Pacific Storm Preview

Pacific Storm is a very unique game in a genre that isn’t very unique at all. Real-time strategy games have a hard time differentiating themselves because (1) what else is left to do that hasn’t been done before? (2) New stuff is good, but it has to be fun.

Pacific Storm looks like it’s going to be a great RTS, but we could say that about a lot of games. What we can say about Pacific Storm that we can’t say about the other games is that this one will have a third-person, up-close-and-personal view!

You can, in effect, change from being the king, the commander of your army, to being an individual pilot flying through the brutal war. This is by far one of the coolest things I have seen an RTS attempt. Cannons can be controlled from a first-person view as well.

Primarily this will be a real-time strategy game. Shapes (squares, diamonds, triangles, etc.) tell you what kind of a unit you’re controlling or have the ability to control. It also tells you what units your enemies have available to them. Colors (green and red) separate you from the enemy. Not that you needed the help, but this way you’ll know what’s what at a glance.

Resources to manage include money, aluminum, oil and iron. You’ll need these to stay afloat in a game that takes place during World War II. Without them you won’t be able to continue building vehicles, which would eventually mean the end for you in the war.

Upgrades like nuclear and bacteriological weapons are being planned, as is a multiplayer mode via LAN.

Lesta Studios, the developer of the game, says that the finished product will have total freedom in regards to the tactical and strategic decisions. If this works out you’ll be able to beat the game in any way you please. What could be better than that?

For All E3 2005 Previews