NIDZUMI+

World War II and games go hand in hand all to often and although they’ve definitely slowed down as of late, there is no battle left untouched within our medium. We have to commend the team at Eidos Hungary for their feeling of a fresh take on this overplayed setting. But on the other hand Battlestations Pacific’s genre dabbling produces two simply average halves.

Battlestations Pacific mixes a lot of strategy and action to create something of a interesting meld. While the ambitious number of planes, ships and submarines you can control is impressive they wildly vary. A majority of the planes just don’t give a great sense of speed but the initially awkward bombing runs feel satisfying if they don’t end in a collision with the ground afterwards.

What I really missed in Battlestations Pacific was some helpful aim assisting. Often I’d make clean sweeps at ground targets and totally miss and would be forced to wrestle with the slow controls until I was ready to take another swoop. Sure this is realistic but while some elements of the game are very much grounded in reality others definitely aren’t. Minor combat issues aside the game does a fairly decent job of portraying the action even if it does feel unatmospheric and slow at times.

Pacific’s redeeming feature is easily it’s strategic side. You can issue various rudimentary commands through the simplified interface and your surprisingly competent AI team-mates will get straight to it. The route finding is a bit hit and miss depending on what craft you are commanding but for the most part it’s up to scratch. My main problem with this half of the game is that it doesn’t come close to similar strategic offerings on the market.

The game does come complete with a ton of repeatability due to the whole plethora of modes available. Objective based skirmish modes, 4 on 4 island capture battles and more make up what is a great host of multiplayer modes. It will be interesting to see how well the community is supported in the next couple of months as it might become hard to find a game due to the game’s niché audience. Nevertheless the groundwork is here.

Visually the game is stellar albeit with some weird filters that switch off and on between the unnesscarily long cut scenes. The audio isn’t particularly great either due to the almost racist voice work but it’s all optional and for the most part skippable.

Battlestations Pacific isn’t a terrible game but it isn’t one to rush out for. It’s mix of realism and arcade-esque roots along with it’s genre melding blend of action and strategy create a unique take on this played-out setting. The problem is that despite feeling very much original and fresh it does feel lacklustre and unfulfilling at times. If you would rather ergo depth for originality then by all means pick this up but otherwise give the demo a spin first.