Making History: The Calm & The Storm – Gold Edition

Making History: The Calm & The Storm – Gold Edition is a turn-based strategy game set during World War II, offering players the chance to manage industrial, economic, resource, research, and diplomatic aspects as any recognized nation from 1936 to 1945. This Gold Edition includes the original game, a game editor, new scenarios, and various gameplay enhancements such as expanded combat unit abilities, more research projects, and improved AI. Players can engage in both single-player and multiplayer modes, making it a comprehensive and educational experience.

Making History: The Calm & The Storm – Gold Edition: Review

Introduction

What if you could rewrite the course of World War II? Making History: The Calm & The Storm – Gold Edition (2008) invites players to do just that, blending grand strategy with educational depth. Developed by Muzzy Lane Software, this turn-based title occupies a unique space between classroom tool and hardcore strategy sim. Its Gold Edition refines the original 2007 release with expanded content, improved AI, and player-crafted scenarios, offering a sandbox where history is not just studied but shaped. This review argues that while the game’s mechanics show their age, its ambitious systems, educational value, and modding potential cement its legacy as a cult classic for strategy enthusiasts.

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Development History & Context

Studio Vision & Origins
Muzzy Lane Software, founded in 2002, initially focused on educational games, aiming to merge academic rigor with interactive engagement. Making History: The Calm & The Storm began as a classroom tool, designed to teach students about the geopolitical complexities of WWII. Its commercial release in 2007 marked a shift toward broader appeal, retaining its pedagogical DNA while catering to strategy fans.

Technological Constraints & Innovation
Built on the Gamebryo engine (also used for Oblivion), Making History faced limitations in visual fidelity and AI complexity. Yet it compensated with robust systems: a dynamic economy, modular research trees, and diplomatic flexibility. The 2008 Gold Edition addressed player feedback, introducing quality-of-life upgrades like destructible infrastructure, partisan rebellions, and a scenario editor, leveraging SQL for modding—a rarity at the time.

Gaming Landscape
Released alongside Hearts of Iron II and Civilization IV, Making History stood out for its accessibility. Unlike Paradox’s denser titles, it prioritized approachability, making grand strategy palatable for newcomers. Its educational roots resonated in a mid-2000s era where “serious games” gained traction, earning it a place in over 150 schools (per Newsweek).

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Narrative & Thematic Deep Dive

Emergent Storytelling
Unlike scripted campaigns, Making History thrives on player-driven narratives. Will Germany invade Poland as history dictates, or ally with France against the Soviets? Can the U.S. remain isolationist? The game’s scenarios—spanning 1933’s “Rise of the Reich” to 1944’s Allied counteroffensives—serve as launchpads for improvisation.

Themes of Power & Ideology
The Gold Edition sharpens the original’s focus on ideological conflict. Players juggle fascist aggression, communist expansion, and democratic diplomacy, each path riddled with trade-offs. Forcing nations to balance industrial growth against military buildup echoes real-world dilemmas, while the “Domination Victory” mechanic critiques imperial overreach.

Character & Dialogue
Characterization is minimal—nations are chess pieces, not personas—but the game’s “voice” emerges through event texts and diplomatic missives. A Soviet ultimatum to Finland or a U.S. oil embargo on Japan crackles with period authenticity, grounding abstraction in human stakes.

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Gameplay Mechanics & Systems

Core Loop: Economics & Warfare
At its heart, Making History is a game of choices. Each turn demands careful allocation of Manpower Units (MPUs) to factories, mines, or armies. Cities evolve from pre-industrial backwaters to advanced hubs, mirroring real-world modernization. Resources like coal, oil, and metals are lifelines; mismanagement leads to economic collapse.

Combat: Luck & Logistics
Battles hinge on RNG-modified dice rolls, weighted by terrain, supply, and tech. Land units slug it out in attritional sieges, while navies blockade ports and bombers devastate infrastructure. The Gold Edition refines combat with unit-specific abilities—e.g., partisans seizing undefended regions—and destructible railways, adding tactical depth.

Diplomacy: Brittle Alliances
AI behavior remains a weak spot. Nations often make baffling diplomatic pivots, though the Gold Edition’s improved AI offers tighter coordination among Axis/Allied factions. The lack of a proper matchmaking system hampers multiplayer, but LAN and internet play (for up to eight players) shine in organized sessions.

Scenario Editor: Infinite Replayability
The included editor empowers players to craft bespoke campaigns, tweaking everything from starting tech to AI war plans. Community creations—like Red Revolution Unbound (a Soviet-dominated alt-history)—showcase the game’s enduring creativity.

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World-Building, Art & Sound

Visual Design: Function Over Flair
Making History’s map is a utilitarian canvas: provinces are color-coded blobs, units represented by tiny icons. Yet this simplicity ensures clarity amid chaos. The Gold Edition’s UI upgrades—tooltips for unit stats, streamlined resource panels—reduce micromanagement fatigue.

Sound Design: Ambience & Tension
Keith Zizza’s score blends martial drums with melancholic strings, evoking the era’s grim grandeur. Effects like artillery barrages and factory clatter are sparse but impactful, grounding abstraction in sensory feedback.

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Reception & Legacy

Launch & Longevity
Critics praised its ambition but critiqued its jank: IGN noted its “educational charm” (7.5/10), while GameSpot called it “dry yet interesting” (6.7/10). The Gold Edition’s Steam release (2008) revitalized interest, earning “Very Positive” reviews (86% of 158) for its depth and mod support.

Educational Impact
Muzzy Lane’s classroom integrations were revolutionary. Schools used the game to simulate treaty negotiations and war economies, proving games could teach complex systems thinking.

Influence on Strategy Games
While lacking Hearts of Iron’s cult following, Making History inspired successors like Making History II (2010) and The Great War (2014). Its scenario editor set a benchmark for player-driven content, echoed in Crusader Kings III’s mod tools.

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Conclusion

Making History: The Calm & The Storm – Gold Edition is a flawed gem. Its AI quirks and dated visuals may deter newcomers, but its systems—crafted with educator precision and strategist passion—reward patience. More than a game, it’s a toolkit for historical exploration, where every playthrough whispers “what if?” For historians, teachers, and armchair generals, it remains a compelling time capsule of early grand strategy and educational gaming. Fifteen years later, its legacy endures not in polish, but in possibility.

Final Verdict: A pioneering blend of education and strategy, best suited for history buffs and modders willing to overlook its rough edges. 7.5/10.