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Paradox Strategy Pack 6

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 19 / 23
Date: March 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Hearts of Iron : Good grand strategy-level game on WWII; unfortunately superseded already by Hearts of Iron II, sold on Amazon, as well.

Victoria & Europa Universalis II : Both genre-busting strategy games that cover from 1419 -1819 ACE (EUII), & from 1819-1919 ACE (Victoria). Loads of support on the Paradox Interactive website's forums, as well as 3d-party sites (VickyWiki, Chema-Chagi), for anything you need to know to play. Unfortunately, when you buy them in this package, there are no manuals for any of the games, although EUII has a unsurpassed tutorial loaded into the game, while Vicky does not.

Two Thrones & Crown of the North : Both of these are EUII-lite, with no manuals whatsoever. My suggestion? Play EUII first, learn the Paradox system, then play these. The main selling point for these two is that they cover two areas of Euro-History in some depth, Scandanavia from 1275-1340 ACE (CotN) & the Franco-English Connection from 1337-1490 ACE (Two Thrones).

Europa Universalis II - Asia Chapters: Abandon hope of a good addition to your gaming collection, all ye who purchase this! This is, as far as I can ascertain, a UNPATCHED version of a modification to Europa Universalis II. According to the Paradox forums, this came out in Japan a YEAR AGO, and is still awaiting a much-needed patch from the perps named Typhoon Games. Do NOT expect this one to work (it needs the Asian version 1.06 of EUII to work, and this version is nowhere to be found in Cyberspace, or any stores near, far, or otherwise to you!), do NOT expect any assistance from Paradox, the users there, nor from Typhoon Games! If you buy the Pack strictly for this one as I did, then save your $20 PLEASE! What's really a shame is there are some good scenarios here, as well as a much-needed non-Eurocentric view of history during the EUII period.

Great historical strategy games

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 15 / 15
Date: March 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I have played both Europa Universalis II and Victoria, and I enjoy both of them very much. These are not Zerg-rush type RTS games though - you need to plan your economy and have effective diplomacy to succeed. There are lots of guns vs butter decisions to make. Victoria in particular has a steep learning curve, but is very involved and rewarding once you get the hang of it.
EUII covers the early modern period (1419 to 1819), with an emphasis on state building and the religious conflicts, whereas Victoria covers the imperialist age of the nineteenth century (from 1836 up to 1920).
These games were developed a while ago, but Paradox are unusual in having a strong commitment to their games well after sale, and are still producing updates in response to fan requests. I would recommend that purchasers and potential purchasers check out the Paradox forum at http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum, to see the discussions, guides and user-mods available.
There is a fairly strong multi-player community for both games.

I have not played Hearts of Iron, which has recently been superceded by HoI2, but it is supposed to be a decent WW2 strategy game.

I can't comment on the other titles.

Downside - don't rely on the manuals (or tutorials - some titles, eg Victoria, don't have them). This is relatively easily overcome by accessing the fan-written guides though the forums.

Overall - great games at a good price.

Can not be recommended enough!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: June 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

For anyone who's been longing for a real strategy game with diplomacy, research, and warfare which seems more a simulation than a click-fest, these games are what you were waiting for. All are just tremendously fun, and have each proven even more addictive than legendary "digital crack" games like Civ or Alpha Centauri. When you add in that Paradox, the designing company, bends over backwards to suppport their products and designs them with moddability in mind, each game has a replayability far beyond what is initially apparent.

As has been mentioned, however, these games are quite complex, though after a bit you'll find the gameplay fairly intuitive. If its at all overwhelming its simply because strategy gamers simply don't normally expect this level of depth and quality; as if after years of bad fast food we have to learn how to use silverware again when presented with a gorgeous steak. The best way to overcome the learning curve is the paradoxplaza.com forum, where the folks are exceedingly helpful and knowledgeable. Heck, they also seem to be among the best history forums on the internet, as I seem to get hits from them every time I google something historically obscure. :)

Either way, if you want a real gaming experience, pick up these games and try them for yourselves. You won't be dissapointed. Unless, of course, you wanted to maintain a social life, marriage, or career, as you'll probably kiss all of those goodbye. Don't worry. It's a fair trade-off. :p

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