Product Description

MAKING HISTORY: The Calm and the Storm puts players in control of a global conflict, challenging them to define its outcome. It's a different kind of WWII strategy game -- here, you aren't just after military success. To win, you have to achieve economic and diplomatic victory, too. Use all the resources at your disposal, from natural resources to diplomacy to military force, to rewrite history and become the biggest winner after a long and bloody conflict.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4788 in Video Games
• Brand: Strategy First
• Model: 627006903694
• Released on: 2007-01-31
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: Windows XP
• Format: CD-ROM
• Dimensions: .77 pounds

Features

• What-if scenarios with tremendous historical detail and sophisticated AI -- replay historic moments of WWII as the leader of France, England, Germany, Italy, USSR, Japan or the United States
• Innovative combat system allows many approaches to engagements from massive assaults to holding actions - Supplies, reinforcements and geography all play into your battle plan
• Flexible victory conditions let players determine what counts as a win, then play toward that goal
• Simultaneous turn-based action - All players can make their turns without waiting for anyone else, so it's always your turn
• Each country has a unique personality you can harness -- use its individual capabilities and physical assets to write your own history and make it through the war

Customer Reviews

A must have title! Top of the line game.
One of these days, I'll write one of those 'recommendation lists' that you see on this site while looking for games. I'm a hardcore, grognard wargamer that's been playing since Amiga computers and Win 3.x. Own and have played hundreds of games. Hundreds? Probably easily over a thousand.
Making History is one of the most engrossing, playable, enjoyable, just-one-more-turn games, that I have ever played. I bought it when it first came out and am still in the thick of it. Will most likely have one going for years!
Grand, global strategy sort of like Hearts of Iron II. (Both games, btw, put that crappy GG World at War to shame). Not too difficult like War in the Pacific or ATF is. Those are brutally intense games :) This one's very user-friendly and easy to quickly figure out how to do anything that the game encompasses---so it'll appeal to novice or old-timer (like me) alike. Very small, easy to read manual---not one of those encyclopedias you have to keep going back to. Plus, all of the information is readily at the click of a button within the game itself. Don't even know where my manual is anymore :)
I've never written a review on any site. People need to know about this game though. It's that exceptional. There's no "scripted" events, e.g when 12/07/41 or any other 'big date' hits, nothing automatically happens like it might in other games. Knew this one was way different while during my first game, I found myself fighting Canada over Maine and Michigan, while trying to hold Texas away from Mexico! (MY fault, my greedy aggressiveness). You can pretty much write WWII in any manner you see fit. The ONLY limitation in the whole game, is that you can only play 7 or 8 of the major powers. However, you can set up virtually any kind of alliance you want, or none at all. There's also variable victory conditions, research, tons of units, etc. I just cannot go on enough about this game. Also is very stable on my XP. Have never had a crash!
Overall, just a spectacular game.

Brainy, straight-faced, beautiful, and addictive. It's fantastic!
Sounds like I'm describing a dream lover, doesn't it? Appropriate, as strategy game fans should fall in love with this. I sure have. More of a diplomacy game than a war game, it still requires the player to manage war, domestic economics and industry, foreign trade, and scientific research. The diplomacy is absolutely cut-throat, and this would likely be a good educational game to give a rough understanding of why alliances and formed and wars start in the first place.

Visually it's beautiful and thorough, with the world map divvied up into each nations territories, provinces, states, etc. Over 800 regions in all. Aurally, the music is a classical bit, whether original or something borrowed I don't know, but it never gets old because it sounds great.

And throughout the whole game is a seriousness of mood. There's pretty much no humor at all in it. While I can enjoy slapsticky games (Hot Dog King or other business sims) or games with a tongue-in-cheek humor (Sid Meier's Civilization series), I can also enjoy a dead-serious game, and that's what Making History is.

It's obvious that nobody in the making of this game was cutting corners. The result is an outstanding game. Any strategy fan should have this. Cheers!

Make history have fun
Very good games all seem easy to learn but have multiple possibilities making play simple but requiring thought. The years leading up to WWII and the war years are some of the most interesting in history. The possible paths events could have taken are endless. This game, while easy to learn allows you to explore these paths as the leader of one nation during these years.

Game play is not extremely complex but there is a learning curve involved. I found the tutorial very necessary and helpful. The hardest part of the game, requiring the most micro-management is getting started. After you have set policy, started your research projects and set production levels less intervention is required. I have developed a "system" that allows me to work through the options easily and only have to react as required.

The AI is a good mix of appeasement and confrontation meaning you can never be sure what action can trigger war. Once the war starts, the AI is intent on victory, so do not expect to buy them with a "sorry" and promise to be good. Interlocking alliances can get you into wars that are not good for you and one in getting out is hard.

War involves battles, high level and can run for weeks. Battles require armies. Armies require production. Production requires you to plan and allocate resources, do research and get ready for war. Above all, things take time. Weeks, months or years are needed to convert industries, research and build.

This is not a "click fest"! You will spend more time thinking than jumping about the map and clicking your mouse. Someone suggested downloading the demo, good idea! I did and after the first hour knew this was a game I wanted to buy. Make sure to install any patches, these are big improvements to game play.