Really adds nice features to the game such as the new casus belli system. I really think this is a must-have if you own Victoria II.

So, what cames to me after one playthrough to Victoria was : damn, this is a good game, but has that smell of unfinished work. Well, I back then thought there was nothing unusual with it -Paradox stuff-, and that the game would reveal its genius through some mods. This expansion adds a great number of things I felt missing, enhances some game mechanics, and focuses on some interestings historical events. A true must-have. What, in fact, is the only problem with it : the sensation to pay more for what I would expect Victoria II to be. But if you see A House Divided in promotion and already enjoyed VII, don't hesitate one instant.

This expansion adds a lot to the base game: it makes diplomacy more enjoyable, significantly rebalances the economy, adds an 1861 scenario (primarily intended for the American Civil War), and adds so many bug fixes and little features that they're impossible to mention. If you have Victoria 2, buy the expansion!

Anawesome expansion, that adds a lot to the gameplay. Foregin investment and creation of causus belli are the most significant differences. It's a must have if you're a fan of Victoria 2. I can't play without it anymore, even if I wanted to.

Essentially a giant patch, but for those of you familiar with Paradox, this is becoming standard for their games. To their credit, the patch/expansions do greatly increase the mechanics and AI of the game and add some cool new features.

The change in the economic dynamics of the game makes it much more challenging and interesting. The ability to play as one of the factions of the US civil war is also a great addition.

Very good addtions to the original game. Now it´s makes more sense to research tanks and airplanes, because you can play till 1936. Also it feels more balanced then the base game.

Nice aditions to the base game, feels way more than a "patch" for me (if you want to play the factions in the NA civil war it will look WAY more than a patch), also, every new mods at Paradox forums is being made for the expansion. If you like the base game, get it! IF you don't like it, this probably won't make you change your opnion.

AHD is excellent expansion pack that adds ton of new features, better AI and a new scenario. A must if you want to enjoy Victoria II to its full potential.

AHD is a very nice expansion pack that adds greatly to the original Vicky II game. It improves the economic and diplomatic functions of the game, amongst other tweaks, and it adds an American Civil War scenario that was sorely lacking from the original game. If you're going to play Vicky II, you should also get A House Divided.

To all who know the series a must have! New scenario and features are great/helpful. AI seems to have improved as well (in battle and also for capitalists).

For beginners it may be a bit overwhelming at first, especially if there is no experience so far with this type of game. Yet once you get into the game you will have "years" of fun.

A great expansion pack for an already fantastic game. For anyone who liked the original game, especially if you thought there was room for improvement, this expansion is a must-buy.

I do not have much to say about this game, other than it is a great game. However I can elaborate on what I like so far. First of all the war justification system makes war more interesting and allows players to go on conquests without being too unbalanced for or against the player. Secondly the new sprites are quite good, even if a guy in a lime Green uniform still looks ridiculous on or off a horse, but that is the price to pay for the great diversity of nations in the game: there are so many colours for a unit sprite to use, and there are so many nations that can get their own unique sprite.

Anyways great job Paradox, and I look forward to whatever else you in store for us.

I can not imagine myself playing victoria 2 without this add-on. As most (perhaps all) paradox DLC, AHD contains vast improvements in both interface and gameplay mechanics.

This expansion is really a must-have for Victoria 2. The base game disappointed me in many ways, including the absence of a starting period for the American Civil War, which was a favorite starting time for me in the original Victoria game. The grand scope of the game is still difficult to learn, but is far better with this expansion. If you are going to play Victoria 2, get this pack.

Beautiful. definitely make a good game a great game.

Still needs a lot of AI tweaking but def playable, and the updates that come out eegularly make it better all the time.

Defiitely worth supporting.

Great expansion! Improves every aspect of the game, even if you don't play as an american nation the interface additions (such as assignment of national focus from the population or production screen) are well worth it! Also works great with the steam version of the originial victoria 2, no hassle with installing whatsoever.

I hate the pattern I see developing in Paradox games. I say this as tried and true fan of much of their work. What I see, unfortunately, is the company cashing in on establish game franchises while releasing games that are unplayable, unfinished or both. All the while they charge extra for expacs and DLC (Sprites, music) that should've been included in the first place. Their recent games have tended toward being, at best, seriously flawed. Instead of fixing them with patches, they release expacs and pass off needed changes as new content.

