Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun

by Strategy First

Product Features

• Control your nation from the early 19th century to the early 20th century
• Revolutionary simulation of the industrialization of the world
• Build up military might, industrialization power, and national prestige
• Send explorers to map out the inner parts of Africa and the Americas
• Full-scenario editor and complete multiplayer support

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0000VYKX2
• Item Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: December 1, 2003
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,669 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

The sun never sets on the British EmpireProduct InformationFrom the creators of the award winning Hearts of Iron and Europa Universals I& II.  Paradox Entertainment brought empire building to new depths withEuropa Universals covering the years 1419 to 1820 and now history continuesthrough the years 1836 to 1920 in Victoria - An Empire Under the Sun. Guide your nation through nearly one hundred years of history! Span the absolutemonarchies of the early 1800's to the dawn of the 20th Century and theindustrialized great powers!Gather wealth and strength to stay ahead of your enemies gain invaluableprestige and honor - reform your nation into a free democracy or drive yourpeople down the grim road of revolution.Product Features Take sides in the American Civil War crush the Zulus or force open the Dardanelles in the Crimean War. Send explorers to map out the inner parts of Africa and the Americas and bring home prestige to your Empire! Revolutionary simulation of the Industrialization of the World with a full economic system including over 50 different resources. Political system simulating the change from absolute monarchism to the parliamentarian democracy of the modern world. Let ironclads rule the seas while you develop gatling guns and repeater rifles for your land troops. Guide your nation through the grim realities of The Great War complete with Dreadnoughts Machine Guns and World War I era Tanks. Full scenario editor and complete Multiplayer support for up to 32 players. Developed by the team behind the award winning Hearts of Iron and Europa Universalis I and II. Minimum Requirements Windows 98 Me 2000 XP Pentium III 450MHz processor 128MB of RAM 600MB Free Hard Drive Space 4MB Video Card DirectX Compatible DirectX Compatible Sound Card DirectX 9.0 or higher (included on CD) 4X CD-ROM DriveRecommended Requirments Windows 98 Me 2000 XP Pentium III 800

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Complex, but worth it - well worth the price, October 22, 2004

By 

Griswel (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun (CD-ROM)

There are many games you can jump into and understand well in a few minutes. After a few hours, you're done with nearly any of them.

Victoria is not one of these games. After a few hours you're still early in the learning cycle, but you're having fun, and you are just starting a long-term relationship with a great game.

You have to approach Victoria differently than a simpler game. Download the latest patch (1.03c as of this review), go to the Paradox website to review the advice to new players, and play as an easy country for your first game. I suggest Sweden (ignoring the military) so you learn the economic system, and eventually build up to playing countries like the USA, before taking on the UK or Russia.

What you'll get is the ability to play an incredibly detailed recreation of the world as it was 1835-1920. You can play as any of dozens and dozens of countries, from Japan to Sardinia-Piedmont, from the Confederate States of America to Prussia. You advance scientifically, developing and buildign railroad, advancing politically (if you like), moving from Monarchy to democracy.

There are shortcomings to the game. The manual contains information on what is in the game, but not much on how you *should* play. The Paradox forums provide plenty of advice, however. There's a reason for this - once you learn the game, you'll get far more playing time for the tiny price Amazon wants for this game than you will out of nearly anything else you play (that isn't by Paradox, that is). Others have already realized what a great game Vicky is, and they are eager to share the joy with the rest of us.

This is a deep, sometimes difficult game, but it is worth the effort. It offers more replayability than any game I have ever seen from any other publisher.

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another fine game from Paradox Entertainment, May 29, 2004

By 

TrezKu13 (Norfolk, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun (CD-ROM)

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?

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A truly wonderful strategic game, January 2, 2004

By 

Tomas MF - See all my reviews

This review is from: Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun (CD-ROM)

Victoria, or Vicky as it's called on Forums, is a complete piece of art in strategy games.
Using the engine of popular and award winning games as Europa Universalis or Hearts of Iron, Paradox Entertainment gave birth to a new installment of the saga. This time the scenario is set in 1836 and brings back to life the Victorian era. You can play almost 100 years (as a matter of fact 84 years exactly) and your goal is simply to be the most prestigious nation.

But, what exactly is prestige? Prestige is a mixture of several things such as economic power (industrialize your nation and enjoy the benefits of the new economy), colonial presence (let your flag rise over far and distant lands), technological progress or education, for instance.

Veteran players will find the UI (user interface) familiar and newbies not so perhaps. But it takes no more than a couple of hours to grab the basics and start playing fairly; although several days or weeks to master the game (assuming you dedicate 3 hours a day approx). But you have available and at your disposition a wonderful forum on line where to ask any kind of question or share your thoughts with developers.

What's interesting, or at least in my opinion, is the cultural progress you can give to your population. You can educate your steel miners, for instance, to make them become craftsmen at factories or officers for your armies. This, accompanied by social and political reforms in your state, can maximize wealth and achieve high standards of living. Fail and suffer popular rebellions throughout your empire.

Overall is a very addictive game and worth to give a try if you feel attracted to historical games.