Making History II: The War of the World

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Making History II: The War of the World is a single player and multiplayer strategy game with warfare and historical themes. It was developed by Muzzy Lane Software and was released on August 26, 2010. It received negative reviews from critics and positive reviews from players.

Prepare for the ultimate grand strategy experience. International trade, religious and cultural strife, military campaigns, diplomatic negotiations... here, you control it all. Making History II: The War of the World gives players the power to take full control of any world nation, colonies, regions, cities, and military units during the time leading up to and during the Second World War. Armchair…

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Making History II: The War of the World screenshot

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80%

Audience ScoreBased on 275 reviews

gameplay5 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

Accessible grand strategy game that balances depth and approachability, allowing players to manage economy, research, diplomacy, and military without overwhelming micromanagement.
Open-ended sandbox experience enabling players to rewrite history from any nation with significant control over nation-building, alliances, and alternate historical outcomes.
Strong replayability due to variety of playable nations, modding support, and diverse strategic approaches encouraged by complex economic and political systems.

Technical issues including frequent crashes and slow performance, especially in late game stages, reduce playability and frustrate players.
User interface is cluttered, unintuitive, and requires excessive clicks for common actions, which hampers enjoyment and accessibility for new players.
AI behavior is often illogical or inefficient, including spamming one unit type, making poor diplomatic decisions, and lacking realistic strategic responses, diminishing immersion.