"A House Divided" continues this sad trend. Stay with me here while I explain myself. Acknowledging my own tendency toward hyperbole I just want to say that I get the same feeling from Vic2:AHD that I got from non-Paradox games "Master of Orion III" and "Civilization III". The game basically plays itself and you sit back and watch.

You have far less control over every meaningful element of the game than you did in the original Victoria and its expansion "Revolutions". I say this acknowledging that the first Victoria was deeply flawed in terms of its economic system, but these problems were largely addressed with the expansion. In Victoria II you have fewer diplomatic options, less control over pops, less control over the political system and frankly spend much more time sitting on your hands.

Being a history, computer and strategy game nerd I have always enjoyed Paradox games and have spent more that a year modding "Europa Universalis III: Divine Wind." I love EU3, can't say enough about it, but it now has four expacs and several DLC packs and it wasn't until "Divine Wind" that it came into its own. Being a modder, I just add my own new content to keep the game fresh while ignoring Paradox's newer offerings. I have both Hearts of Iron III and Victoria II and find them both sorely lacking. I already put this purchase off for months waiting for the price to drop far enough that I would not feel compelled to write a bad review if I did not like it, but here we are. Having spent $5... yes, $5 on this expansion for Victoria, I feel ripped off. No way will I even consider "For the Motherland" for Hearts of Iron III.

My opinion, for what it is worth, is that Paradox has lost its way. Instead of producing so many different titles may they need to do what the giant Blizzard Entertainment does and just concentrate on a few. At this point I cannot see myself buying any more Paradox games.

Final verdict, take the $5 out of your wallet and burn it instead. This expansion is not worth the money and Paradox is clearly not any more interested in keeping you and me and customers than they were my friends who stopped playing their games after HOI3 came out. Terrible, just a terrible expac.

Don’t let the title of this first expansion fools you. Yes, it improves the American Civil War (and add a new start date to jump right into the conflict), but it also improve the game across the board. Like unciv tech, China, and a most welcome new economic engine.

Victoria II: A House Divided is definitely an improvement from vanilla Vicky II. The improvements, including a new start date and modifications to politics, among others, only add to the quality of the game. While some may find the game a bit too complex, with too much micromanagement, this is exactly the type of game I like. As always with Paradox games, there are still a few minor bugs, but nothing game-killing as of the latest patch.

There is no game that can give you a feeling of the Industrial Revolution. Although the military may be somewhat lacking everything else is great. Multiplayer makes this game awesome.

I just recently bought this game, so there is still a lot to take in, but A House Divided really seems to fix a lot of the annoying little bugs of Vicky 2. In particular, the economy is vastly improved (though, IMO, it still needs a little work). There are also more diplomacy options, and a really interesting scenario (American Civil War) that I've only just now begun to toy around with. Frankly, if you enjoyed vanilla Vicky 2, you should bite the bullet and buy this too.

A solid expansion to a great game. The game mechanics relating to economics and politics are significantly improved and far more interesting. The Civil War start date/scenario offers a fun and interesting alternative to the traditional 1836 start. The foreign investment function is an interesting addition but at times it seems unclear how it is influencing subsequent events. The interface is much better and easier to navigate. Some problems with capitalist AI still persist but overall this is a quality expansion pack that all Victoria fans will enjoy.

Victoria II without AHD was good, but had bugs and getting the information you wanted was difficult, and sometimes even impossible.

Although it would have been nice to see a EUIII-style way to choose on what date you start, instead of that useless ACW starting date, it is a good expansion pack. It fixes bugs and makes it easier to gather information.

Politics and economy are still broken though, and something has to be done about those pesky rebels. But, at least the forums can help you mod that ;).

I'm probably a bit biased because I love Victoria 2 so much, but this expansion was great to me. One of the most annoying things about the game was fixed in that you don't have to click individually each time to build an army. Also pretty much any nation in the game can become civilized now. There is a new system in becoming civilized for uncivilized nations. Your nation will accumulate research points and once you make enough discoveries your nation will reach a point where it can become civilized. This makes the game more interesting for nations that had no chance to become civilized, but can be a drag for nations that could previously civilize quick.

I found the game didn't lag as much either in the later game. China is also revamped as well. It's no longer one unified country but it's divided up as several nations. This prevents China from becoming the behemoth it normally does, and makes the game a little more historically accurate/balanced.

