''Over the Reich'' is a 1996

computer wargame A computer wargame is a wargame played on a digital device. Descended from board wargaming, it simulates military conflict at the tactical, operational or strategic level. Computer wargames are both sold commercially for recreational use an ...

for

personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...

s operating the Microsoft Windows operating system. The game was released in North America and Europe. A prequel, '' Achtung Spitfire!'', was released in 1997.

Gameplay

Players can play as

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, or

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. This game combines turn-based

dogfighting A dogfight, or dog fight, is an aerial battle between fighter aircraft conducted at close range. Dogfighting first occurred in Mexico in 1913, shortly after the invention of the airplane. Until at least 1992, it was a component in every majo ...

with strategic manoeuvers as the player must position airplanes to destroy enemies. Authentic clips from World War II help to improve the realism of this video game. A mostly classical music

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

(with some wartime radio music) provides ambiance for the aerial settings. Missions range from trying to liberate Nazi-occupied France by air power to attacking the German military power in the heart of Germany itself. The main menu resembles a vintage World War II

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

with difficulty levels ranging from Cadet (allowing new players to dive directly into the game) to Flight Commander (where incidentals like altitude, speed and

attitude Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), an individual's predisposed state of mind regarding a value * Metaphysics of presence * Propositional attitude, a relational mental state connecting a person to a pro ...

have to be manually controlled). Creating results that are worse than expected will result in somber music. However, achieving results that are better expected will result in swing music being played. Music played during combat is the "

Ride of the Valkyries The "Ride of the Valkyries" (german: Walkürenritt Ritt der Walküren, links=no) refers to the beginning of act 3 of ''Die Walküre'', the second of the four operas constituting Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen''. As a separate piece ...

" by

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

Development

''Over the Reich'' was designed by Charles Moylan of

Big Time Software Battlefront.com is a video game developer and publisher. Battlefront specialises in war-related games, including turn-based and real-time strategies, as well as simulations of air, land and naval military vehicles. Apart from publishing the sel ...

. It is an adaptation of the

board wargame A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board, as opposed to being played on a computer or in a more free-form playing area as in miniatures games. The modern, commercial wargaming hobby (as distinct from military exercises, o ...

''Over the Reich''. Moylan had previously developed '' Flight Commander 2'' for the publisher.

Reception

''Over the Reich'' sold fewer than 50,000 units globally. This was part of a trend for Avalon Hill games during the period; Terry Coleman of ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'' wrote in late 1998 that "no AH game in the past five years" had reached the mark. ''Over the Reich'' was a runner-up for ''

''s 1996 "Wargame of the Year" award, which ultimately went to '' Battleground: Shiloh''. The editors wrote of ''Over the Reich'', "Dogfights are fun, particularly over the Internet, but the real appeal of this game lies in the campaigns, where developing your individual pilots is almost a role-playing game in itself."

References

External links

''Over the Reich''
at

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''Over the Reich''
at

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

''Over the Reich''
at

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

* {{Avalon Hill 1996 video games Avalon Hill video games Classic Mac OS games Computer wargames Multiplayer and single-player video games Strategy video games Video games about Nazi Germany Video games developed in the United States World War II video games Windows games