I've recently decided to give the Pride of Nations a try again, being surprised that after a few years they are still patching it. It used to be a horrible game, not because of its features but because it took several minutes for it to resolve a turn on a PC that was able to play AAA games in high FPS. Right now it's surprisingly working just like it should.
If you liked any of the Paradox Games, you'll probably like this one too. It's a grand strategy game set in the nineteenth century like Victoria 2, but much better. Why? Let me elaborate.
1. You actually have a decent military system. Victoria 2 has a decent economy and population system but a horrible military one. Just a few types of units and a very basic battle resolution, not to mention generic leaders. PON has about 40 types of units, which come in brigades, division and corpses which you use to form Armies and other units with. Additiionally, you can use military hospitals, signal corps, engineers, labor units etc. The battles are very detailed too with a lot of things taken into account by the engine. It's as good as a strategy game of this game can be, and vastly superior to EU4, CK2, Victoria and other Paradox games excluding maybe the Hearts of Iron series.
2. Real colonization and exploration. You are actually sending specialized units called expeditions and with a system of decisions carving your colonies wherever you want. And there are a lot of options - you can conduct research, both natural and anthropological, geographical exploration, set religious missions, military outposts, build roads and telegraphs, send merchants and build merchant hubs and more. You can even negotiate with tribal chiefs, bribe them or force them into submission. You can even send your battleships and use some old gunboat diplomacy. After you do this all you can proclaim your area a protectorate and eliminate your competition with the proclamation of a full colony. Africa is a game here, and a tough one at times.
3.Colonial conflicts, large troops on the borders or mutual disagreements can lead to something called a crisis. This is where you fight your opponent with press conferences, negotiations, legal issues and your diplomat's oratory skills. Whoever wins gets a lot of prestige, potential claims and casus belli necessary to wage war.
4. Economy is alright with a distinction between the treasury and private capital. There are dozens of goods, international trade, and you can actually win by having a very strong economy.
5. The graphics are fine with a lot details such as uniforms changing over time, portraits of world leaders and generals. I like the map too. It is reasonably detailed and contains a lot of cool, small things such as ships with their own name and goods they're moving, animals, and tons of cities.
6. You cannot choose any country in the beginning of the game but by using a command SwitchFaction you can play as a different nation from the next turn so it is possible to play as any nation in the world, and even several at the same time since it is a turn-based game. Head to head play is also possible.
7. In addition to the 1850 campaign and a DLC 1880 one there are several smaller scenarios covering the Italian War of Unification, the American Civil War, the Boer War, Russo-Japanese War and American-Spanish War among others. They're all pretty good
8. There's even a good research system with quite a few technologies and associated events. Research, apart from your additional invested is based on your country's assets. If you have a strong navy with many large bases you will develop naval technologies faster for example which is a very nice touch.
Overall after the very disappointing Victoria II, this was a nice surprise. It always had a great potential and now it's actually working. I highly recommend it.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/73190/Pride_of_Nations/
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Topic: Pride of Nations - actually working now and better than Victoria II! (Read 5318 times)