Paradox did it again: creating an expansion that fixes issues and adds tons of new options and balances. A House Divided is called after the American Civil War, which is of course the main focus of the expansion. A new starting date has been added that allows you to start at the moment the Civil War erupts, allowing you to kick the USA with the CSA.

The only downside I found was that the Victoria 2 Old Vic DLC didn't work with it, but that's a minor price to pay for the for the rest wonderful expansion.

Very nice expansion to Victoria 2. Adds the needed difficulty and expands the depth of the game mechanics. More decisions and reform were added and the interface got slight changes as well

Victoria II brought so much to the game, but with it, so many problems. A House Divided not only adds to one of the period's most interesting wars...the American Civil War...but also fixes a ton of issues. Before a House Divided, it was impossible to beat the British Empire in score. And while it is still very difficult, as it should be, with A House Divided, it is possible with any great nation, if you are industrious enough to do it. In my opinion, you cannot play Victoria II for all it's worth until you play it with this expansion.

I love how you can justify wars now, which is a much appreciated new Diplomacy option. The American Civil War scenario adds some more re-playability, as well as having a new military focused campaign to play. You can now invest in factories and railroads in nations that you don't own, adding some more depth to getting countries to enter your sphere of influence. Some cool new features to the UI include some new map modes (e.g.,party loyalty) as well as being able to remove already placed National Focuses easier when going above your current allotted amount. Overall, If you love Victoria II then you really owe it to yourself to get this, it takes an already awesome game and fixes a lot of nagging little things while adding some really neat features.

It adds a new depth to playing as a non-western nation, as well as an added focus on a world changing civil war, the American Civil war. If only they had such improvements for the first world war...

A House Divided is the first expansion for Victoria II and provides some good improvements to the base game. There has been an overhal of the economic side of the game and also greater political options as well as an improved American Civil War.

The game engine has also been optimized for multi-core suppot which has improved performance especially late game although there most likely will be performance loss towards the 1900's in game.

The only complaint I have is that the expansion feels a bit light on features and with the exception of the multi-core support many of those features should have been present and working in the original game.

Overall AHD improves the Victoria experience for those already fond of the game.

The features added on to Victoria II through "A House Divided" help polish, smooth, and better almost every aspect of gameplay. I can very easily say that I much prefer this expansion over the vanilla version.

An excellent game, I like the diplomacy aspects, the new work to justify a War, the new map modes, and best of all, that the developers are always adding new good things to the game with patches, and yes, also fixes to some few bugs the game can have, but nothing that stop you to have great time playing this amazing game.

Victoria II: A House Divided is currently the only expansion pack for Victoria II. As happens so often with Paradox Interactive titles, AHD improves vastly on the original and makes it hard to imagine playing the game without it.

The improvements made by A House Divided on Vic II include changes to the diplomatic, political, and economic side of the game. The interface was also worked on. In all, Paradox focused on cutting down on unnecessary micro-management while not sacrificing depth and indeed added onto the game's depth. Victoria II is much better for it.

A last word must be said about the new scenario start. American Civil War, Bakumatsu, and buffs in general of the late 19th Century will rejoice with the new 1861 start. And it is obvious the designers put real effort into representing the time.

A House Divided gives a good balance for the money spent. The new timeline start not only let's you play as the newly formed CSA(more on that momentarily) but also is a start point right before the great unification of germany(1870 roughly), italy(newly forming) and a powerful and growing japan. All these new rising stars make for a whole new set for the game and allow you to fast forward on the slow and difficult process that can come from the grand campaign. Not to worry though, new features work both in the new campaign and out.

First though, the CSA start point is excellent. It not only recreates the tough position both sides were in, it also gives a fun chance for both sides to recreate their glory. The south is in a tough position against the more populous and industrious north, but having played it already, victory is not off the table. And then the true game of wills begins. One of the nice things i have so far enjoyed is that upon beating the North and waiting til the truce expired, the north did not instantly start a series of wars against me. This is a nice break from the incessant conflict that happened in the previous game.

As for the other new features, japan's growth is greatly recreated thanks to training schools that give you a new way to grow into an industrial nation and give you a choice in how you establish yourself as a power. And the features for improving foreign relations through industrial investments is a lot of fun, and adds a new dimension.

