Historical Video Games: The 4 Best Action Games That Let You Turn Back Time

History games can transport us to times and places we’ve never experienced, allowing us to interact with history as participants rather than observers. That’s the unique power of video games—reading and watching history can be powerful experiences, but actually interacting with it adds a whole new dimension.

Many history games are strategy-based simply because some of the most interesting periods of history are times of war. But action also has a strong presence in the history genre, as players can explore historical settings on a personal level, interacting with key moments and shaping the course of history.

These four history games are some of the best, marrying historical settings with the best of action gameplay.

Assassin’s Creed‘s Sci-Fi Influenced Story Puts a Spin on History Games

Assassin’s Creed takes a liberal approach to history games, sprinkling in sci-fi and fantasy elements to create its own unique mythology. And while that’s all exciting and fun, the well-curated historical details of the series add an extra dimension of craftsmanship.

Aside from the obvious intrusions of mythological figures, Pieces of Eden, and magical Eagle Vision, there’s a substantial amount of history in the series. Many of the game’s most prominent assassin targets are real historical figures whose influence on history is still being felt today, and some—Blackbeard and Cesare Borgia, among others—did truly meet untimely ends.

But the series isn’t just about playing a role in shaping history. The environments are lovingly created in stunning detail, featuring real artwork of the time period with accompanying explanations of the work’s importance in history. It’s these little details that make this series of history games so rich, even with the healthy dose of fiction that keep players on their toes.

History Games Hit the Wild West in Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption may very well be the reason there aren’t many western games out there—the level of detail, depth of storytelling, and open-world setting set an incredibly high standard for not just westerns, but historical games as a whole.

For the most part, Red Dead Redemption is a straightforward, history-based game. While it concerns the fictional narrative of John Marston, it explores many of the period’s conflicts—the declining wildness of the American West in favor of technology, changing morality, and the way power corrupts even those meant to serve the people.

The Wild West is often mythologized, but Red Dead Redemption lets players experience the tensions and shifts that characterize this period of history, wrapping it up in a fun and emotionally impactful story—a near-perfect recipe for excellent history games.

Experience Three Sides of World War II in Call of Duty 2

The Call of Duty franchise may have strayed from its historical roots of late, but Call of Duty 2 is one of the most beloved entries in the series for a variety of reasons, including its history-based plot. Rather than focusing on the one-sided approach many war games take, Call of Duty 2 features three separate campaigns in World War II, letting players experience the differences in conflict between Russian, British, and American soldiers.

When looking at World War II’s history, it’s easy to only focus on a few aspects, particularly from an American perspective. But Call of Duty 2 exposes players to multiple narratives, showing how different soldiers overcame insurmountable odds against their enemies.

While the story is still heavily fictionalized, the conflicts and weapons are real. It may ultimately amount to a power fantasy as players survive a ridiculous onslaught of bullets single-handedly, but seeing conflicts that real soldiers actually experienced is a powerful experience nonetheless.

Visit Picturesque 1940s Los Angeles in LA Noire

While Rockstar is best known for the Grand Theft Auto series, their historical work—both Red Dead Redemption, discussed above, and LA Noire—are no less interesting. Though LA Noire may not have entirely lived up to its high expectations, its gorgeous reproduction of post-World War II Los Angeles makes it a fantastic entry among history games.

Inspired by film noir and featuring advanced motion capture technology for its time, LA Noire tasks players with solving a series of connected crimes ranging from murder to arson to drug smuggling. The crimes culminate in a story that explores the government’s treatment of returning veterans—a subject not often touched upon in history games.

While the story itself may not be true, the exploitation and lack of support for war veterans is a bold and intriguing topic for a game to tackle, and with the game’s detailed reproduction of Los Angeles, LA Noire is an incredibly engrossing experience.

History Games Play Well With Action

History games give us the opportunity to experience history as participants, and action games like these let us step into the shoes of people, fictional or real, who lived through the events. Whether they explore shifts in culture, historical combat, or other facets of history, these games can lead us to a new appreciation of what our ancestors experienced, even when that history is fictionalized for dramatic effect.

For excellence in historical games, play Alekhine’s Gun, a stealth-based action history game set during the Cold War. With ties to real historical events and a unique conspiracy twist, Alekhine’s Gun is a perfect blend of stealth, action, and history to satisfy gamers of all styles.