uzzy Lane probably isn't top on the average gamer's list of "companies to watch" — the developer's stable of collaborators and publishing partners (which includes the likes of McGraw Hill, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and DARPA) paints a pretty clear picture of the sort of products they're known for. Infotainment and educational games have always been a lucrative niche for a small, specialized segment of the industry. With Making History II , Muzzy Lane hopes to make a name for itself outside of this subgenre, offering up a product that should appeal just as much to hardcore war gamers as it does to educators and scholars.
Making History II offers no shortage of options - militarist or capitalist, it's your call.Making History II is set in the 1930s and 1940s and portrays the social, economic and political environment that both facilitated and proceeded the Second World War. What sets this title apart from more established properties like Axis and Allies is that where most games grant the player control of one of the Axis or Allied superpowers, Making History II allows the player to oversee virtually any nation that existed during this time period. Whether you choose the United States or Cuba, conditions and goals are custom tailored to reflect the capacity and reach of that nation. A dizzying array of play styles and objectives are catered to by this product — whether you're looking for a traditional turn-based strategy experience or a tool upon which to model your doctoral thesis in international relations, Muzzy Lane (and its powerful in-game AI) has you covered.
In its current beta state, not all of Making History II's features are enabled. Multiplayer, which should prove to be one the title's biggest draws, is currently offline. Only three campaign presets are unlocked, but even this limited number clearly shows off the powerful nature of Making History II's underlying artificial intelligence — nations don't behave predictably, but realistically. If I play England as a militarist nation in 1933, the rest of Europe adapts reactively. Alas, my attempts to head off the rise of the Third Reich with a preemptive naval initiative didn't quite go as planned.
With all there is to like, there are still a few things that concern me about Making History II. All the title's complexity certainly comes at the cost of accessibility, and there are plenty who will see this not so much as a game but as a learning tool. This isn't an entirely unfair label, and one that should be addressed less by Muzzy Lane's designers than by its marketing department. This developer's coffers are a fraction the size of Blizzard's or EA's — underwhelming art and potentially confounding interface aside, there are plenty of gamers out their who have been dying to get their hands on a game/tool as awe-inspiring and powerful as this. I merely hope that it reaches them.
In the weeks and months ahead, we'll continue to chime in on how Making History II is taking shape. Let's not kid ourselves — this isn't the next Starcraft, nor is it trying to be. However, as Muzzy Lane and other developers of infotainment begin to venture into the mainstream, it will be interesting to see how both genres and expectations are altered.
