CGN Review: Battlestations Pacific

May 31, 2009 byLil Theo.
XBOX 360 & PC.

Few people have heard of Battlestations: Pacific, and even less so than the one that preceded it, Battlestations: Midway. The fact is however, both of these games are endlessly fun and deserve some kind of recognition for their existence. The least we can do is give it a review for our viewers to take in for themselves.
Battlestations: Pacific is the second son of the Battlestations genre, created by Eidos Hungary to give a mixed dose of both real time strategy and action. It follows the story of the original United States campaign and adds another exciting element: a hypothetical Japanese campaign. Not only that, it comes fully equipped with an offline skirmish mode and an online multiplayer mode. We’ll be covering all of those within the contents of this review.
First things first, the campaign! There are two campaigns, and both are nothing short of spectacular. The United States campaign picks up right after the Battle of Midway from the end of the first game, and you start out dog fighting in the skies over Guadalcanal. My only complaint here is that in the first few missions you are extremely limited on what units you can use. Only in the later missions do you ever get control of anything even resembling a battlegroup.
The next order of business is the Japanese campaign. Initially, it follows the historical line of events with a string of Japanese victories, Pearl Harbor, Coral Seat, etc. It than follows a hypothetical victory at Midway where the United States loses their carriers and with them, the upper hand. One of the great things about the Japanese campaign is the use of several different units that never quite saw as much action as the campaign does. A few examples are the Kaiten manned torpedo and the Shinden experimental fighter.

The offline skirmish and online multiplayer come next, and practically hand in hand too. The offline skirmish is essentially the same thing as the online multiplayer just minus the other competitive players. All eight maps with all settings are available, and it essentially proves as a training ground to brush up on your dive bombing skills before jumping online. The AI, even on the expert difficulty can be mastered and nothing knows strategy better than another human being.
There are, like I said, eight maps ( two of which take place in poor weather ) and a myriad of different settings like map size, reloading armaments, and even point setup. This essentially allows for a few hundred different options when choosing which map and which settings you want to use. There are few modes from which to play, Duel, Competitive, Siege, Escort, and Island Capture. They each offer a unique experience, although finding the difference between Siege and Escort can sometimes be difficult.
The first mode, Duel is a straight up slug fest between a host selected vessel. Each player gets one of those vessels and so it comes down to who can sink their enemies ships first. This is undeniably the least played mode on Battlestations: Pacific, as it has no strategy involved in it.
The next mode, Competitive, is a one-sided battle where all the players use the same ship or aircraft to destroy more targets than his opponents. This mode is fairly fun, especially on the level where every player has a Japanese bomber carrying Ohka manned rockets to sink a passing US fleet.
Siege and Escort go somewhat hand in hand, as they are nearly indistinguishable. You play as a single unit and escort or defend a computer controlled unit of sizable proportion and purpose ( the Yamato or Iowa for example ) as it heads toward it’s intended goal. These modes are fairly fun, as there are computer controlled units and player controlled units you’re fighting against and you do have a chance to use some strategy to achieve your goal.

The real bread and butter of the game is Island Capture. This is what the multiplayer of Battlestations: Pacific is made for. Like mentioned before, there are a couple hundred different settings you could possibly settle for, and with a potential four versus four, there will never be a dead moment. This game actually revolves around capturing various different islands with supply depots on them that periodically give you points. There are two primary ways to capture these islands. The first is to merely have a vessel ( or more ) in close enough range of the island. The second method is to deploy paratroopers or landing craft, and in this case — there’s a lot of action that’s going on.
The choice to deploy troops is a tricky one — Do I send them storming up the beaches for a quick capture and sacrifice some guns in the air and water, or do I park a ship off the coast and starve my enemies. It’s a question that doesn’t bring an easy answer, and it’s one of the more interesting aspects of the multiplayer section.
All in all, I think Battlestations: Pacific really slipped under the radar in light of other games that have surfaced in it’s wake. I think that if you’ve got a few extra bucks, you should pick Midway up, and if you’re feeling up to the challenge of braving two lengthy campaigns and even more endless multiplayer matches, give Pacific a try.
Overlooking a few graphical glitches, and the addition of reloading ordinance in the campaign — I can’t really find anything else that really knocks this one any further off the totem. The graphics are brilliant, and the physics engine Eidos used for the ships breaking apart, and planes being blown to bits is truly remarkable. If there’s only one true issue I have, it’s the fact that the Japanese voices seem a little .. forced.

8.7 out of 10

The Introduction!

Hi there!

I'm the site owner, Lil Theo. This entire blog is going to be dedicated to .. well, me! My real name is Therran Allen Broc Taylor, I'm eighteen years old and currently attending the Oklahoma City Community College for Computer Science with Game Design. I've always had a love for writing, and that love has since been held in check by video games.
The first video game I ever played was Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit on the Playstation One. I remember it vividly, and I'll never forget it. The first time I had ever gotten a taste for writing was in the ninth grade, when I earned my own " Weekly Article " in my Junior High School Newspaper. Since then, I've been torn exactly on which one I should pursue, but before we even dab that far into my life, let's ask a few questions for the would-be viewer!

Why would I want to write? Well, like I mentioned above, I love writing. I think the spoken and written word are some of the most influential and potentially powerful things in the world. They can start and end wars, they harbor twice as much power as the gun ( in most respects ) and they stand as a true testament of power and wisdom. I love how words can flow, and rhyme, and come together so fluidly. I love how words can convey different meanings, and how opinions, while seemingly somewhat similar can become so different when fully explained on the corners of a paper.

Now, why would I want to work in the video game industry? Video games are my anti-drug, they really are. I fully graduated from high school as of May 26th, 2009 and it was a truly wild ride. I lost a fellow classmate to drugs, and saw many more drop out and disappear as drugs started to rule their life. I made a vow somewhere in that mess to make sure that never happened to me. I slowed the partying, and started to find alternatives to fill my Friday nights. That's where video games come in. Video games offer a true release from the whims of society. While I'm playing as the Master Chief, or Commander Shepard, I'm not worried about my Chemisty assignment, or who has beef with who. I'm immersed in another world where I'm the hero ( or the villain ) and there are no true consequences of my actions. I understand now, I may seem like a total geek, but that's how I genuinely feel -- and I think that when I'm talking amongst a circle of fellow gamers, I can say that without any tinge of embarassment.

That's really all I have to say until I get this site off the ground. Until then, fellow gamers!

Ciao!

-- Lil Theo.