Preview: Victoria II: Heart of Darkness

Got some goodies for you on the upcoming expansion pack to Victoria II. The second expansion to the Victorian era grand strategy game, Victoria II: Heart of Darkness, will be released on April 16th on all major digital download portals for $19.99. Features that come with the expansion include:

• A new colonization system with a focus on the mad scramble for Africa.
• A new naval combat system with a new system of gun ranges, maneuvering into positions for battles and powerful battleships join the other classes of ships to bridge the gap to Dreadnoughts.
• International Crises with calls on the Great Powers to mediate and compromise, with war always being the last resort.
• A newspaper system keeping you abreast on changing situations with 60 newspapers, both historic and otherwise.

If you are still on the fence about buying it, check out the first of many video developer diaries. This one is brought to you by project lead Dan Lind who introduces the upcoming expansion’s newspaper system, as well as the new feature International Crises:

You can also check out highlights from the live stream below:

Paradox describes the new International Crises system as being "where the colliding desires of rival empires get settled by Great Power mediation and where smaller powers can manipulate their friends to support their own local ambitions." Interesting, but what is gameplay like? O good, there is a trailer for that as well:

As a bonus to those who pre-order Heart of Darkness, select retailers will be offering Victoria I Complete—a gold edition of the original title that started it all—for free. Other retailers will offer 75% off Victoria titles, including Victoria II and Victoria II: A House Divided, with any pre-order of Heart of Darkness. Visit the Victoria II website to see a complete list of retailers.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a volunteer editor for Alt Hist magazine. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly and The Were-Traveler. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.