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If you lined up all the WWII-themed shooters ever made end to end the resulting trail of software would be long enough to cross the English Channel. The leftover boxes would be sufficient enough to smother the entirety of the Third Reich leaving one remaining CD-ROM of Castle Wolfenstein which, if you so desired, you could cram up Hitler's ass. To say that a game like Civil War: A Nation Divided comes as a breath of fresh air in the stagnant historical FPS genre is an understatement. The game offers a rare break from the same-old-same-old of Nazi killing by letting players fight as soldiers from both sides of the Mason-Dixon line. And since the game is branded by The History Channel, recruits might actually learn something while owning enemies with their bayonet.

History on a Budget

Though you might not be able to tell from the price tag, Civil War: A Nation Divided was produced by Activision's budget division. So don't go expecting a military epic along the lines of Call of Duty. This pared-down offering presents twelve modest historical battles, enough for only a weekend of play. And multiplayer is, sadly, M.I.A. And yet the game isn't all that bad. The backwoods locations and battlefields look only a smidgen less shiny than Oblivion. The game makes up for its thin serving of rations by wrapping the game up in a satisfying passage. Fights are bookended with History Channel-style mini-documentaries. The narration and music, much from James Horner's score to Glory, lend good-for-you gravitas to the gunplay.

War Kinda Sucks

It there's one lesson to learn from being on the ground at Gettysburg or Bull Run its that the weapons at the end of the 19th Century were crap. The game's designers weren't as cruel as they could have been. Water won't fubar your flint, but the firearms do take an eternity to reload. The purposefully nerfed guns do a good job of  putting players in the mind set of a Civil War fighter. The puff of smoke from a muzzle makes a great target and the long reload of a musket is the perfect time to perforate your stationary enemy. The limitations of the guns can be frustrating, but a more patient pace and strategic attitude towards ammunition can mean the difference between a commendation and a musket ball in the gut.

Glory Days

When the illusion holds Civil War: A Nation Divided is a brief, but satisfying visit to battlefields of yesteryear. But too often players get a look behind the curtain, revealing the game's low-rent works. Enemies are downright dumb and it's pretty hard to tell what's solid and what isn't. Bullets breeze through some things but won't pass through the gap between the spokes of a wagon wheel. And how about that Confederate officer who stands patiently waiting while a squad of Union soldiers no more than twenty feet away fills the air around him with white-hot lead? As riddled with flaws and lightweight as it is Civil War: A Nation Divided is hard to hate, especially if you're the kind of viewer whose remote hand freezes when a History Channel documentary flickers on their TV screen. Besides, there's not a single Nazi in the game. That's got to count for something.

Article by: Gus Mastrapa
Video produced by: Mark Fahey