While it does make Europa Universalis Rome a more playable game, it's still their worst title to date. At $10 that's almost a dollar for each megabyte of this patch . . . errr . . . expansion. The character management becomes tedious and obnoxious. Apparently there is no such thing as someone who doesn't want to be in power, everyone is plotting against you and the barbarians are ridiculous. This game, despite the changes, is still only worth it as a novelty. Better, but still not up to the standards of EU III or any other Paradox title.

This is must if you are picking up the Paradox game 'Rome'. Despite what I have said 2 stars because this is more of a patch that you have to pay for than an expansion. In my opinion this just seems to fix problems with the game instead of 'Expanding' it.

While this game aims to relive the rise of Eome it also allows you the freedom to rewrite history as do all Paradox games. The most immersive aspect of this game for me is the ability to follow the numerous characters in your faction, appointing them to various positions of power and watching them attain wealth and power. Another winning game from Paradox.

An excellent little expansion, and effectively mandatory if you want to better enjoy the base game. This update really turns the original game into something special. The political factions and in-fighting are much more easily understood and managed, and the introduction of missions, goals and a variety of options gives the game a sense of direction that the base game unfortunately lacked. Highly recommended.

If you got Rome, Vae Victis is a must simply put. I cannot understate this, Vae Victis turned Rome from one of a mediocre and somewhat dull game into an extremely fun game. Adds much to do, and brings the characters of Rome more to life. Governors now actually matter, as a dissatisfied governor can take out a solid chunk of your country. Civil Wars are fun, and makes unsatisfied courtiers or a strong Populist Party a very real threat.

Vae Victis really vindicated EU:Rome and turned it into one of my favorite Paradox games, and I hope that they will keep on with the Rome series.

Vae Victis improves Rome to the game being fun. Its add deapts to the game, and playing difference government can limit you action, so it make a differences what kind of government type you have. If you like Rome then this is a must buy.

Vae Victis adds to EU:Rome what EU:Rome should have been in the beginning. Provinces are more manageable, governments are diverse and interesting, and characters make their wishes known and ignoring them for too long is asking for civil war inside of your borders.

Combat seems to work better and there is less of the dreaded "endless ping-pong" of defeated armies with no where to run.

Largest complaint I have is, when starting in the first available scenario, Rome and Macedonia almost always have colonized all the way to the Atlantic Ocean and across the Pannonian Plain within the first 100 years or so, which is entirely too fast for historical accuracy.

Vae Victis is a must-have for the serious Rome-player since it provides more depth to a otherwise abit shallow game. The biggest improvement in my opinion is the addition of a real senate you will have to consider if you rule a republic (with real senators in it). This makes your experience ruling republics and certainly the Roman Republic alot more exiting. It also provides for more alive characters that have specific goals in mind. If you like Rome and want to keep playing it you should invest in Vae Victis (also required for many Rome-mods).

"Vae Victis" It is not so much an add-on as it is a glorified patch. It does not change much, but it fixes a lot of game problems, so if you like ROME you must have this as well.

Rome by itself was probably about a 3/5 game. With Vae Victis its now a 5/5 game. I played it for hours on hours on hours! It was like a whole new experience. I encourage anyone who liked Rome to buy it, even though who where disenchanted with Rome should pick this up and give it another try. I promise you wont be disappointed.

a must have expansion for EU:rome,it improves the original dramatically and makes it much more playable. it doesnt get much more simpler than that

Vae Victis improves Rome but I wouldn't necessarily say greatly for most features, but they are welcome. There seems to be a lot less spamming particularly in regards with assassination attempts on characters with the patch. Rome and Vae Victis is an above average game particularly for the current price. The game overall isn't as in depth as some of the other Paradox titles. Its very streamlined with very vanilla features, which isn't necessarily bad because its still enjoyable to play, it just leaves room for improvement and a sense of what could have been or what may be.

