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| If this screen confuses you too much, so will the game | Serious effort has been put in to create the accurate in-game models |
Like Rome: Total War but vastly more complicated, because modern warfare with all its land/air/sea combat and the calculations of various ballistic explosives hurling through the air just IS more complicated. Now the prospect of an idea such as this being put effectively into practice should leave just about any gamer frothing at the mouth. But frankly I’d have doubts about the competence of any major designer to pull this off, never mind an almost unknown Russian studio who’ve worked on only two games to my knowledge.
The meat of the game consists of a strategic overlay of the pacific. Within this part of the game the player must manage resources, issue build orders, command the various groups of units, and so forth. This is the kind of thing, of course, that’s already been done much better in Hearts of Iron II. Even then, without the tactical layer which Pacific Storm contains, I thought the idea of capturing such a large layer of WWII in a computer game was overambitious.
As it turns out the strategic layer in PS is actually quite simplistic in comparison to HOI II, but a poor interface makes it a pain in the arse to use. There’s no easy way of finding out where all your units are, and it’s anybody’s guess what you’re supposed to build and where. In a sense, PS throws you in at the deep end. Unlike games such as Civilization in which you experience the game steadily from the moment you build one city to the point at which you control 10+, in PS you begin the historic campaign controlling 10 various bases and it’s difficult to get a grasp on exactly what the hell you’re supposed to be doing.
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| He looks like he’s enjoying himself | Looking at planes like this is essentially useless in-game, but makes a good screenshot |
The next layer of play, the tactical layer, allows real-time control of 3D units during battles. All the unit models are impressively historically accurate in how they look, but the accuracy is let down somewhat by seriously average graphics. The interface at this level is not at all intuitive and can be a pain to get used to; and since this is such a crucial element of any game, the overall gameplay suffers severely from it.
The simulation side of the game almost feels like an unnecessary addition. It’s an enjoyable feature, but the controls are poor compared to any respected flight/naval simulation game. Furthermore, the ability to control units directly in this way is almost entirely pointless in such a massive arena as the pacific.
Top game moment: The passing admiration you have for the designer’s ambitions just before you load up the game for the first time.
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| This is the strategic overlay of the pacific | Well…. It’s almost romantic isn’t it? |
Good idea, average implementation. There’s an enjoyable game here for some people, but most may prefer checking out Dangerous Waters for good simulation or Hearts of Iron II for good strategy. I can’t help thinking that if Lesta Studio had set their sights a little lower, by removing one of the layers of gameplay, they could have fired out a damn nice game.
