Ballistics Report

Pros

Engrossing gameplay
Despite all its faults, anyone who makes it past the initial horrors will find a deep and intricate game.

Music
A selection of late classical masters, and not just the big names like Beethoven and Mozart.

Cons

Interface
Not so much bad, as completely inadequate for the tasks the player deals with.

Learning curve
I’ve played my share of unforgiving games, but Victoria takes the cake. On your fifth start, just as you think you’ve got the hang of things and are doing well, you’ll likely realize that your mighty Prussian industry after 20 years of play is somewhere in between that of such minor powers as Bavaria and Portugal. No tutorial, an inadequate manual and thoughtless starting conditions hardly help.

Gameplay
Even if you find the game charming, you’re still likely to be baffled as to the necessary steps in which to unite Germany or Italy, or the order of the tech tree, among many other problems.

Bugs
The game loves crashing to desktop every few hours, and many of the events in the game don’t seem to work very consistently.