Sid Meier's Gettysburg!

"A Review 145 Years in the Making"

July 3rd marks a very significant turning point in America's history. The afternoon assault on the center position of the Union army on Cemetery Ridge ultimately decided the fate of the Eastern Theater of the Civil War. General Robert E. Lee's costly decision based on the assumption that the Union was next to shattering with a decisive victory in the North left the Confederacy broken, irreparable, and left to defend against the capture of Richmond for the duration of the war. 145 years ago today the Battle of Gettysburg is remembered through annual events and re-enactments. But the scars of the war are still visible today.

But this isn't a review about the battle. Let's talk videogames! Sid Meier does quite an excellent job at recreating the battle. You get the option of playing certain points of the battle such as the initial skirmish from the Cashtown assault or playing the through the entire three day battle. The game is a an excellent real time strategy game that is also award winning for the tactics you use. You will direct columns of troops and the controls are easy to get used to. You also get to play around and see how things go if you play the game alternatively. There is even an opportunity to play the game as if General "Stonewall" Jackson were still alive. The units are not all too detailed as far as historical accuracy goes. You won't be able to distinguish the many different groups that were present during the battle as you would if you played the battle of Gettysburg on American Conquest: Divided Nation. The units are representations of numbers of men on the field but the bodies stay if they die. So you can see how well things are going and where the trail of bodies lead to on the map. The map is nicely done and detailed and you will quickly be able to tell where all the major points of the battle are.

I never played the online aspect of this game but apparently a small community still exists for it. There are also a lot of mods for making the game more historically accurate as well as for creating other battles. At one point there was also a tournament ladder going on so I missed out big time for that.

I enjoyed the sounds and music that go along with this game. Voice dialogue is prevalent in between events as well as in game with soldiers reporting or voicing their discontent if you order them to do something. It can get loud too. Bunching all the columns together can create quite the sight and the game doesn't slow down with a lot of action going on.

Final Recommendation
So is Sid Meier's Gettysburg! a buy? I would think so, but being a dated game (1997) it depends on your updated PC. I played this game 3-4 years after it came out so it is definitely well worth its age. Sid Meier fans should look to this game for another classic and award winning real time strategy game. It is probably more historical than sitting out in the hot sun all day watching sweaty old fat guys in wool coats shoot blanks while some little kid yaps about whatever little kids yap about beside you. Here's to the 145th anniversary of one of the most significant events in our nation's history.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/03/08

Game Release: Sid Meier's Gettysburg! (US, 1997)