Making History: The Calm & the Storm

[h1] Short review [/h1] Halfway between geopolitical simulation, management game, and wargame, Making History: The Calm & The Storm presents a rich and intricate view of World War II. Initially designed as an educational program, Making History evolved into a full-fledged video game, offering a uniquely detailed, if somewhat niche, experience. While it shares similarities with Civilization and Hearts of Iron, it doesn’t quite reach the same level of entertainment or ease of play. However, Making History is far from lacking in interest; it provides a substantial range of strategic choices and an impressive scope that rewards thoughtful decision-making and long-term planning. That being said, this title is best suited for devoted fans of the genre. [h1] Long review [/h1] Making History: The Calm & the Storm is a grand strategy game that immerses players in the tensions and conflicts of World War II. With a global perspective, it allows players to take control of a major power or a smaller nation, each with unique historical, economic, and military challenges. While its approach to WWII is often more academic than spectacular, setting it apart from other military strategy games, The Calm & the Storm proves to be a captivating simulation that will appeal to those who enjoy strategic and diplomatic management. Making History: The Calm & The Storm challenges players to manage a country’s economy, political relations, scientific research, and military maneuvers, all at once. It requires a careful balance; neglecting one aspect can weaken others. For example, maintaining a strong army is impossible without a steady supply of weapons and provisions, while developing resources without defending them leaves you vulnerable to neighboring powers. In wartime, invasion is always a possibility, though the game’s AI is generally not overly aggressive. International relations hold more significance than they might initially seem. Indeed, facing militarized nations like Germany or Japan requires diplomatic skill and perhaps the assistance of allied nations. Managing alliances carefully and respecting national sensibilities is crucial to securing support when needed. Additionally, keeping up with military advancements by investing in research is essential: outdated technology could quickly become a country’s downfall in this high-stakes setting. The world map is rendered in 3D, allowing players to easily rotate the globe and zoom into any region, though the fog of war often obscures details. Units are effectively represented by markers, each accompanied by a flag and a number indicating their theoretical strength. There’s enough variety among these units to form armies that reflect real-world forces well. Moving units is simple—just click on the unit and then on the desired destination. If enemy forces are present at the destination, a battle ensues. Players can bring in air and naval support to help sway the outcome in their favor. At the end of each turn, a summary shows the casualties on both sides. Players then have the option to withdraw or press on, with the last surviving unit gaining control of the contested region. While some major historical trends are unchangeable, much of the game's enjoyment comes from experimenting with alternative strategies. What if the U.S. had advanced through the Central Pacific instead of prioritizing the Philippines? Or if England had joined forces with Germany against the USSR? What if the Western Allies had launched a second European front as early as 1942? Exploring these "what if" scenarios—known as counterfactuals to historians—is incredibly engaging. However, Making History: The Calm & the Storm is not without weaknesses. Its interface, while functional, remains relatively simple and may feel outdated by today’s standards, though it allows for smooth navigation between management screens. The graphics are somewhat lacking in detail and visual dynamism, and the absence of detailed maps or views detracts slightly from the WWII-era immersion. For players who prioritize strategy over visuals, this is not a major obstacle, but it’s worth noting that the overall aesthetic can feel basic. Also, in a game this complex, good documentation is essential. The tutorial covers the basics of the interface reasonably well, but it doesn't go far enough in explaining how your choices affect your overall standing in the war. While it's helpful to learn how to move units and transfer territory, figuring out why liberating conquered nations might be advantageous or how research points translate into actual technological progress requires consulting the manual. Unfortunately, even then, some aspects remain unclear. Another drawback lies in the artificial intelligence, which, while occasionally challenging, also reveals some limitations in responsiveness and realism. In diplomacy, certain AI reactions may seem inconsistent or counterintuitive, at times affecting the flow and strategic immersion. The military management, while adequate, lacks depth compared to other titles, and combat tactics are often limited to basic movements and positioning, without the richness of advanced military maneuvers. Despite these flaws, Making History: The Calm & the Storm offers a rewarding experience for fans of global strategy and historical simulation. The game requires long-term thinking, as each decision impacts the progression of events. Economic, diplomatic, and military choices intersect in a complex web, often leading players to adapt their plans based on changing global situations. This focus on strategy and planning appeals to players who prefer in-depth, gradual management over direct action. If you're a big fan of the genre, feel free to buy it. Or, you can also look at their newest WWII games: Making History II : The War of the World and Making History: The Second World War

Sadly broken as of late, it's asking for a product key

"Making History: The Calm & the Storm" is an ancient game from 2007. It's a whopping 17 years old at the time of this review. The game lacks support for any modern gaming display resolutions (or 16:9 widescreen monitors), hasn't been modernised or updated to run smoothly on modern gaming PCs. Despite this lack of modernisation, it carries a pretty high price tag for such an ancient game. This seems to have been put on Steam as a nostalgia gouge, or just a cash grab to try profit from abandonware. This is a somewhat simplistic turn based strategy game where you control various world powers and battle for world domination, building your armies and choosing your fights carefully. There's hundreds of games like it, so of course to recommend this over the competition, it must be exceptional, and it's not. The developers didn't design the game for modern gaming PCs, as such the display resolution caps out at 1200p (and there's no support for any 16:9 resolutions, not even 1080p!!!!). The game simply won't look right on modern gaming displays due to this failure on the part of the developers. The game is very badly optimised, with low framerates and janky gameplay even on a high end rig, probably just because it's using dated engine components/middleware that needs to be modernised, but the devs refuse, instead wanting money for an abandoned, unmaintained game. Developers must take the time and polish their games and ensure they are optimised and will play well on any potential customers system. These technical defects push this game below acceptable standards for any modern PC game. "Making History: The Calm & the Storm" is relatively expensive for an abandonware nostalgia gouge, at $4 USD, and it's not worth it. The game is just too old, hasn't been modernised. And as the old saying goes, you can't go home again. This is also competing with over 9,000 free games available on Steam, many of them far better than this paid product.

sanırım seveni de çok sevmeyeni de fakat ben sevemedim eski evet ama öylesine yapılmış hissi veriyor stratejik savaş oyunu

The game is in very poor condition, the interface is confusing, and I won't even mention the graphics. The gameplay is 50/50, but rather boring. Overall, I don't see any reason to buy this game. It's better to get a decent strategy game like Warhammer or Heart of Iron.

I respect the attention to historical detail here. Made me feel like I was learning stuff. But this game is SO BORING! Also it really ought to have a tutorial.

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I remember playing it when I was 7 (f this game because of it i have spend too much money on strategy games)

It's a simple and fun game.

Game is solid but I don't consider it that realistic. Since I read a lot of history and am an Engineer I really fail to understand how ceratin things work here. I am talking about economy and resources. Diplomacy here is also very weird. The game fails to take into account splitting territory that 2 different nations attack. The game also doesn't allow building up industry on allied or conquered territory. There are a lot of issues that I noticed but if you turn off that side of your brain the game is, as I've stated, good. So based on its price I can't give it a negative review. It works fine and can be fun. Also it has mod support.