Making History: the Calm & the Storm
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This aint no kids game. Seriously.

Strategy games, which at one point in time were just about the only thing a PC could handle, are now making a terrific comeback. Combining elements of board games such as Risk, games now provide the same kind of interaction but also with more modern elements such as animations and deeper detail. For strategy gamers, the name Strategy First is one of the top dogs for producing some really great military games.

As you can see, the game looks very much like a digital board game.


The start of the game gives you a couple different options on which section of history you want to begin at. You could start July 20th, 1936 before the actual start of hostilities, September 1st, 1939 when diplomacy ends and only Europe was involved with the conflict, or August 1st, 1940 when all out war was engulfing the world. The interesting part is that when most strategy games simply focus on military engagements, Making History involves almost every aspect of war: economics, diplomacy, production of goods, population control, research development, etc.

The icons and appearance of the lands are awesome, each with a subtle animation such as smoke coming from an industrial building, or a rifleman training his gun on his enemy, or a flag waiving on top of a capitol building. I just loved how this game looked. It brought back memories of when I was younger playing Risk and Stratego, but with a fresh new look. Playing against the computer can prove to be a very difficult opponent, but there's also the option to play online.

This game gives you a lot of information. Almost like a history lesson within a game.


Controlling the game is very similar to using Google Earth. Moving the camera around is quick and easy. The appearance of the game is beautiful. Icons for the cities, military elements, factories, as well as borders and zones are all done with incredible detail (much larger than the land they sit upon), giving this an almost board game-like appearance. The interface and buttons are splendidly done. The overall aesthetics of the game are enough to make anyone appreciate the work that went in to this game. However, it's the depth of the game that is the real achievement.

Each turn taken is one week within the game. You are given ample time to make your decisions, research your resources, move armies and form alliances. Yes, I said it; you get to plea for peace with friendly countries or even barter for a treaty with an attacking force. In the early stages of my first game, I controlled Czechoslovakia and was invaded in the Sudetenland by Germany. I made chose "propose a treaty," and I was introduced to several options.

When the Sudetenland is invaded by German forces, your plea for help falls upon friendly ears. The UK helps you by sending petroleum, money and arms.


I could choose: peace with no terms, peace with concessions, and peace with demands. From there I could: cede occupied territory, join alliance, install friendly government, or military access treaty. All of which Germany declined. Unfortunately, if you're not directly familiar with what these terms mean you could mistakenly pick the wrong option (the game does not give a description of what each option means).

As you can see, the complexity of this game is mind boggling. This was just one in a thousand circumstances where you are forced to make a decision that could have a diverse effect on the game. Making History gives you the chance to make your own decisions, while still remaining accurate to history. You are literally presented with a multitude of options. That's where the trouble starts.




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EverWars.com - You have GOT to play this game!