This expansion is quite good and I really like the improvements it adds to the game. Unfortunately the game is even now, after having been on the market for a long time, hampered by annoying bugs. For instance, I've tried running the game on two different systems and I experienced game crashes on both of them. These crashes seems to be triggered by certain events in the game, which means that it doesnt help if the game has been saved and reloaded, you still crash at roughly the same point. This game would have been a clear "5" from me, if it wasn't because of these annoying bugs.

With the add-on, Rome goes from a good strategy game which deserves it’s a 3/5 rating to a very good game deserving its 4/5 ratting. The ability to assign governors to regions instead of single provinces itself it a huge addition/reduction in micro-management.

I would really would only suggest it for more HARDCORE strategy gamers.

Vae Victis is yet another in the long and shameful line of Paradox Interactive patches and bug fixes masquerading as expansion packs. Vae Victis adds virtually nothing of consequence to the vanilla EU: Rome game, and merely serves to fix many of the original game's bugs and interface issues.

If you own EU:Rome, Vae Victis improves the game's playability a great deal, and is a required purchase. You'll just have to hold your nose when you pay the purchase price, as this really should have been a free patch.

It improves definitely the original game, you can interact more with the characters and the factions.

EU: Rome is definitely not worth without this add on!

Anyway, in general, I would suggest to try first Europa Universalis 3, a more complete game, if you are new to the serie!

I was a bit skeptical in getting Vae Victus as it was very small in size and I wasn't sure that it would change all that much, but I got it anyway. It's not essential, you can enjoy EU:Rome without it, but it would be harder. It basically cleans up the interface and adds some features clearly ripped from other Paradox games. I wish that there were more additions to diplomacy, as after Heir to the Throne for EU3, Rome can be hard to get into. Although the family tree makes up for this. AI could still use some work though. I'd recommend it for Rome diehards, or paradox fans AFTER they have bought all the other paradox games as this expansion is good but not necessary, especially when Crusader Kings and Victoria are available for the same price...

EU: Rome VV was made from a very good idea. It has good mechanics and immersive features, and it is very, very fun and engaging. GamersGate made it easy to get.

Unfortunately, EU: Rome VV has the same problems that other Paradox games have: exceptionally low quality. More than 18 months after the game was released, it is still so bug-ridden that I could not get more than a few days into it before my saved games stopped working.

My advice, as with other Paradox games, is to wait another year or so and forgo paying your good money today for what it basically another faulty patch.

Truly completes the EU:Rome experience. Takes the EU gaming mechanic (which is pretty much the same through all paradox games) and adds a lot of role playing opportunities. For fans of the ancient era this is a great game.

My gripes about the game are minor and I definitely recommend this game.

Vae Victis really does a great job of adding the realistic side to the strategy of Rome. Your governments are alot more unruly now and have many of there own ambitions and thoughts of how things are supposed to be, while adding much depth it also adds a lot more challenge to the game when playing as the Romans themselves as the senate is now much harder to deal with as far as being diplomatic with other nations. All in all this is a great expansion, a must have.

As other reviewers have pointed out, this expansion makes a quantum difference to the original game. It adds missions, decisions and laws (a la EU3), allowing you to flavour the particular variety of your Republic (or other political system). Want to emphasise military prowess? The power of the aristocracy? The influence of populist charismatic leaders? There's a raft of policy settings to enable you to do so - and perhaps suffer the consequences. On top of that, there's individual characters, personalities, goals, and personal histories (a la Crusader Kings) to give the game that human feel. In my view this expansion takes the most engaging aspects of EU3 and CK, and applies them to my favourite historical period.

So, when do we get EU Rome: Imperium? ;-)

As with most Paradox games the expansion is a must. Vae Victis adds so much too the game that it should have been a seperate game. The way characters work has been done over and the game gets a whole new "feel" to it. Beside being able to rule the biggest (and smallest) countries in the time periode, you are now in charge for making sure they dont crumbel from the inside. Gave me many good singel player games, but when it gets to multiplayer this game becomes a little lacing, it is a good setup for the multiplayer and all, but it is no one/very few that plays this game on multiplayer.