gameplay
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
76%
9%
Gameplay in Making History II is deep and mechanically intricate, blending military, political, and economic management into a cohesive but sometimes overwhelming experience. While the turn-based system and strategic depth offer extensive replayability and appeal to fans of complex nation-simulation games, the outdated interface, lack of tutorial, and occasionally simplistic combat mechanics can hinder accessibility and immersion. Overall, it's recommended for dedicated strategy enthusiasts but may feel tedious or inaccessible to newcomers or those seeking more polished design and visual appeal.
- “On a mechanical level, Making History II is both deep and demanding.”
- “The modding tools included with the game further extend its longevity, empowering the community to refine scenarios, adjust mechanics, and create alternate historical timelines.”
- “The gameplay mechanics are a highlight, blending military, political, and economic management into a cohesive, if sometimes overwhelming, experience.”
- “The interface can feel outdated and unintuitive, making it challenging for new players to quickly understand the depth of the mechanics.”
- “There is no tutorial, and although there is an in-game guide, it doesn’t fully prepare players for the game’s complex mechanics.”
- “The primary problems lie in bad game mechanics and cheating AI.”
graphics
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
65%
15%
The graphics of "Making History II" are functional but outdated, scoring around 6/10, with simple visuals that lack detail and polish compared to other grand strategy games. While the low system requirements and clear but basic graphics appeal to fans focused on gameplay depth rather than aesthetics, the dated visuals and limited graphical options may reduce immersion for some players. Overall, it's a "low graphics classic" appreciated mainly by strategy enthusiasts who prioritize gameplay over flashy presentation.
- “Graphically there's not a lot going on but it's easy to get lost in the depth of the game itself and forget about that.”
- “The graphics are a bit old but the game is a gem of WWII strategy, definitely worth the money.”
- “Graphics and animations of the units are cool although nothing spectacular, I bought it when it went on sale for $5.00 and I would suggest doing the same and waiting for it to go on sale.”
- “The game’s visuals and sound design also lag behind the standards set by other grand strategy titles.”
- “The graphics feel dated and lack the level of detail that some players may expect in portraying the historical setting.”
- “The graphical options are very limited and although the game has keyboard shortcuts, they are preset and cannot be edited.”
replayability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
50%
8%
Replayability is a key strength of the game, rated around 8/10, with diverse country choices and strategic depth providing unique and varied experiences each playthrough. Despite some criticism of the dated interface and occasionally slow turns, the game's focus on alternate history and unpredictable outcomes keeps players engaged and coming back for more.
- “While its presentation and interface may feel dated, its intricate mechanics and replayability make it a worthwhile experience for fans of strategic planning and alternate history.”
- “The game’s focus on historical accuracy and global reach is commendable, and it includes a wide range of countries, each with unique challenges and opportunities, which adds to its replayability.”
- “Endlessly replayable (look at my hours!) no two campaigns ever go the same.”
- “When turns are taking me more than 5 minutes even once familiar with navigating the menus (to do what should take around 1 minute), it's a real turn off for replayability.”
story
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
20%
60%
The game's story is largely shaped by player-driven strategy and management of unique national resources rather than a scripted narrative, offering a sandbox experience for those who enjoy slow, detailed historical simulation. However, some players find the lack of emergent storytelling and significant historical events makes the world feel less dynamic. Additionally, the absence of a training mission and technical issues like low FPS may hinder the initial learning curve and overall experience.
- “For patient players who appreciate slow, methodical strategy and enjoy the process of managing intricate systems, it offers a unique sandbox for historical storytelling.”
- “While this freedom is enjoyable, the lack of emergent storytelling or significant historical events leaves the world feeling less dynamic than it could be.”
- “Each country operates with unique resources, industries, and diplomatic constraints, and these differences dictate strategy far more than any scripted storyline.”
- “Like I said, this game has no training mission while the first game does, so you might need to play the first game, learn it a bit, and then switch to this game.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The music and sound in the game are functional but unremarkable, featuring generic tracks and simple effects that set the mood without enhancing immersion. While adequate, the soundtrack lacks the dynamic and variety needed to fully capture the tense WWII atmosphere, resulting in a less impactful experience.
- “The sound and music are serviceable, with generic tracks and simple sound effects that set the tone but fail to elevate the experience.”
- “While they do their job, they don’t stand out or immerse the player fully, earning sound and music a 6/10.”
- “The soundtrack, while serviceable, doesn’t offer the dynamic or varied experience that would bring the tense atmosphere of the WWII era to life, leaving some of the game’s most intense moments feeling a bit flat.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from severe stability issues, including frequent freezes every few rounds and significant frame-rate drops, even on high-end hardware. Combat mechanics are buggy, often preventing proper troop commands, which undermines overall playability.
- “It's buggy, the game moves very slowly (in terms of frame-rate [16 or so on a rig that gets me 60+ in most current games at the best settings running 1920x1080 resolution]), the combat is horrendous and half the time you can't order your troops to attack (only move).”
- “This game freezes after every 3rd round, making it impossible to play.”
- “But it has its glitches.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is considered slow and tedious, with repetitive mechanics like the newspaper updates adding little value. Players find the gameplay lacks engaging features and becomes monotonous over time.
- “I can only imagine a complete change of staff, plus the loss of the source code, to stop development of mh:i and instead revamp everything to make it a slower, more tedious game, with not much to recommend.”
- “The newspaper thing at the beginning of every turn is tedious, and even after figuring out how to click the star in the top right of the newspaper to simply close all of them, by that point I knew that the turnly update was useless since all of the information is available on the quick links in the top right.”
- “Lacks naming units or armies, and gameplay is tedious.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is appreciated for its unexpected and ironic historical twists, such as Germany switching sides to annex Denmark, providing entertaining and unlikely scenarios that appeal to history enthusiasts.
- “The fact that Germans annexed Denmark was funny to me because Germans were assisting the Danes at first in their fight against me, but halfway through Germany was like 'screw that' and annexed them instead.”
- “TL;DR: It's a great game with a lot of funny stuff for history buffs that would likely never happen.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The optimization of the game is mixed, with some users experiencing smooth performance and no additional downloads required, while others report severe lag issues that hinder gameplay.
- “I liked the first one and I really wanted to like this one since the second one has more features, but the game is so badly optimized that the lag is unbearable.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere in the game is undermined by a soundtrack that, although adequate, lacks the dynamic range needed to fully capture the tension of the WWII era, resulting in some intense moments feeling less impactful.
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game effectively evokes complex feelings, with symbolic elements like the devilish icon during negotiations intensifying the sense of moral conflict and tension.

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30%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews

Making History 2 review
Making History II is impossible to recommend in its present (v1.07) condition. Come back next year.
Pcgamer.com
30%

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6h Median play time

7h Average play time

3-12h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Making History II: The War of the World is a strategy game with warfare and historical themes.

Making History II: The War of the World is available on PC, Mac OS, Windows and Linux.

On average players spend around 7 hours playing Making History II: The War of the World.

Making History II: The War of the World was released on August 26, 2010.

Making History II: The War of the World was developed by Muzzy Lane Software.

Making History II: The War of the World has received negative reviews from players and negative reviews from critics. Most players liked Making History II: The War of the World for its gameplay but disliked it for its story.

Making History II: The War of the World is a single player game with multiplayer support.

Similar games include Making History: The Calm & the Storm, Making History: The Great War, Darkest Hour: A Hearts of Iron Game, Hearts of Iron 2 Complete, Hearts of Iron III and others.

Making History II: The War of the World

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