Peacemaker

Developer: Impact Games
Publisher: Impact Games
Release Date: May 2, 2007
System: PC
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Make peace with your neighbor? Wait, that can't be right. Isn't there anything to blow up?

0:01 80+ years of regional violence in sixty seconds. Now that's an opening montage!
0:02 I have no idea how to make peace, so I'll choose the tutorial mode to start.
0:05 A perfect score is ranked as a Nobel Prize Winner. How cool is that?
0:08 Tutorial done, I choose a tense situation to start.
0:09 The use of video to highlight important events is nice.
0:12 Israeli attacks my people right from the outset. Since this is a peace game I ask them politely to stop. The Osraeli prime minister will "consider my request." Whoo!
0:15 I want action! A demanding speech is met with mixed reaction. At least my people liked it... 5/100 approval!
0:17 Israel doesn't want to train their military with me. That's OK, I didn't want to train with them either! *sniff*
0:18 I ask Hamas politely to stop being so militant. They refuse. Big surprise. So I arrest the militants. They don't like that, but the world approves slightly.
0:19 I tell the Palestinians to stop being violent. They don't like that. And then a Fatah bomber kills some Israelis, erasing all my heard-earned progress. Hoo boy.
0:24 Everything I do seems to turn out badly, until I ask the UN for aid. Cha-ching! Then a civil war breaks out and I lose. Whoops!
0:28 Now I'm the Israeli prime minister. A speech against militatantism from Palestinians is called out for a "lack of imagination." I didn't know I was being judged on originality!
0:31 Asking for withdrawal support is my first universally positive move. Both the Palestinians and Israelis now grudgingly tolerate me. I'm sure I'll screw it up somehow.
0:33 Again I give a speech promoting peace. Again world leaders say they "heard the exactly same one again and again for the last 20 years." Sheesh!
0:36 The UN won't put pressure on Palestine, but the US will. Seems pretty accurate to me.
0:37 Apparently the Palestinians like me better when I'm running Israel.
0:45 Every time I give a speech, people say they've heard it before. Maybe the game should let me write the speech myself.
0:50 I've figured out I can easily get Palestinian sympathy points by promising economic help. I'll trade two Israel points for 10 Palestine points any day.
0:52 The Palestinian president praises my actions. Then, when I ask for anti-militant support, he says he's upset with me. Make up your mind, Palestinian president!
0:53 The U.S. President actually had something intelligent to say about the situation. What alternate universe is this game supposed to take place in, again?
0:57 I ask for cross-cultural projects. An Israeli demolishes a Palestinian piece of art. My approval goes up across the board. Wha?
0:59 I wish the interface were a little smoother. It can be hard to sift through all the options.

Would I play this game for more than an hour: Maybe
Why? The premise and execution are great, but it's already starting to repeat itself, and it's pretty easy to game the system for political points.

This review is based on a full version of the game provided by the publisher.