Making History II: The War of the World Review

Patience is a required virtue for any grand scale strategy as your left always thinking of the big picture, not just a little skirmish or two and you’re done. There is only one level with the game and that’s the world itself. Making History II from Muzzy Lane looks to improve on the formula of the first game with a more visual appeal. Unfortunately those same improvements aren’t fully fleshed out or implemented all that well with various crashes plaguing the chance to conquer the globe.

The setting is World War II, a favourite for big strategy titles like this, and we’re given the reins of any nation we want that you can select around the globe. This is great for those who want to try and uplift an otherwise unnoticed nation because you can do just that, not being forced to select the usual suspects like the UK, the US, Germany or the Soviet Union. Don’t go expecting anything remotely realistic when it comes to historical accuracy however, as the political AI is one, maybe two steps away from an insane asylum. Given that this is a geopolitical simulator of sorts the failing of statesmen making reasonable and logical decision is a glaring faux par.

There's a delicious smorgasbord of nations, from great to puny

The combat system suffers also from a lack of depth. World War II strategy encompassed many things like combining infantry with mechanized divisions, backed up by superior air cover and the like. It saw the invention of the Blitzkrieg tactic that has heavy armoured divisions slicing through hostile territory and crippling supply lines, leaving a foe stunned and generally a soft target. However in Making History II it comes down to just shear statistics, i.e. flooding a defensive enemy with just one type of unit will break them providing the stats are just a little higher than the defenders. It doesn’t seem bothered to take the tactical advantage of combined forces into consideration – just brute number crunching. If that had of been the case in real-life then Britain would have fallen pretty quick once France had been subjugated by the might of the German advance.



Even the terrain itself holds little in the way of bearing when it comes to granting advantage or disadvantage to unit stacks, aside from movement cost or speed. Weather doesn’t upset the day plan for a good invasion either – which is a questionable hole in the grand strategy given that the Soviets only managed to hold off the German war machine thanks to the severe and brutal cold of Russia. As it stands right now the use of military units is far to simplified to make any meaningful gesture toward the player in figuring out how to smash an enemy line. Laughably the AI doesn’t seem all that concerned with keeping their skies protected with air wings either, which again is a finger salute to the struggle between British and German forces in WWII. Right now it’s quite safe to employ the old ‘tank rush’ tactic you usually have to fend off in real-time strategies.

Things may start historical but they soon tangent into the absurd

The economy of the nation and the world as a whole is something you will forever keep mindful as well, particularly that black substance in such high demand at the time... no not oil, coal. The whole system for economics itself can bug out but game patches will hopefully offer a saving grace down the line. Putting up with AI politicians seemingly addicted to a ‘Russian roulette‘ style of international politics and churning out roaming super tank armadas is one thing, but to suffer even getting to that stage is quite the game breaker. To prop up your sovereign nations economic cogs are decisions you’ll need to make in developing regions you control and their inhabited cities. Getting infrastructure up and running can be costly in the number of turns it takes. Universities become a critical investment if you want to advance technology as you can research only so much at a time otherwise and even then what do you focus on – industrial advancements or shinier cannons?

Some cities or towns you won’t even want to develop because you need them injecting income via trade. To really get an edge you have to micromanage each turn as much as your nation itself as otherwise you’re missing out on valuable choices. The global map is where everything happens and it’s pleasantly detailed as you go window shopping for some poor nation to bully into your empire. Unfortunately the game suffers from huge frame rate drops when zooming to certain degrees from this virtual Earth, and also from moving ‘too fast’ around the globe. Our big blue and green 3rd rock from Sun is really the only thing visually pleasing in Making History II.

Armies maybe diverse but it's a facade, it's a sheer numbers game

All the hurdles of bugs are compounded by a frustrating lack of any tutorial for this grand strategy game, which is crippling given the scale of control Muzzy Lane drops into your lap. Once you’ve chosen one of three scenarios to play and selected your nation to lead the WWII charge... you’re on your own. The studio recently dropped a ‘what to do for the first 10 turns’ guide but still a tutorial missing in action is a big oversight for Making History II – particularly when no warning is given as just to how gun hoe the AI can be when it comes to the international soap opera. This is a turn-based strategy game that needs a lot of hours from its players to fully enjoy it, but tragically the longer you spend in the game the more likely you’ll come across its flaws that up until now had managed to skulk in the shadows. It’s almost a crime given the love and attention the team has poured into regions with data that any statistician would have a wet dream over.

Until Muzzy Lane gets a full patch Blitzkrieg fired up for Making History II to iron out bugs, smooth over the rough edges and plug those crashes you’re better off sticking with the first game in the series. That’s if you’ve the stomach for a grand strategy spanning the globe, as this is no picnic for a gamer that prefers their battlefields fast hitting. To the studios credit, a lot of problems have been dealt with thanks to the latest updates, but there’s still a long way to go it seems before Making History II can feel like a fun and entertaining way to rewrite the World circa 1930.