After the American Independence War, the Secession Wars and Napoleon, the strategy experts at AGEOD's now focussing on the era of Frederic the Great. As always, they approach the topic with adequate respect and the required historical deepness, but neglect comfort and beginner-friendliness. Who wants to get happy with Rise of Prussia has to dig into the game like into a fat tome about the Seven Years War. You need to learn the Chain of Command and to supply your troops, because otherwise you will win not a dime in this game. To be victorious, you have to be careful, and pay respect to weather, terrain and the enemy. Unfortunately, the battle presentation is very dry and offers no ways to influence the strategic moves in the battle, because the battle mechanics and outcomes are fixed by the engine. At this point, a system like in Empire Total War would be more desirable, because it allows for interaction and decisions during the battle. Moreover, Total War is much more clearly arranged, because it is easy to handle despite its complexity. For Rise of Prussia, it is easy to overlook a trick or loose sight of a unit on the map, and to wonder then why things got stuck at some point. Moreover, the turn-based game only focuses on the war between Prussia and Austria – war economy, research and diplomacy are mainly neglected. Nevertheless, if you can cope with these weak points and a mixed-up localization, will enjoy another historical insider tip from Paradox.
http://www.4players.de/4players.php/dispbericht/Allgemein/-/0/67853/0/index.html
Please note that 4players.de is a mainstream magazine, which renders 76% an excellent score. (And by the way, it is one of Germany's biggest online game magazines.)
but, contrary to most gamepress, they do test games which are not mainstream.