Alternate History, PC Games and You

I'm a huge fan of the alternate history genre, and the concept of it used in various works of fiction. History is one of my favorite subjects, because history is the story of the human race. I don't have much use for the complexities of math and science, but everyone can appreciate a good story. The best place to go for alternate history in games, is in the historical strategy. Games like Hearts of Iron, or any in the Total War series. The ability to completely shape the course of human events is a powerful draw.

What if the British Empire won in the American Revolution? Play Empire: Total War, and you can find out.

Not only is it a power trip to take your nation of choice to glory, but alternate history games can also be an fairly accurate simulation of what the world had looked like if things went differently. In addition, it's a nice form of escapism. Sometimes it gets tiring to get pulled into whole new worlds. There are concepts to get, races to be familiarized with, mythologies, fictional history. While these things are what provides the escapism we all need from our daily lives, it can be just as fun to play in our own world.

What if the American Civil War was prolonged with advanced steam technology, giving way to radios, mechs and motozied vehicles? What if the awesome premise wasn't blown by the horrible game that used it?

A good alternate history themed game can really fuel the imagination. And lets one appreciate all the possibilities that could have been. In Medieval Total War II, I conquered most of the known world with Scotland. In Making History, the U.S. allied with Japan, in a war against Russia and China.

An isolationist America is invaded by the Nazis, after they took over the rest of the world.

The reason I chose to bring up this particular topic is because, in an effort to not run out of material, I'm going to begin chronicling what could be my first, and most ambitious after action report. Using Hearts of Iron 3, I'm going to journal the events in my alternate history game as America during WW II. So stay tuned, cause it's (hopefully) going to get interesting.