Perhaps the most convenient feature of the new additions is the ease of use in the interface. This game has tons of info, and now it is easier then ever to find out where armies are, how battles are going(color coded to show if your losing or winning), if nations in your sphere are being contested and how quickly your own influence is going up. All these features make this a perfect expansion. 20$ might seem a bit much, but consider that if you use these features and campaigns for more then 10 hours your probably getting your money's worth. I already sank about 15 hours into the CSA alone and i have other nations i can't wait to try either. Enjoy the game

A House Divided is a solid attition to Victoria 2 and worth a purchase for anyone who enjoys V2. The changes the the uncivilised nations and elections (with party loyalty and National Foci affecting voters) are the best additions to the game. Multicore support makes the game move much faster than previously, and the new rally point and auto-attack rebel systems reduce much of the micromanagement, allowing the player to focus on more important things. The new additions are good, but some of the old bugs are still there, especially issues with colonial migration. However, A House Divided is a great expansion and well worth its purchase price.

A marvellous improvement, in my opinion. The new civilising system is fantastic, and makes playing an unciv much more than waiting for technology. The economy seems much improved, and the new movements are very interesting. The interface improvements, although only superficial changes, make the game much easier to navigate. I have also noticed an improvement in overall performance, probably due to multi-core support. Thoroughly recommended!

A wonderful addition to Victoria 2. It makes the overall game much smoother and fun to play on all areas, but it's not going to turn anyone around. In a nutshell, if you liked Victoria 2 you will like A House Divided, but if you didn't like Victoria 2, A House Divided will not change your opinion.

This is not so much an expansion as just a really great update. It completely reworks the sphere of influence and CBs making the game more enjoyable and realistic. Additionally the new map overlays are nice. However, there really is nothing that is new but rather retooled and worked. While I really like the expansion it is probably best to wait until the price comes down a little.

A House Divided is a revolution for Victoria 2, bringing it to the best game from grand-strategy Paradox games at this moment.

All the dimensions of Victoria 2 have been improved, introducing new features. Just picking a few ones: 1.- You could "build" your casus belli against other countries and Great Powes, but you could be discovered with bad outcomes for your strategy. 2.- Your capitalist can invest in other countries, improving this way their relations with you, and, what it's more important, you'll get a share of their market for buying the products you need and selling your surplus production. 3.- Social movements: if your population wants a reform or it's worried of something (going too militaristic for instance) a social movement would be found, and it can be dangerous (founding rebel uprisings, increasing unrest in your country...) unless you accept the reform, which could upset other groups, or supress with your repression politics, which would bring consequences in the future. 4.- Leader's prestige: winning battles will make better your generals, etc.

You have also a new scenario, placed in 1861 (you can take the CSA, but, like in most Paradox games, every country in the world in the age), and a lot of new interface improvements giving more information (10 new mapmodes, more hints and helpnotes...) that are nice additions too.

In conclusion, Paradox is known for making expansions that not only make up their vanilla games but improve them greatly... and A House Divided is probably the best one of them (even more than In Nomime and Heir to the Throne from EUIII). It worths every cent/penny/bluecoin you invest on it.

If you came for the new buttons and somewhat improved economy, then go for it. If you came for the new westernization/civilization system, however, you may wish to check some of the complaints on the paradox forum and perhaps watch gameplay videos on youtube so that you can decide whether you want to give it a try. Overall 3/5.

Victoria II: A House Divided is an Expansion for the Paradox game Victoria II. In this expansion Paradox has addressed many of the issues of the original game. Most importantly the expansion features a completely new economic system where industry and technology has been rebalanced. This is a great improvement on the old system as economic management is now a challenge to earn money and there is a lot more ways to spend them, you can invest money in projects started by capitalists in your own country and if you are a great power you can invest money in the infrastructure of countries within your sphere. The Industrialization process has also been rebalanced and now works a lot better than in the original game. The scoring system also seems to have been rebalanced this means that AI Industrialization no longer results in incredibly high scores and it is now compete with Great Britain on the scoreboard as most of the major nations.

The game also has a slightly reworked political with expands the political part of the game and provides new options, paths and challenges. This new systems works shockingly well and I have not experienced any serious problems with it.

