Games Modeling the British Empire

[Gusington]

I am getting into a nice stretch of historical fiction and non fiction on the British Empire. I want a PC game to go along with it. Right now I am playing a modified version of Empire Total War based around the Indian Mutiny. Any other games you guys recommend for 19th-20th century British Empire, etc?

People do not have glowing things to say about Victoria II, and I'm about to get Civ V in desperation. But I've got to think there is something else out there.

I don't really care about what kind of game as long as it is exciting/engaging.

What say you all?

[MarkShot]

I played Victoria 1, but playing England was overwhelming. Too many units.

[Gusington]

^If it overwhelmed you it would probably drive me insane and kill me.

[MarkShot]

What was wrong with Victoria2? At the time of release people said it was one of Paradox's better games.

I don't dispute that the civ series is fun, but I never felt that it conveyed any historical flavor.

[jomni]

Victoria 2 is so well-built that it can run by itself without human intervention.  I guess a lot of people don't like that.

[son_of_montfort]

If you could get Vicky 2 cheap, you could see if you felt comfortable playing it or not. You can largely automate the market (which is the nastiest part) and I didn't find the number of unit types too oppressive. The UI for Vicky 2 is a bit more friendly than Vicky 1, so that may help.

[Gusington]

Victoria II and its DLC and expansions are all on sale at Steam. I can get the base game for 9.99 and A House Divided for 9.99 also. What jomni says is pretty much the central reason why I hesitate.

[Nefaro]

At $10 for entry.. it's a fairly cheap tryout.

The expansion didn't look to add much, from what I saw.. even though they charged a premium expansion price for it.   Just an AI behavior fix or two, perhaps.  ::)

[Gusington]

^Gotcha.

[son_of_montfort]

I'll be honest, I never got the time to invest in the expansion, so I can't comment on it.

I'm no AI-expert, so AI quirks often don't bug me like they do some people here. So take that into consideration when thinking about my opinion.

I would say, for $20, getting the two would be good. Or $10 and not worry about the expansion until the next sale. FWIW, I don't think the expansion was a "patch" as much as the other P-dox expansion. You might check out the opinion on the P-dox boards.

[Gusington]

The whole idea of the game playing itself is what turns me off the most.

[mikeck]

Well Gus, you could try Pride of Nations. I like it better than Vicky. Of course, it will take you 20 years to finish it....

[Nefaro]

Righty-o Guv'na.

[MarkShot]

I like games that leave it up to the player how much interaction they will have.  I hate being forced to micro-manage everything.  At the same time, I like to have the control to say that little dip in the road would make a great spot for an ambush/road block.