Pacific Storm

When you think of World War II what is the first thing that pops into your mind? I bet it is the war with Germany and the “Axis of Evil” lead by Adolph Hilter, but there was another side to World War II that was just as bloody and gruesome. What I am referring to is the war on the Pacific against Japan; some people say that the war with the Japanese was just as bad if not worse then fighting Germany. Many games released that feature this time period base it off the war in Europe, and many people neglect the war with Japan. Well never fear if you always wanted to take part in a game that pits the US against Japan well Pacific Storm might be just what you have been waiting for.

You may ask yourself: what makes Pacific Storm stand out above other war games? The answer to this question is that it combines three different genres into one game: strategy, tactics, (these two really comprise any RTS game) and finally there is simulation. This is all nice and well in theory but what matters most is how it actually works. Fortunately for gamers this trinity of genres mixed into one works out pretty well.

The majority of your time is spent in performing the typical RTS tasks. This is where you can control everything from your fleet, ships, and bases. In here you have to supply all of their troops, develop new technology, fortify bases that seem prime for attack, as well as plan for any battles that might come in the near future. What is really great about this is that to help alleviate any boredom that many people have with this type of gameplay, players have the option to automate these very tasks so they can concentrate on other matters at hand.

One thing that players will have to quickly understand is that if they want to win in this game then they will have to spend the time and the resources to continue to develop new and better technologies. The one with the best technology is the one that usually wins the wars, especially if that technology is one where you can press a button and completely obliterate thousands of people in an instant.

What I liked is the resource management as it was a little unique. First of all there is the normal stuff such as money, oil, iron (for making ships), as well as aluminum (for aircrafts). What you also need to make sure is that each base has a hospital filled with staff to make sure that any injured people that come in are fixed up so you can send them right off into the fray of battle once more.

The other major portion of the game is that when you issue an order for any of the various airplanes, you can actually go and physically control that plane. This is where the game turns around and becomes a simulator as you will have to quickly become familiar with the controls for the planes to take out all enemies before you are shot down. The learning curve for this portion is pretty steep and the controls are still not perfected as of yet, but what you do get is a nice simulation gameplay that really helps break repetition from the strategy part of the game.

Even though this game is still in development and there are many bugs and a few gameplay issues to be worked out, Pacific Storm offers a few gameplay elements that make this a really unique strategy game. Plus it offers a side of the war that many games do not feature so that is a plus in of itself.