FEATURE
Eight Games That Let You Rewrite History
Change the past with these contemporary classics.
Learning history is all well and good, but there's no student of past events that hasn't tilted back their chair and wondered, what if? How would the world be changed if a particular conflict, political development or major accident had come to a different outcome? Would we be better off, or worse? Although this concept was explored in exhaustive and academically-rigorous detail in the Back to the Future movies, we're sure there's still room for plenty more research. Supercharge your own flux capacitor with these eight historically-inaccurate games.
Westward II
Go West, young man, and sink your teeth into this huge real-time strategy/city building blend, which lets you write your name all over the Western landscape. Can you establish a healthy, productive frontier town in the face of famine, earthquake, and comedy cowboy bandits? Westward II will let you find out, and it does it all with a healthy dose of Pythonesque humor (and, just as importantly, at a bargain price).
Resistance 2
It's 1951. After an alien invasion in 1908, continental Europe is overrun by an occupying force of unknown - but definitely extraterrestrial - origins. So begins the plotline for PS3 launch smash Resistance, a shooter set in England. Resistance's levels proved so lifelike that the game caught flak from the Church of England for its realistic representation of Manchester Cathedral (and considerable praise from game critics), so all observers are watching the skies carefully for news of its sequel, expected to land in the fall.
Civilization IV
Perhaps the game in our selection with the most potential for creative history-altering, Civilization remains one of the PC's best-loved franchises. Just ask yourself: What would Gandhi have done with nuclear weapons in the 1800s? What would have happened if Hinduism had broken out in the Roman Empire instead of Christianity? This, and a great many other implausible historical scenarios, are yours to explore in Civilization IV.
Age of Empires 3
How would you have colonized the Americas, if you had had the chance? Age of Empires 3 doesn't exactly give you the options you might be hoping for (like, for example, leaving all those nice natives alone and going back to Spain) but nevertheless it's the preeminent historical strategy title on the block for a reason. Give it and its two excellent expansions a try, and find out what kind of Columbus you would have made.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert series
OK, so the plot of Red Alert doesn't stand up well to close examination. Or any examination at all, really. Just sit back and enjoy the ride, which sees a foolhardy Albert Einstein traveling back in time to kill Hitler in 1924 - a noble endeavor, to be sure, but one that ends poorly for the world, which, devoid of the Second World War altogether, ends up plunged into an even bloodier conflict. Bad news for most of us, but good news for real-time strategy fans, who as a result enjoyed one of the genre's best series. Look out for the next installment due later this year, or play the previous games now in EA's bargain-priced bundle.
Battlefield: 1942
How would the world have been altered if the Battle of Wake Island had ended with the Japanese carrier steaming off into the distance, oblivious to all communications, and the U.S. forces racing round the atoll in jeeps? Play Battlefield: 1942 and find out how this and plenty of other notable World War II battles would have turned out if they were being fought by total lunatics. Although a great deal of effort went into giving the impression of a realistic conflict, like so many multiplayer games Battlefield matches are prone to descend into silliness - and that just makes us love it more.
Rome: Total War
The Total War series has a proud history of pairing excellent real-time strategy battles with epic, overworld map sections where you actually plan and develop your faction's strength. All the Total War games do a beautiful job simulating the political and military machinations that go into maintaining an empire, but for our money, the Rome episode has the most engaging theme. Can you lead your family to dominance over the whole Mediterranean?
The Oregon Trail
This old-school game lets you relive both America's colonial history and, assuming you're of a "certain age," a little chunk of your elementary school. One of the first educational computer games, Oregon Trail sets players the difficult task of traveling cross-country from Independence, Missouri to Oregon, circa 1850, without contracting cholera, dying of dysentery, drowning, running out of food, being attacked by bandits, or any other of a great many perils. Now in its fifth edition, it's available on countless platforms, including numerous web-based versions and even one on social networking site Facebook that lets you take your real-life friends along for the ghastly ride.
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Posted: 17 Apr 2008