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War or Peace? You Decide! (Crisis Management Simulation for one or two players or teams)
Compatibility: 48K Apple II series
Requirements: One disk drive; second drive optional
Suppose, as the American president, you receive information that the U.S.S.R. may be preparing a 'first strike'; or perhaps you are the President's opposite number in Russia, and it is the U.S.A. which may be preparing a little nuclear surprise. What do you do? Bright Ideas offers these and four other scenarios in its foreign policy studies/ crises management package: War or Peace? You Decide!
As might be expected in an educational package subtitled "Decision-Making in a Nuclear Age", if 'you decide' upon war there is a very good chance you blew it! Your objective, basically, is to get your side (and, hopefully, the world) through a crisis in one piece.
War or Peace' proved a real surprise; not at all the set of boringly easy exercises I had feared. The manual, which includes a well-designed "Teacher" section, begins with a very readable, lucid, and informative discussion of current major power nuclear force and foreign policy issues. Though rather lengthy, it turns out to be just the right preparation for some very tough decision making.
Except for a few essentially decorative hires displays, the game employs a pure text format. Each crisis scenario is preceded by force status listings following which you may choose the role of U.S. President or Chairman of the U.S.S.R.. Situation bulletins, intelligence reports, etc. then begin to outline the problem.
You receive advice from crisis team members (e.g. Secretaries of State and Defense, C.I.A. Director, Joint Chiefs) and select from among several options. As program documentation observes, you can't be certain that any one source is entirely accurate, the options may not be all you might wish, your orders will not always be carried out exactly as intended; and, of course, you don't have all day! (A countdown timer allows three or four minutes, after which the the computer makes the decision for you.)
The effects of your choice will usually lead to another round of reports, perhaps a communication from the other side, advice, and some new options. Normally, that is, if you and your opposite number can avoid blowing-up each other first, a scenario will involve several such sequences before the crisis is resolved.
The only flaw, surprising in an educational package of this quality, is a bit of sloppiness in diskette handling prompts and more flipping and switching than seems justified on a two-drive system. Still, I found War or Peace?' a remarkably absorbing, entertaining venture; as did others who gave it a try.
The scenarios are well-planned and realistic, with just enough built-in randomness so that one does well not to take the other side's response for granted in any replays. (Even so, invading Cuba without my direct order was a bit much.) An excellent learning experience which just happens to be the perfect ice-breaker for your next get-together, War or Peace?' is one decision you won't regret.
Available from Bright Ideas: 52 Exeter, Portland, MN 04102-2839. (800) 628 2828. $49.95
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