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(More customer reviews)The 1930s and 1940s are a critical time in world history. The Great Depression and World War II dominate these years and our history. Fascism is on the march; communism is completing control of the USSR and testing the waters elsewhere. Democracy is reeling as the Depression causes massive problems that have no easy solutions. In the middle of all the politics, real advances occur in manufacturing techniques as technology builds the foundation of our modern world. Horses give way to automobiles; wood and fabric aircraft disappear, paved roads improved transportation and lifestyles changes.
Making History II puts you in control of a nation trying to survive this difficult and exciting time. As a national leader, you will allocate resources to nation building, international trade, research and defense. A careful balance will keep you popular, balance the budget and make others reconsider attacking you. Mess it up and you can lose you office or see your nation defeated in war. No two nations are the same. Technology is not uniform. Highly advanced nations have paved roads, universities and modern factories. Less advanced nations have dirt roads and small factories. The game allows you to play as any nation starting you with a government, technology level, cash on hand, alliances and relationships with the other nations. After that, it is up to you. Espionage allows you to steal research. Pay money to influence a nation to like you or make their government unpopular. Give them aid to help the government. Build up the military and go to war. Each action makes nations like you more or less. The less a nation likes you, the more likely they are to attack you. One of the failings of the game is the large democracies are more belligerent than the historical record. This can result in unexpected attacks; Great Britain attacking Brazil in 1938 surprised me. However, Brazil had several espionage operations exposed and was conducting an aggressive military buildup. Two small wars had resulted in the annexation of Uruguay and Paraguay. The Unites States had Brazil under a full trade embargo but came into the war on the side of Brazil. Play IS NOT forced into the historical norm, just about anything can and will happen.
Documentation is almost useless. Rushing the initial game into production resulted in major problems, corrected in the current version. However, the documentation problem remains. You cannot learn to play the game with the supplied instruction manual. Muzzy Lane maintains an active Making History site that can supply all the documentation, tutorials and answers to question needed. This site and a stable game with no obvious problems makes for an interesting and varied game play.
Making History II is NOT a click fest. This is NOT a fast-paced shoot `em up style gaming experience. This is a thought fest. You need to consider where you are and what direction you need and want to go in. Long-term goals need to be set and plans worked. Espionage can help, to a point, but national development has to occur. Each weekly turn, allows you to allocate production, conduct diplomacy, spy, set trade policy, monitor progress of existing projects, respond to offers of trade or alliances, declare war, make peace, fight battles, swear and any number of other things.
To learn the game, I played Brazil. This is a regional power with a small industrial base. After two games, I have master the mechanics and can move to a major power. The graphics are very good with nice animation. The AI is challenging and online game play is expected in early 2011. In addition, a large fan base has developed additional scenarios for the predecessor games and is starting to do the same for this one. I expect many, many hours of enjoyable gaming and recommend the game for anyone who is interested in this era.
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