I simply love this add on. Now there is great domestic policy build in EU Rome Vae Victis that combine elements from Crusader Kings and EU 3. With this add on you really need to think who you appoint to do what in your country. Do you choose trustworthy idiot to lead your armies and make your empire more vulnerable against enemies or military mastermind who could rebel? How you get rid of potential trouble makers without being too hard as it could ruin leader popularity and support? Now it is not written in stone that all goes your way all time and it adds more challenge to the game. I have played Vae Victis hours and I strongly recommend this is you like EU Rome. I still want to play this as re-playability is very great in this add on. I think EU Rome with Vae Victis is one of the best Paradox title ever.

Although not as deep as HoI of EU3:IN, this game is one of my favourites amongst Pdox games. The setting is appealing, the characters and government system are original and immersive and the effort needed to keep your country together and fend off populist demagogues, ambitious corrupt governors or courtiers and civil-war-loving generals certainly gives the correct historical feeling.

It could use a bit more depth in warfare systems (there is no cultural unit evolution as in EU3, despite the important changes in warfare doctrines in the games timeframe), but overall it's a quite enjoyable experience that has an unique feel compared to other games.

Rome with the Vae Victis expension is a very nice game, cannot exactly say what was added compared to Rome since I never played it by itself. But too me the game is like a mix between EU3 and Crusaders king.

Only trouble with it is that right now there is a game crashing bug on some system, so be sure to turn on auto save to be at least every year until your sure the game doesn't crash on your system. But even through there is this bug I still give it 5 star since I cannot give 4 1/2.

This add-on creates a whole new element of strategy to the original Europa Universalis: Rome. It allows for the opportunity to manipulate (and get manipulated by) the political intrigue within your own nation. You can grant titles, adjust your succession, imprison and/or execute dissenters, and enact new laws for your realm. The add-on also includes a mission system that allows for a more regimented, but still open, gaming experience. These features, along with the bug fixes that the game provides, make this expansion a must-have for owners of the original game. The price is reasonable for the extra content.

Vae Victis is the first expansion for Rome and adds a lot more to the gameplay and cleans up the UI. It takes a couple of features from EU3:IN and adapts them well for Rome those being the Decision/Mission systems.

It also adds the Politics system which adds a lot more to state management and can make ruling the nation a challange or easier if things go your way. Democracy as a whole is vastly improved by the changes.

This is a vast improvement over Rome which was not one of Paradox's better attempts, but together they are an excellent purchase and will provide entertainment for a long time to come.

EU: Rome will probably never be perfect. Vae Victis, however, vastly improves the core game, cutting out a lot of the parts that weren't fun about the original (extreme micromanagement, a feeling that anyone outside the Mediterranean rim is just a speed bump rather than a playable faction) and adding a lot of the improvements that In Nomine made to EU3. If this and the core game were a sixty-dollar full-price product I'd have trouble recommending it, but GamersGate is selling EU:Rome plus the expansion for only $24.95, and at that price it's a steal. 4 stars out of 5, there's much better from Paradox but not much better from anyone else.

The expansion adds much flavor to the game however the game is lengthy and can take much simulating. I find it to be very ridiculous how the rebels can come up with vast units in a short time making it impossible to defend and compete.

These 9 MB make all the difference. Through a number of clever changes, Vae Victis adds depth to characters and domestic politics.

Vae Victis enhances Rome greatly. Less micromanagement, more character interactions and political parties that will help and hinder your goals. A must have expansion.

Vae Victis greatly improves Rome, and adds a lot of features, that I presonally wanted to see in the game. The characters are dynamic now, and the missions, and laws really add a lot of flavor to the game! I'm really glad Paradox didn't give up on Rome, and they made it become the great game it is now!