Review: Battlestations: Pacific [PC]
Normski, 3-Jun-09 » Battlestations: Pacific, by nGR Guest Reviewer Bex
The latest installment of the Battlestations series doesn't disappoint. As with Midway, the variety of gameplay makes it a broad fit for lovers of Real time strategy, but with a twist.
The real improvements in Pacific are largely cosmetic, but it is truly something to behold. I found myself staring at the clouds for ages as I soared through them in my Corsair, they look as real as I can imagine is possible. It doesn't end with the clouds of course, the boats and ships are recreated faithfully and the aircraft are detailed down to the last rivet. The view from inside an aircraft cockpit is especially spectacular, the sunlight moves accross your instrument panel as you maneuver and the free look control really gives you the sense of being at the stick. The look of realism is certainly there but that's pretty much where the realism ends, let's be clear on that.
Battlestations: Pacific allows you to control your very own battlegroup of warships and aircraft. You can very quickly and easily assign your units patrol duties, recoinassance or attack orders via the Battle Overview Map, adjust load outs of specific aircraft and coordinate multiple attacks at once. Now, whilst that's not bad, the real fun comes in taking control of each and every unit at your disposal from the 1st or 3rd person perspective. Due to the large distances involved in many engagements I found myself organising my battlegroups, sending out recon aircraft, getting up squadrons of fighters and torpedo bombers and sending them on thier way.
Before you know it you're making your run on the enemy flying just feet off the wave tops.
Inevitably, the aircraft tend to be the spearhead of most attacks and the vanguard of your defence. It is surprisingly difficult to sink a capital ship with aircraft alone however, so make sure you're moving your ships into firing range also. The dog fights are great fun, all the usual suspects are at your disposal. The Corsair with its' rocket armament is just fantastic in the dog fighting role or for taking out bombers but nothing beats speeding along 4 feet off the waves in your P47 Thunderbolt trying to make a torpedo run on the Yamato. The tracer fire is absolutley intense, bullets ping off your airframe and your health bar diminishes rapidly. As the torpedos don't seem to have a maximum range that I could establish you can just let them go from a safe distance but the PC opponent is smart enough to turn into your oncoming torpedo or simply back up and let it slip right by. If you prefer, dive bombing is a much safer option from enemy AA fire, but a Zero will chew you up pretty quick as you try to gain the altitude required. There are also heavy bombers at your disposal, the Japanese Betty and the B29 Flying Fortress lay a formiddable path of detruction, but hitting a mobile sea borne target reliably is quite a task!
All aspects of Naval combat get a mention too. From u-boats and torpedo boats right through to massive battleships and aircraft carriers. The Battleships really are the tank of your Navy, slow and cumbersome but able to deliver an incredible blow.
For gameplay's sake, the distances covered for ship on ship engagements have been scaled down, but it just ads to the frenetic gameplay that a multiple unit engagement offers. The little PT boats are an absolute blast, they bob around so much you're sure the crew should be tossing their cookies over the side, but they're manueverable and fast and their four torpedo armament can't be ignored.
There's also a flotilla of landing ships and troop transports that need to be protected for obvious reasons. Not only are they objective critical units but they're essential for capturing territory rapidly in some circumstances. Submaries, Destroyers, light and heavy Cruisers all go into the mix, each with their own specialisations, and then there's the big boys.
The developer has made this game from both the Japanese and American perspective. If you complete the Japanese campaign successfully you actually win the war would you believe? It's probably worth mentioning you get to re-enact the midget submarine attack on Sydney harbour too. The campaigns can, at times, feel a little repedetive, but finishing both campaigns stands you in good stead for tackling the multiplayer aspect.
