Battlestations: Pacific Review

Battlestations: Pacific, the sequel to Battlestations: Midway, returns once again to tackle World War II from a unique perspective. While it has real time strategy (RTS) roots, the game also has a strong focus towards user controlled naval and aerial combat, in a hope to recreate the intense atmosphere surrounding various key battles. Also, unlike the majority of World War II games, which focus on Germans being the main enemy, Battlestations: Pacific looks towards the conflicts which took place between the USA and Japan.

The game offers two campaigns straight off the bat; one offers the experience from an American perspective, and the other offers something completely new in a World War II game, the chance to play as the Japanese. While the American campaign follows the actual events in history, the Japanese version allows for a more liberal interpretation as the battles aren't necessarily factual.

The story is literally comprised of events relevant to the mission, so there is no over-arching story that's an aside from the actual events. Each mission brief is narrated and explains why it's necessary and what objectives need to be fulfilled to achieve victory. Both of the voices are very stereotypical, as there is a booming American military general, and a Japanese soldier who talks in heavily accented English. Each mission has primary objectives, secondary objectives (which can be ignored) and a single hidden objective, but there are usually only 5-6 objectives when all are combined.

Variation is a very prominent part of the game; no two missions have that déjà vu feeling. Some require more use of the tactical map to issue orders, while others take a very hands on approach. For example, missions involving submarines place success very much in the players' hands. With the missions that are more order based, the AI can sometimes be a little bit awkward. Sometimes ships take longer routes or constantly try to out maneuver other ships in their own formation, causing an endless cycle. However, for the most part it works efficiently.

Controls are fairly straight forward, although initially they may seem a bit confusing. Most of them are introduced as the mission's progress, so it doesn't throw the player in at the deep end. Some of the controls may feel a bit unresponsive, especially in the larger units that are available, but this is partially down to the over-realistic style of the game whereby turning or moving a battleship literally will take an age and large aircrafts can't necessarily arc that quickly.