Edwin Starr once famously asked: “War, what is it good for?” Like many people, I’m tempted to reply “absolutely nothing” but then I think about all the great war games that have come out on the PC and I realise that without war the gaming world would be a totally different place. Classics like Call of Duty, Delta Force and World of Warcraft would never have existed. Either that, or the characters would all be running around shaking hands or kissing each other. Whether you’re for or against military conflict there are plenty of great games that let you take part in some of history’s most significant wars without you having to pick up a real-life weapon. Here are some of the biggest games from the biggest wars:
- Rise and Fall: Civilizations at War – Command the ancient Greeks or Romans
- Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars – Experience the Napoleonic battlefield
- Imperial Glory – Go back in time to the days of the Colonial wars
- American Civil War: Gettysburg – Take control of the Union or Confederate forces
- World War II Online – Recreate crucial battles from the 20th Century’s greatest war
- The Hell in Vietnam – Relive the horrors of the Vietnam war
- Kuma/War – Play out action from the conflicts currently taking place around Earth