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Making History: The Calm & the Storm

EMAIL PRINT pc

8.4 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 19 critic reviews
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Based on 40 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Muzzy Lane Software / Strategy First

Developer: Muzzy Lane Software

Genre(s): Turn-Based Strategy

Players: 8

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Release Date: March 13, 2007

Summary

This true grand strategy game places you as the leader of a country where you use your strategic skills to make policy decisions which affect the outcome of world history. Each scenario establishes a historically accurate situation; from there on in history is in your hands. Do you build to a position of strength through industry or military, or can you find an optimum balance of both? Can you trade for needed resources or must you find and take over resource-rich territories? Will a diplomatic treaty strengthen your position, or draw you in to an unwanted conflict? These and many other decisions are yours to make. You may be a statesman, a fighter, a hero, or a scoundrel. Time to get into the Game. [Muzzy Lane Software]

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

PC Gameworld

This game could help give people a better understanding of just how fragile the eco system of war is, giving them a sense of realism that is not found in most other strategy games. Unfortunately it's that same level of realism that might make this game unplayable for other gamers.

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GameZone

Anyone who enjoys Risk type board games needs to buy this game. Muzzy Lane has done a wonderful job of designing a game that is entertaining and easy on the eyes.

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Worth Playing

Not overly complicated or time-consuming to learn, and it was actually incredibly fun to play. The uncluttered interface and visually pleasing design seems to help reduce the information overload that is often associated with this genre.

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Games Radar (in-house)

It admirably bridges the gap between deep simulation and enjoyable "just one more turn" gameplay and would be a worthy addition to any strategy fan's game collection.

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GamingExcellence

Making History is a good addition to any turn-based strategy fan's library.

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GamerNode

While it's a solid turn-based WWII strategy game, the in-depth tutorial and the rest of the game can be pretty challenging and time consuming.

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Game Chronicles

Perhaps my highest compliment is that on a beautiful spring evening, I actually succumbed to the dreaded “one more turn” syndrome. This goes to prove that in a niche market that caters to hardcore stats junkies, Making History is a game every World War strategy fan can enjoy.

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PC Gamer

Making History may not be the deepest historical epic out there, but it is one of the most playable and a good way to whet your appetite for something more filling. [Aug 2007, p.66]

IGN

On the one hand, the Hearts of Iron crowd will find that Making History isn't complex enough. On the other hand, the World at War fans will find that Making History gets bogged down in too many unnecessary details.

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Gamers' Temple

It won’t make history in the annals of strategy gaming, but Making History is a decent enough diversion for those with an interest in World War II strategy on a global scale.

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Gamer's Hell

A complex strategy game, challenging both for its detailed economy and its various spheres of military operations.

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Strategy Informer

The gameplay and graphics plus the historical accuracy of the game make this game a good choice for the right kind of gamer.

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GameSpot

Making History is an interesting, though dry, turn-based World War II strategy game.

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Armchair Empire

Despite the steady stream of real historical events, Making History seems strangely outside of history, inhabiting some alternate universe where nations go through the motions, behave erratically or simply do nothing at all. It’s hard to feel immersed in such a situation. And it’s hard to really care.

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PC Zone UK

A decent bit of strategy, but it's hardly treading new ground. [July 2007, p.84]

1UP

Trouble is, your computer opponents verge on comatose.

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Pelit (Finland)

Stumbles on its primitive user interface. To play a game with 800 sectors the player would need easier access to information straight from the map. The game renders a detailed picture of the economic model of a state, yet the player is left with few meaningful decisions to make. [June 2007]

Boomtown

For those looking for a strategy game that matched the Second World War in intensity then you may wish to look elsewhere as Making History fails to storm the beaches of excitement and in the end is driven back into the sea.

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GameDaily

The game's complex interface (composed primarily of a series of menus) makes it unapproachable to many people. Its slow pace gets exacerbated by the fact that cities can either produce or research, not both.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 40 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Evan H gave it a10:
Distills the important strategic decisions of WW2 into an accessible and playable game that still manages to be incredibly deep and engaging. One of the best WW2 games around!

Erik O gave it an8:
This is a great game, i like both the original scenarios and editing my own. the Multiplayer is a bit hard to get working that and the time long you have to put in to play is the only minus'.

Alex L. gave it a5:
It's a game I very much wanted to like because of the attractive graphics and the fact that, hey, maybe after 4 years, it's about time for someone to beat Hearts of Iron 2. No such luck. This game is inferior to Hearts of Iron 2 on all counts, and the fact that Muzzy Lanes shamelessly advertises it as a history teaching tool is just bad taste. If you don't believe me, try the 1939 scenario and see how many times you see a war between Germany and Poland (rather than, say, Poland and Denmark). There is a different between plausible alternative history and utter nonsense. I won't discuss most other features, as they are by and large copied from HoI2 and "streamlined," somehow ending up with a game that's MORE opaque than Paradox's notoriously complicated magnum opus. But I would like to comment on the economy, which for some reasons gets rave reviews - it's cumbersome, unrealistic and simply detracts from what this game is about - being Risk on a 1936 map of the world. The designer who thought that having players manually direct a billion little production facilities on map is a good idea really should not have a job.

Stuart S gave it a9:
Impressive turn based strategy game, forcing you to continually make choices - should that new cities production help research new units, build more low tech units now, build up stocks of goods/arms, or industrialise for greater production later. Too little research and your armies will be outclassed, too little industrial improvement and you will be swamped, too little army building and you invite an opportunistic attack. The interface is a little quirky, but after 20-30 mins for the tutorial and your first couple of turns you should be fine for most things you need to find or do. The AI seems fairly good at fighting wars, but the diplomacy seems fairly random - sometimes you can get away with invading loads of countries before anyone steps in, next time start the same way and several major powers declare war after the first invasion starts. The economy is moderately simple with six goods and no price fluctuations based on supply/demand, but you still have quite a challenge to manage it even in this abstract form so it does the job it needs to. Units don't gain experience, and you have to dig through the in game help to find their exact statistics and abilities rather than being shown them in game. While there are definitely some areas that could be improved (for me) the ultimate test is that I have been playing it every evening since I first installed it. As soon as I won with Germany I wanted to try Russia, then America, etc. All of the 8 powers available have a very different situation facing them even when just playing the same scenario, so you have to significantly adjust your plans to match. Overall a well done game, with just a few limited flaws.

Amir K. gave it a9:
A very deep and rewarding strategy game which thankfully stilluses a turn based system to allow proper strategy (especially with the number of click and hope RTS around at present).

Erik O. gave it a10:
Nice game, perfect for a strategy gamer! (But you will have to take time to learn it.) The editor is easy to yuse so you can make your own scenario. Overall: Nice game to buy!

Mr. Giggles gave it a10:
Great level of detail, every nation's army tokens are wearing historically accurate uniforms, plus game play is the realist of all strategy games I've played yet.

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Making History: The Calm & the Storm

Game Info

Summary

What The Critics Said

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