As I haven't played anything other than 'Island Capture' so far, my multi player review will be from that perspective. Island capture can host up to 4 players per side. As the round begins your role is to deploy all units you can afford in an effort to capture the islands of the attol. Your amount of control points (that's how you buy things) is dependant on how many players are in game and how many islands you own. Generally, there will be a lynch pin island that everyone rushes for. Holding it may enable you to deploy aircraft or a particular sea borne unit. This will often be the deciding factor in a game, but coordination is vital to pull it off. You capture an island by either parking your ships nearby, sending in landing boats or dropping paratroopers. Each have thier strengths and weaknesses so it's important to have a balanced roll out. The more units you have adjaecent to the island, the quicker you'll capture it.
It might look epic to roll out with 4 Battleships but their speed disadvantage will see you on the bleed soon enough and on the bad end of a pounding from the sky. And yes, you can get capped out.
Multiplayer Gameplay is nothing short of epic. Aircraft are an annoyance but little more, the real damage is done from the sea. There's nothing quite so good as engaging another Battleship from range and then sending your Destroyer accross his axis with a full spread of torpedoes. He'll either be too occupied in his engagement to notice or be forced to break contact and take evasive manuevers. As you progress through the rankings to full admiral you unlock certain units too.
Each time you play a Multiplayer game you can choose to
use one of those unlock units, but only one! So choose wisely. For me it has to be the Iowa or Yamato Battleships, they dish out and absorb a tremendous amount of damage. If used right, and repairs are kept up they can truly dominate the water. But then again, without air cover the B29 can make pretty short work of the Yamato too. The rock/paper/scissors aspect of the game has been very well worked.
Pros:
*Graphically beautiful, although the land based buildings and structures were clearly not high on the developer's agenda.
*The oceans roll, the ships list and the sound of nine 16 pound guns going off in sequence is truly epic. Great audio.
*Easy to use interface once you know what you're doing.
*Just great fun. You probably won't still be playing it in 6 months, but you'll have a blast in the mean time.
Cons:
*Unlimited ammo on all units. Even your torpedo bombers regenerate another torpedo after about a minute.
*Tutorial is ridiculously bad. Just do the Single player campign first.
*6.5GB download off Steam, buy it in the box!
*You absolutely must sign up to Windows Live Games to play it.
The latest installment of the Battlestations series doesn't disappoint. As with Midway, the variety of gameplay makes it a broad fit for lovers of Real time strategy, but with a twist.
The real improvements in Pacific are largely cosmetic, but it is truly something to behold. I found myself staring at the clouds for ages as I soared through them in my Corsair, they look as real as I can imagine is possible. It doesn't end with the clouds of course, the boats and ships are recreated faithfully and the aircraft are detailed down to the last rivet. The view from inside an aircraft cockpit is especially spectacular, the sunlight moves accross your instrument panel as you maneuver and the free look control really gives you the sense of being at the stick. The look of realism is certainly there but that's pretty much where the realism ends, let's be clear on that.
Battlestations: Pacific allows you to control your very own battlegroup of warships and aircraft. You can very quickly and easily assign your units patrol duties, recoinassance or attack orders via the Battle Overview Map, adjust load outs of specific aircraft and coordinate multiple attacks at once. Now, whilst that's not bad, the real fun comes in taking control of each and every unit at your disposal from the 1st or 3rd person perspective. Due to the large distances involved in many engagements I found myself organising my battlegroups, sending out recon aircraft, getting up squadrons of fighters and torpedo bombers and sending them on thier way.
Before you know it you're making your run on the enemy flying just feet off the wave tops.
Inevitably, the aircraft tend to be the spearhead of most attacks and the vanguard of your defence. It is surprisingly difficult to sink a capital ship with aircraft alone however, so make sure you're moving your ships into firing range also. The dog fights are great fun, all the usual suspects are at your disposal. The Corsair with its' rocket armament is just fantastic in the dog fighting role or for taking out bombers but nothing beats speeding along 4 feet off the waves in your P47 Thunderbolt trying to make a torpedo run on the Yamato. The tracer fire is absolutley intense, bullets ping off your airframe and your health bar diminishes rapidly. As the torpedos don't seem to have a maximum range that I could establish you can just let them go from a safe distance but the PC opponent is smart enough to turn into your oncoming torpedo or simply back up and let it slip right by. If you prefer, dive bombing is a much safer option from enemy AA fire, but a Zero will chew you up pretty quick as you try to gain the altitude required. There are also heavy bombers at your disposal, the Japanese Betty and the B29 Flying Fortress lay a formiddable path of detruction, but hitting a mobile sea borne target reliably is quite a task!
