ultimate epic game, one day I hope we can see that. All in this game game is fun, but not a true classic, unless your really into the period of history I would recommend getting EU3 or HOI2

For myself, it´s the best game by Paradox. On the first run, everything seems to be very complex, an it´s sure that you will lose on your first attempt. But every hour of playing makes you a little bit better. When you liked HoI or Europa Universalis and thought, that these games are a little bit too easy, play Victoria.

This game is simply great. Once the steep learning curve has been mastered you will find yourself immersed for hours in this virtual world making you feel like a victorious Kaiser or a belittled Emporer. Please take note , however, that this game really is hard to comprehend and isn't easy to play.The gameplay isn't as fluid as EU3 and can be annoying with no scroll control over the camera. I'd recomend this game to anyone with the time to master it

A stunning achievement in grand strategy. Simply put, the must have game for those who love to conquer the world in every aspect, not just militarily. Incredible micro-management is required and not for the faint of heart when it comes to strategy games. It has a cult following for a very good reason.

Really brilliant! If you want a strategy game beyond warfare... that's your option. You can find here a simulation of politics (social reforms, a democracy in action with historial political parties, managing support of different social classes and nationalities...), of economics (several goods and natural resources, and the most important thing: factories and industrialization), of historical colonization of Africa and Asia, with the rise of European empires... It's not a warfare game. Though you can feel the experience of dealing a Great War! I prefer it complexity to Civilization series... Historial simulation is more interesting for me. And it has a political and economial scope wider than Hearts of Iron. The only "but" to the game is the learning curve. You need to invest a little of time to get results... but believe me, it worhts the time.

A very good model of the political-socio-economic systems of the Victorian era. The military piece is reasonable given the focus on nation building vs. warfare. We can always find variables not taken into account in this type of model, but this is a very good effort to account for the most important issues.

This is probably the best paradox game with a challenging experience. Unlike many other games the gamer of Victoria must not only consider war and victory but also economic growth and development, and gaining prestige by colonization perhaps. The newbie may find the game frustrating because much needs to be considered and it is thus a dificult strategy game. The manual may not be enough. Therefore, I strongly recommend to read Memnon's advanced manual found in the game's wiki, called "vickywiki", where also other interesting material can be found such as guides, tips etc. (http://www.paradoxian.org/vickywiki/index.php/Main_Page) May the game bring you as much pleasure as it gives me!

Quit probably Paradox best game so far, it has far more things to do than any of the other games, and you can play any country you want, and see how far you can take it.

Also the AI is quite good, be prepared to die horribly should you mess up:)

If you play race/sport/FPS/Sims games or think that Command & Conquer is a strategy-game, you might want to pass this one.

On the other hand, if Railroad Tycoon, Sim City, Europe Universalis, Civilization etc strike your fance - gear up for the gaming experience of the millenia!

Victoria will just blow your mind. It has a very steep learning curve but 'Net is filled with guides.
It just IS the best strategy game for Victorian-era and possibly the best economy simulator ever.

Music is nice, graphics do their thing - don't expect anything shiny but immensely huge content. Also, no 5-minute quickies here, since every game is very possible an all-nighter.

You will return to this game year after year after year.

This game has good staying power, while im not a fan of the liberal revolutions because they make it alot harder to make money in the game, the game itself is great. I've owned it for about 3 years or so now and I always end up coming back.

Where to start? I guess, is this game right for you? A game with hi-spec graphics that will cripple your pc as you slog it out with stupendously large armies against largely stupid AI in battles that consist of such strategies as who can click 'Build' the fastest, this is not. This is a game which, once you have overcome the rather steep learning curve, offers a depth of strategy and control I have never encountered in any other game, even other Paradox titles.

It offers the scope of EUII (or III), yet blows this and titles such as Hearts of Iron DD out of the water with intricate, yet intuitive, control over every aspect of empire-running: taxation, market policies, world trade, political intrigue, colonisation, war, diplomacy, immigration/emiigration, social unrest, class structure, minority rights, social reform... the list goes on. Whilst war is an option, you never feel it is necessary in order to accomplish your goals - you could easily overcome a neighbour without lifting a rifle. In all, a great game, particularly with the huge online community and stellar mods such as VIP.

While a good idea it falls short of being truly great. The complexity is high and the learning curve is not very forgiving.

Together with the Revolutions expansion/revision it is a nice game though.

I lost my old CD and rebought it over gamersgate :P I liked it that much!, despite all its flaws.