Good history themed games?

[CRTGAMER]

There is a PC game, CONNECTIONS from the mini series. Bottom pic. Any history buff will enjoy the romp, especially watching of the original series. James Burke will captivate you, some colleges have the DVDs. There are three seasons, all enjoyable, I tend to like the 1st season the best.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connections_(TV_series)

Silly suit but a great intriguing mind, a wonderful story teller, reels you in.
JAMES BURKE is worthy of Jack Palance in his also captivating narration skills.

A clip
http://kcsm.org/tv/catalog/Reconnections/index.htm

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Oop forgot about the game, sorry.

The game basically takes a interactive approach, shows how actions of one event leads to another.
Great Stuff! Wait a minute the guy in the white polyester always says that.

http://tap-repeatedly.com/Reviews/Conne ... ions.shtml

[GamerMON]

I hear that North & South for the NES is a good strategy game.

You heard correctly. I found a copy of this game at a thrift store a while back. Play this game with a friend (as the computer sucks). You will laugh your ass off. But not really historically accurate.

[skyknight]

The Dynasty Warriors series is based on The Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, a culturally important and well known account of Chinese history. The games usually have a database with lots of info on the characters and events, although the series certainly takes a lot artistic license with the characters. They are not exactly perfect representations of the characters

I generally recommend DW 3 and 5 to people. There are way too many installments, spinoffs and rehashes of the DW series to keep track of

Well depending on how historical accurate you want to be, as a person that took several courses in history while in college (and being Asian-American), I could NEVER recommend the Koei Warriors series to people unfamiliar with Asian history. The Warriors series tend to focus on only a few-selected historical figures (leaning towards fighting) while over-simplifying the battlefields, and many weapons are inaccurate.

Koei is more famous in Asia for its Romance of Three Kingdoms and Nobunaga's Ambitions, which unfortunately Koei changes the game mechanics dramatically from each release (i.e. RTK VII is played totally different from RTK V). But it is worth checking out for history buffs that are interested in history games set outside of the Western world. And both series offer different scenario based on timeline, which could let you see the emergence of certain factions over a period of time.

[Ack]

Have you considered WWII FPS titles?

Seriously, hear me out. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and its expansions had one of the first representations of D-Day in a video game and a few levels set in the Africa campaign. Medal of Honor: Airborne taught me what a Flaktürme is(I hadn't a clue they existed and actually thought the game devs were just attempting to make a ridiculous final level. I had never heard of them). To this day, the first Stalingrad level in Call of Duty remains one of the most memorable levels in any game I've ever played. And Battlefield featured massive multiplayer maps based on real locales for huge battles...though in execution it tended towards the ridiculous and I doubt anybody still plays it.

[Gamerforlife]

The Dynasty Warriors series is based on The Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel, a culturally important and well known account of Chinese history. The games usually have a database with lots of info on the characters and events, although the series certainly takes a lot artistic license with the characters. They are not exactly perfect representations of the characters

I generally recommend DW 3 and 5 to people. There are way too many installments, spinoffs and rehashes of the DW series to keep track of

Well depending on how historical accurate you want to be, as a person that took several courses in history while in college (and being Asian-American), I could NEVER recommend the Koei Warriors series to people unfamiliar with Asian history. The Warriors series tend to focus on only a few-selected historical figures (leaning towards fighting) while over-simplifying the battlefields, and many weapons are inaccurate.

.

True, I was actually kind of hinting at that when I mentioned the artistic license taken with the characters. They're kind of like caricatures really, still a fun series though and it can lead to some people taking the initiative of learning more about the novel and the actual history. It did for me anyway. I didn't even know about the novel before I played DW3 or who names like Guan Yu and Liu Bei referred to

[CRTGAMER]

Have you considered WWII FPS titles?

Seriously, hear me out. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and its expansions had one of the first representations of D-Day in a video game and a few levels set in the Africa campaign. Medal of Honor: Airborne taught me what a Flaktürme is(I hadn't a clue they existed and actually thought the game devs were just attempting to make a ridiculous final level. I had never heard of them). To this day, the first Stalingrad level in Call of Duty remains one of the most memorable levels in any game I've ever played. And Battlefield featured massive multiplayer maps based on real locales for huge battles...though in execution it tended towards the ridiculous and I doubt anybody still plays it.

Re-watched Full Metal Jacket DVD. Uncanny how one scene of the movie where soldiers would take turns advancing and taking cover in the rubble. Reminds me of Kill Switch, you can't beat the game unless a slow and patient cover and wait for the enemy. Not really a history lesson, but but maybe in a sense a soldiers history perspective that Ack touched on?

Oh and in finding CONNECTIONS game is Dual PC and MAC, I am now exploring this oldie that I mentioned above, on my iMAC. Glad I have both OS9 and OSX residing in the hard drive. Scientific approach to History. Game has built in hints I can mouse help click to get thru. Phosphor was a pain to figure out. Realized Television was inspired by Oscilloscopes.
Discovered Carbon Paper invented from a Monastery, candle ash and paraffin wax.

[saturnfan]

A lot of good suggestions here. Today at a thrift store I found Age of Empires II for $2. I am sure I will get some entertainment out of it.

[skyknight]

A lot of good suggestions here. Today at a thrift store I found Age of Empires II for $2. I am sure I will get some entertainment out of it.

That is best AoE game in the series, IMO, with the right balance of resource gathering, technology research, and military units. Please try to find the Conquers expansion for a low cost, as you get additional civilizations to play as, with additional technology to research.

But at the same time you should take the campaigns of AoE with a grain of salt, as there are historic inaccuracies (even in the Conquers expansion) in the setting.

Still, enjoy the gameplay!

[Jrecee]

Mario's Time Machine.

[skyknight]

True, I was actually kind of hinting at that when I mentioned the artistic license taken with the characters. They're kind of like caricatures really, still a fun series though and it can lead to some people taking the initiative of learning more about the novel and the actual history. It did for me anyway. I didn't even know about the novel before I played DW3 or who names like Guan Yu and Liu Bei referred to

That maybe the case for you, but for others, I think people just like the brainless fun playing the Warriors series; I mean how reviewers were critical of Devil Kings (or as it should be - Sangoku Basara) with its omission of Japanese historical reference than its cheesy gameplay?

At the same time, would you like to spend extra time learning "generic" generals in the Warriors series that actually did greater things than some of the featured warriors? Truth be told, there is no perfect historic simulation game, and you do have to ask yourself time to time, are you playing it for fun, or trying to get close to history?