The game interface has also been improved and there has been added a lot of new tooltips and shortcuts which makes the game easier to manage. Some of the tooltips could have been done better, but it is a clear improvement on the original game.

The last major new feature is a new war justification system. It is now impossible to declare war without a justification for it. However a system has been added which allows a nation to develop a casus belli of any kind against any nation. This means that the player is in a much better position to direct the expansion of their nation. However this system also creates quite a few problems. One of them is that AI seem to have trouble with this very open war system and declares a lot of non-sensible wars particularly inter-European wars whish does not fit very well with the era. Similarly the fact that paradox has simply added the new war justification system on top of the old casus belli system also seem to create quite a few problems for the AI and it might have been better if they had reworked it completely.

However in general I think A House Divided is a great expansion and a must have for all players of Victoria II. It much improves the game and adds quite a few additional hours of gameplay.

This expansion brings so many good things:

The new reforms paths allow even the smallest "uncivilized" countries to somehow make their way to industrialization.

Elections now "feel" much better. For instance, political fiefs will tend to form in areas where the same party wins often.

China divides up into cliques, making an end to the irrational situations where a game was basically won just as soon as someone managed to get China into your own sphere.

This expansion is a must for everyone who likes Vicy II.

With all these new additions Victoria II has become even more addictive if possible. The political side has really come to the fore, becoming a really integral part in making your country just what you want it to be. The new map overlays are a great help in your decision making giving you information on the people, industry and politics in a new scale. While you might think that the price of A House Divided is a bit steep for a mere patch when you see how much effort they've put into this it's easily justified. A must-have for anyone wanting a deeper experience playing Victoria II

This new expansion pack for Victoria 2 is just amazing. It adds so much depth to the gameplay, improving the, already really good, game even more. It takes all those elements you loved in Victoria 2 in to a whole new level. Personally I noticed it adding a little bit difficulty and making it slightly more complex, but once you get the hang of it, it's something you will end up spending tons of hours on.

Also to those who are wondering; If you have a copy of Victoria 2 that you bought from a retail shop in a boxed version, a copy of A House Divided from GamersGate works just fine with it!

The main focus of AHD is about usability. Many repetitive tasks of micromanagement gets a easy and fast way to be done - as build infrastructure at provinces, expand or subside factories from a same type at once, use extra influence over 100% at SOI to get ride of others powres influence and the auto rebels hunt (at EUIII last versions this resource is a time saver). Just this was a great improvment that justify the expansion to all Vickies fans.Some improvments for balance, as the division of China at many "substates" correct some severe unbalance problems (if you get China at your SOI in Victoia II you had a very large market, at AHD this do not happens anymore. The political section gains also some improvments to get deeper with reforms and movements, but the change are not so big, there are many thing to be done at this. Few words: good improvment to hard gamer, but a bit expensive for a first expansion.

This expansion has greatly improved the original game, by adding features that allows the player to spend less time on micromanagement (SoIs, anyone?) and more time on actually *playing*. So far, I have not found a single thing to complain about - except, perhaps, the lack of a 1914 scenario. It even appears to be relatively bug-free. Not a small thing, considering how buggy most of Paradox' releases have been before the first 1-2 patches.

Overall, I believe that the game is well worth its price. It enhances an already good game and I'm quite confident that all fans of V2 will enjoy AHD.

The game is Amazing! The new features innovatively have addressed issues facing the old the old game and have added new layers of complexity and replayability. This game is definitely a must try for Victoria II fans.

Victoria II: A House Divided is an excellent expansion that adds a lot to both gameplay and functionality in an already excellent game.

My favourite feature about this expansion is that it makes all types of nations more fun to play, from the uncivilized nations, who get new, interesting mechanics to simulate the process of westernization, to the Great Powers, who get new ways to handle their Spheres of Influence. Clever interface features have gotten rid of much of the irritating micromanagement that was still present in Victoria II, such as recruitment and merging of armies, opening/closing/expanding masses of factories, or easy switching of your National Focus from one state to another. All in all, I think this expansion is the most feature-packed expansion for any Paradox Interactive game to date, and it's well worth a purchase.

An excellent expansion to an already interesting game. A lot of interface changes makes for a more convenient playing experience, with more information easily available, a better ability to change and fiddle around with message settings, and plenty more options for the player, all being produced with fewer clicks than in the original version. It lets the game be more of a game and less of a chore!