User Reviews (1 - 11 of 21)

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Be Advised...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: January 02, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I love the game and I generally agree with the positive reviews of Patrician II.

HOWEVER, please be advised: This is not a game that you just pop into your CD drive for a casual 20-30 minutes of play. It requires a lot of micromanagement, patience, and frankly, can be quite sloooow for quite a long time.

We fanatics tend to forget that not everyone is inclined to spend hours on what may feel more like a history lesson on a relatively (for most people) obscure trading league in order to become a successful merchant.

You've been warned.

Simply Awesome

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: May 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

P2 was a great, original idea to begin with (how many other 14th century Baltic Sea trading sims can you name?), and I love what they did with this one. Anyone who likes the thought of starting small and rising the ranks will love this game.

The money model is tough enough to be challenging (and realistic), but not so much as to be impossible or unpredictable. At first you can't help but just make single trips to nearby towns and build houses to rent in order to make money, but soon you can build your own industries and run your own towns.

I won't go into all the good parts of the game since others have done that well; I will just name a few drawbacks:

- The game's interest tapers off as you get richer and richer, because you can never stop planning and making all the shipping runs that you did as a lowly shopkeeper (there is no turning it over to a middle manager), so you always have to be bogged down in the details as you move on to other things.

- I still haven't sucessfully survived a land seige, even after maxing the number of my town and wall guards and building all the towers possible. Since there is no controlling how they fight (you aren't a military commander in this game), how do I protect my people?

- The sea battles are awesome, but your opponent can easily evade you if he has a faster ship. If your ship is suped up with weapons to fight with, though, you probably aren't very fast. So it is hard to search and destroy with a heavy force.

- Each town only has a few commodities that you can make economically. You can make some others, but the costs of production are high and you won't make a profit.

Those are only minor problems after dozens of hours of gameplay, though, so don't let them hold you back. Enjoy!

A Thought Provoking Gem

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: January 28, 2003
Author: Amazon User

A trading simulation about the Hanseatic League probably generates a number of yaws among most gamers. However, this game elicits the same "just one more turn" feeling that I had when playing the various Civilzation games, Imperialism 2 and Europa Universalis I & II.

You are a trader in the North/Baltic Sea are in the 14th century. Your overall objective can be to become the Alderman of the Hanseatic League, but you can choose another objective. Since this is an open ended game, you can become a pirate and be a plague upon the other traders. You can play it straight and supply your hometown with all needed goods (20 in all), and build a happy and prosperous town. You can become Lord Mayor of your town, and are then responsible for it's defense from not only pirates, but from the local lord. You can try to build up your hometowns population to the maximum possible, and then move to a new town and try to maximize it's population. You can become the League's monopolist for wine, iron goods, cloth or any number of goods. This is why I like this game so much; the different ways you can play or combine the different aspects.

They are many other features such as exploring the New World well before Columbus, dealing with informers and thiefs, bribing officials, paying fines if you decide on a not so honorable path in life, building not only ships, but businesses. There is so much depth here.

You can play Patrician 2 via the internet, and there are contest game(s) available at web sites. These web sites also have actives forums which contain valuable information. I salute Strategy First for bringing this game to the U.S. market. There is a sequel called, what else, Patrician 3. I look forward to Strategy First or some other publisher bringing this game to the U.S.

Oh what a joy!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: December 03, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Let me just say, this is one of the best games I have ever played! I have played them all (simulations that is) and this one allows multi-players to use the same machine and play on a turn-based setting. It is overwhelmingly enjoyable, addictive, and FUN! A friend and I have been playing together on the same machine for some time now. Although you lose some features with the turn-based option, it is still well worth it. Most developers cannot understand the importance of a multi-player option within a game. This one is a must have for all PC game lovers.

Excellent work by Ascaron

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: November 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Patrician 2 is a unique game allows the player to try several avenues to attain different goals in the game. Wonderful graphics and intriguing gameplay make this game First on my list of Strategy Games of the last 5 years. Ascaron, the developers, Have come out with a new game called Patrician 3. It's the much anticipated game based on the same scenario but with new events, better graphics, more realistic natural and A.I. characteristics. The game is especially exciting as multiplayer. Patrician 3, now available in Europe, awaits an American publisher to ship in the States and Canada. I want this for X-Mas!

a deep and thoughtful strategy game: BUY THIS!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: January 23, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Patrician 2 is an excellent game. If you like a good PC strategy game, then you will be sucked into this one for untold numbers of hours. The buying and selling has a most addictive feel to it. I haven't had so much fun buying, producing, selling, and trying to make supply and demand work for me while beating out the competition since M.U.L.E.! Very open gameplay is the rule as well. The match objectives can be achieved by any number of possible actions.

From a Hard Core Strategy Gamer

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: September 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Patrician II is by far the best strategy game I've ever played and I've been playing for many years! There's much more to this game than meets the eye, as I've discovered over the last nine months that I've owned the game. Trade is just the tip of the iceberg. The gamer can put himself in the shoes of Andrew Carnegie by building up the Iron Goods industry or Richard Arkwright by building Weaving Mills. (I prefer both!) You can expand your trade empire by becoming a renowned explorer of the Mediterranean and even beat Columbus to America! And then there's the Dark Side, Piracy! You can steal ships and cargo from your AI opponent, sink them to the bottom of the sea and even take your wrath out on the AI Pirates. You can venture into the arena of politics and become Fleet Master of the Hanse. You can become the next Jakob Fugger or Nathan Rothschild by loaning out money to other AI traders. There are many, many aspects to this long play strategy game. I've had two different games that have both lasted over a month! For those of you who enjoy "Empire Building" games, I highly recommend this one. There's nothing else out there like it, I promise you! (Robber Baron)

A must have!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: October 19, 2002
Author: Amazon User

After several years being a video gamer finally I've found this incredibly addictive game. Patrician II definitively isn't like other action games that last just the weekend. Long term playing without boring, trade and fight for power and glory. Excellent graphics and music score; what a simulation!!
I'm waiting for the next releases from ASCARON SOFTWARE: Patrician III and Port Royale, also based in the old trading ages and piracy. Hunt or be hunted...

Totally addictive and engrossing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: April 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the most mentally challenging games I have played, the best trading sim I have yet come across. It is about as far from the shoot-em-ups that seem to dominate the market these days. The money and recognition doesn't just come flowing in after a couple of hours; you need to do some real planning and have some good management skills if you want your trading empire to be a success. Get ready to watch the hours fly by, once you get the hang of the game. The historical detail and graphics are extremely nice. Aesthetically, this game is a real treat to look at. If you enjoy history, and you need a game that requires some brain power rather than a quick trigger finger, then this game should be considered, at least until Patrician III is finally released into the American market.

Amazing Medievil accuracy!!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Certainly challenging and infinitely complex, but much more than a game. After a bit of play you find yourself becoming familiar with the universal rules of the merchant mariner.

Every history department should require play. It is the only way to truly understand how the renaissance and the industrial age came to be.

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