System requirements: Multmedia PC or compatible with a 386SX or higher microprocessor; Windows version 3.1 or later; CD-ROM drive; 8MB RAM; 4MB available hard drive space; Super VGA, 256-color monitor; Microsoft mouse or compatible pointing device; audio board; headphones or speakers
Microsoft's 500 Nations does what any good history primer should do: it compels, informs and makes you hungry for more. An interactive version of the CBS documentary series of the same name, 500 Nations sketches the North American Indian legacy from prehistory to the present day, from Guatemala to Alaska. Like the TV show, this ambitious title plays as a tragedy, as scene after scene recounts conquest and betrayal. But it also offers vivid glimpses of traditional Native American life, with the aid of artifacts, interviews, vintage photos and handsome three-dimensional animations.
When you dig into 500 Nations, you'll likely use one of two interfaces: a historical time line or a map of North America. You can also choose the Pathfinders option, in which host Kevin Costner introduces you to narrated slide shows on various Indian cultures, key events and historical periods. These sequences are generally well crafted, but Costner's talking-head preambles take up space: For example, no one learning the story of Wounded Knee -- given poignant treatment here -- needs to be informed that wrongs were done.
Animated tours of two ancient cities, the Mississippians' Cahokia and the Mayans' Palenque, are the high points of 500 Nations. Equal parts archaeology and imagination, these splendid simulations evoke the grandeur of ancient Indian civilizations and offer frequent opportunities to branch into slide shows on art, commerce, ritual, architecture, and so on. Aside from visiting these sites yourself, it's hard to imagine a more enjoyable way to get a glimmer of pre-Columbian life.
500 Nations borrows the TV documentary's most moving chronicles, including Spanish accounts of their first contact with Europeans, the Cherokee Trail of Tears, and the real stories of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Further west, the history gets thinner, although Edward S. Curtis's gorgeous turn-of-the-century photos help keep the interest up. 500 Nations is history "lite" -- fragmented, cursory, with interviews that often are more sound bite than exposition. But for anyone curious about the original inhabitants of North America, this disc is a must-have.
