Victoria II: Heart of Darkness

 PC
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 80 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 71 out of 80
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 80
  3. Negative: 6 out of 80

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  1. Affiliatorz
    Sep 17, 2013
    10
    Immersive grand strategy game, improving on the earlier versions. It is awesome especially with POP Demand Mod. Give it a try to see how it polishes an already good game
  2. Hensomm
    Apr 16, 2013
    7
    The latest expansion to Paradox's Victoria series brings more to the table than before. With a newly introduced Crisis system to push forward with diplomatic missions without war.

    A nice feature I was waiting for was a larger African and colonial factor. Now you can have competing colonization on a larger scale, navies are much more important, and African states can be released into    The latest expansion to Paradox's Victoria series brings more to the table than before. With a newly introduced Crisis system to push forward with diplomatic missions without war.

    A nice feature I was waiting for was a larger African and colonial factor. Now you can have competing colonization on a larger scale, navies are much more important, and African states can be released into actual puppet states. This completely changes the dichotomy of game play.

    While I don't feel like it was worth the $20, it is very fun.    … Expand
  3. karimov
    Jun 11, 2013
    10
    A nice feature I was waiting for was a larger African and colonial factor. Now you can have competing colonization on a larger scale, navies are much more important, and African states can be released into act
  4. 221evans
    Aug 6, 2013
    9
    The best expansion for Victoria 2 yet, it adds more options for colonial expansion. It also includes a crisis system where smaller countries can cause tension in a region where they have a core and then cause a crisis where they can ask a large country support them, this makes it a lot easier to play as a smaller country to gain territory without going to war, but this could lead to aThe best expansion for Victoria 2 yet, it adds more options for colonial expansion. It also includes a crisis system where smaller countries can cause tension in a region where they have a core and then cause a crisis where they can ask a large country support them, this makes it a lot easier to play as a smaller country to gain territory without going to war, but this could lead to a world war if the crisis isn't resolved peacefully. The only bad thing I can point out is that in my experience loads of world wars seem to break out at the end of the game and it can get quite annoying… Expand
  5. djswope94
    Aug 20, 2013
    10
    The expansion was a great one. First it opened Africa up to more than the normal maybe 4 to 5 countries making the competition for Africa more interesting. Also The crisis feature adds a nice touch of new diplomacy to the creating a sense of war possibly popping up all due to empire building. So overall i enjoyed it a lot.
  6. surys
    Apr 16, 2013
    5
    There are TONS of bugs which could be eliminated by simply playing the game at once. Don't buy yet, wait for patches and promotions. I wonder if devs even payed attention to the game.
  7. Damascus
    Mar 1, 2015
    3
    Five reasons this game is absolute s h i t e !

    1. I needed community support to even start the game. 2. Game-mechanics are somewhat booring. Rather limited options for doing anything. 3. Once you become a Great Power you must spend the rest of the game watching the influence interface, trying to jocky your sphere of influence into the AIs. About as fun as watching an    Five reasons this game is absolute s h i t e !

    1. I needed community support to even start the game.

    2. Game-mechanics are somewhat booring. Rather limited options for doing anything.

    3. Once you become a Great Power you must spend the rest of the game watching the influence interface, trying to jocky your sphere of influence into the AIs. About as fun as watching an intrument-panel on a random factory-machine.

    4. Every 5-20 seconds the game throws a splash-screen in your face, demanding you press "confirm" or make a choice that have a miniscule impact on your game. Until you do, it will either lock the game in pause or block your view while the game is still running.

    5. You have to go online to learn how to play the game.    … Expand
  8. theirrelephants
    Sep 20, 2016
    8
    The game that got me into the grand strategy genre, I still find it the most fun out of all the ones I've played. Even if I'll probably never understand the economics mechanics or factories (then again, neither do the developers after the genius who wrote that code quit).

    My one gripe is that like most Paradox games, once you figure out the best 'optimal stack' of army units to use,    The game that got me into the grand strategy genre, I still find it the most fun out of all the ones I've played. Even if I'll probably never understand the economics mechanics or factories (then again, neither do the developers after the genius who wrote that code quit).

    My one gripe is that like most Paradox games, once you figure out the best 'optimal stack' of army units to use, you can generally steamroll the AI despite having lesser numbers.

    Anyone can conquer the world as Germany, but it takes talent to reform Byzantium as Greece.    … Expand
  9. TheGamer31
    Aug 2, 2015
    9
    If you have HoD I strongly recommend you download and play the Ultimate mod. This is one of the greatest DLCs for any game, it add a lot of content, fixes bugs and makes the game more fun and playable as a whole.
  10. CBH
    Oct 17, 2017
    9
    Victoria 2 on its own was pretty bad. Yellow Prussia was one thing, but its general lack of depth, huge amount of glitches and overhype gave the impression that it needed a hell of a lot longer in the oven. Heart of Darkness is what made Victoria 2 turn from an embarrassment into one of the grand strategy games of all time. Do not buy Victoria 2 without it and its predecessor, but don'tVictoria 2 on its own was pretty bad. Yellow Prussia was one thing, but its general lack of depth, huge amount of glitches and overhype gave the impression that it needed a hell of a lot longer in the oven. Heart of Darkness is what made Victoria 2 turn from an embarrassment into one of the grand strategy games of all time. Do not buy Victoria 2 without it and its predecessor, but don't buy them at full price, either. As good as they are, nothing that old deserves to cost so much.… Expand
  11. dzdz1231
    Oct 18, 2017
    10
    Eu amei esse jogo, para qualquer fã de história que tenha paciência vai ser uma experiência e tanto, enquanto para quem não gosta de história ou é somente impaciente, saiba que está perdendo um dos melhores games da história, batendo de frente com Ocarina of Time e até mesmo superando outros gigantes da Paradox, como EU IV.
  12. WenamehcoXD
    Mar 3, 2023
    10
    The incredible game, although years have passed, this game is still one of the best in paradox
  13. Daco_Studios
    Jul 9, 2023
    10
    the best thing ever yes is the better thing ever a unnecesary amount of text to upload the review yes is better than hoi4 hoi3 hoi2 hoi1 eu1 eu2

Awards & Rankings

48
#48 Best PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Riot Pixels
    Sep 19, 2013
    80
    Just like Victoria 2: A House Divided, Heart of Darkness is a well-done expansion pack. Its improvements are focused on some very specific gameplay aspects, but they’re really deep.
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  2. PC Gamer UK
    Jun 19, 2013
    75
    Once the dominion diarrhea is sorted out, an essential purchase for owners of Victoria II: A House Divided. [July 2013, p.96]
  3. Gaming Nexus
    Jun 11, 2013
    85
    After some patching and a couple of expansions, Victoria 2 is rounding into shape. It is still deep with a killer learning curve, but it is starting to feel like a fun game rather than a buggy spreadsheet.
    Read full review
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