''Gary Grigsby's World at War'' is a 2005 computer wargame developed by 2 by 3 Games and published by Matrix Games.

Gameplay

''Gary Grigsby's World at War'' is a grand strategy computer wargame that simulates conflict in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Development

''Gary Grigsby's World at War'' was announced in February 2004. 2 by 3 Games developed it concurrently with ''

War in the Pacific The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

'', a significantly more complicated title. The company's Joel Billings noted that

playtesting A playtest is the process by which a game designer tests a new game for bugs and design flaws before releasing it to market. Playtests can be run "open", "closed", "beta", or otherwise, and are very common with board games, collectible card games, ...

''World at War'' was relatively simple: "In ''WitP'' the longest scenario can last around 1700 turns, while ''GGWaW''s longest scenario lasts around 25 turns". It reached gold status in February 2005.

Reception

''Gary Grigsby's World at War'' received "generally favorable reviews" from critics, according to

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. Writer Greg Costikyan reported that the game had sold over 100,000 units by 2008. In '' Computer Games Magazine'', Bruce Geryk was unimpressed with ''World at War''. He called it "a claustrophobic game in which there are only one or two ways to win ... and what matters is how carefully you count the combat factors needed to succeed." Anthony Holden of '' PC Zone'' was more positive, referring to it as "a superior piece of work" hampered by its inaccessibility to newcomers. ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was 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 199 ...

''s Di Luo concluded, "Even with its flaws, ''World at War'' is still a good choice for anyone looking for a fast-paced war game." ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming 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 district and is headed by its former e ...

'' presented ''World at War'' with its 2005 "Best Game No One Played" computer game award. The editors wrote that it "really shines in its excellent simulation of supply and logistics."

''A World Divided''

In October 2006, ''World at War'' received a follow-up under the name ''Gary Grigsby's World at War: A World Divided''. According to Joel Billings, it had begun as a patch but became ambitious enough for a full release; production began in January 2006. Among other updates, the game includes greater support for espionage and diplomacy, and enables a hypothetical conflict between the Soviet Union and Allied Western powers.

Reception

Reviewing ''A World Divided'' for

, Steve Butts wrote, "Gamers who are looking for an introduction to high-level wargames should definitely consider giving this one a look." '' Wargamer''s Al Berke called it "an excellent game" that "has a historical feel, but doesn't drown the players in a sea of detail."

References

External links

* * {{Matrix Games 2 by 3 Games games 2005 video games Computer wargames Matrix Games games Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games developed in the United States Windows games Windows-only games World War II video games