Gamespy’s Allen Rausch has the first extended preview of Stardock’s sequel to the 2004 election game Political Machine.

The new edition takes so many more factors into account that the team felt confident enough to actually include a few historical scenarios such as the Lincoln/Douglas race of 1860 (Lincoln won) and some modern European politicians for players to fool around with. Unfortunately, such historical scenarios are done using modern election technology which means that while it might be fun to see how our 16th President handles Larry King, it’s not exactly a historical sim.

Aside from the depressing bit where Rausch feels (probably quite appropriately) that he has to remind readers that Lincoln won the 1860 election, this sounds like fun.

I liked the original Political Machine, but it was considerably lighter fare than both the classic President Elect and President Forever (now supposedly available from 80soft in a 2008 edition with primaries, though the site seems to be down). This lightness and the cartoonish aesthetic works for a mass appeal, especially since, as Wardell says, they can stick by Steven Colbert’s book in a retail outlet and sell it. Check the screenshots of both President Forever and Political Machine and imagine which one would sell at Borders.

A June release should be in time for both major party nominees to be finalized, barring some disaster.