''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 ...

for

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

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, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

, the

United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...

, or

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. This game combines turn-based dogfighting 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 a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

(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 or Attitude may refer to: Philosophy and psychology * Attitude (psychology), a disposition or state of mind ** Attitude change * Propositional attitude, a mental state held towards a proposition Science and technology * Orientation ...

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" by

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

Development

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

Big Time Software Battlefront.com is a video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. Battlefront specialises in Wargame (video games), war-related games, including turn-based strategy, turn-based and real-time strategy, real-time strategies, as well as ...

. It is an adaptation of the

board wargame A board wargame is a wargame with a set playing surface or board game, 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 ...

''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 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 ...

'' 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'' 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 ...

* {{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 Windows games World War II video games