All aspects of Naval combat get a mention too. From u-boats and torpedo boats right through to massive battleships and aircraft carriers. The Battleships really are the tank of your Navy, slow and cumbersome but able to deliver an incredible blow.
For gameplay's sake, the distances covered for ship on ship engagements have been scaled down, but it just ads to the frenetic gameplay that a multiple unit engagement offers. The little PT boats are an absolute blast, they bob around so much you're sure the crew should be tossing their cookies over the side, but they're manueverable and fast and their four torpedo armament can't be ignored.
There's also a flotilla of landing ships and troop transports that need to be protected for obvious reasons. Not only are they objective critical units but they're essential for capturing territory rapidly in some circumstances. Submaries, Destroyers, light and heavy Cruisers all go into the mix, each with their own specialisations, and then there's the big boys.
The developer has made this game from both the Japanese and American perspective. If you complete the Japanese campaign successfully you actually win the war would you believe? It's probably worth mentioning you get to re-enact the midget submarine attack on Sydney harbour too. The campaigns can, at times, feel a little repedetive, but finishing both campaigns stands you in good stead for tackling the multiplayer aspect.
As I haven't played anything other than 'Island Capture' so far, my multi player review will be from that perspective. Island capture can host up to 4 players per side. As the round begins your role is to deploy all units you can afford in an effort to capture the islands of the attol. Your amount of control points (that's how you buy things) is dependant on how many players are in game and how many islands you own. Generally, there will be a lynch pin island that everyone rushes for. Holding it may enable you to deploy aircraft or a particular sea borne unit. This will often be the deciding factor in a game, but coordination is vital to pull it off. You capture an island by either parking your ships nearby, sending in landing boats or dropping paratroopers. Each have thier strengths and weaknesses so it's important to have a balanced roll out. The more units you have adjaecent to the island, the quicker you'll capture it.
It might look epic to roll out with 4 Battleships but their speed disadvantage will see you on the bleed soon enough and on the bad end of a pounding from the sky. And yes, you can get capped out.
Multiplayer Gameplay is nothing short of epic. Aircraft are an annoyance but little more, the real damage is done from the sea. There's nothing quite so good as engaging another Battleship from range and then sending your Destroyer accross his axis with a full spread of torpedoes. He'll either be too occupied in his engagement to notice or be forced to break contact and take evasive manuevers. As you progress through the rankings to full admiral you unlock certain units too.
Each time you play a Multiplayer game you can choose to
use one of those unlock units, but only one! So choose wisely. For me it has to be the Iowa or Yamato Battleships, they dish out and absorb a tremendous amount of damage. If used right, and repairs are kept up they can truly dominate the water. But then again, without air cover the B29 can make pretty short work of the Yamato too. The rock/paper/scissors aspect of the game has been very well worked.
Pros:
*Graphically beautiful, although the land based buildings and structures were clearly not high on the developer's agenda.
*The oceans roll, the ships list and the sound of nine 16 pound guns going off in sequence is truly epic. Great audio.
*Easy to use interface once you know what you're doing.
*Just great fun. You probably won't still be playing it in 6 months, but you'll have a blast in the mean time.
Cons:
*Unlimited ammo on all units. Even your torpedo bombers regenerate another torpedo after about a minute.
*Tutorial is ridiculously bad. Just do the Single player campign first.
*6.5GB download off Steam, buy it in the box!
*You absolutely must sign up to Windows Live Games to play it.
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| Category: | Game Reviews |
| Posted: | 3-Jun-09 1:49:21 pm |
| Author: | Normski |