Controlling all the action is pretty easy – however staying on top of all the action is difficult – but no one really ever said war is easy. When you’re steering a ship and you’re being attacked from the air and sea, and you’re also trying to attack back, it can get a little heated. The developers have done a good job here and making it stressful as it should be.

The in game graphics are very well done and you’ll really appreciate the rippling water. Using the binoculars to fire your guns on a ship is always fun – for example you can see the anti-aircraft guns being manned and take out the guy manning them – and the guns go silent, which makes sense. It sounds silly but its little touches like these that I appreciate in a game.

Audio for this game is superb from the sounds of the engines, to the alarms being sounded for an attack and the musical score which seems straight out of a war movie. The game does support custom soundtracks, but I’m not sure why you would want to use them.

Getting through the single player mode is not insanely difficult although some missions last a lot longer than others. What is unfortunately is that there are only eleven missions in total in the campaign mode. There are a few other challenge modes, but I think you’ll be craving for more action when it’s all over. Neither the enemy nor your non-player characters are brain dead by any means – they’ll attack and defend using smart tactics.

Thankfully there is an online multiplayer mode for up to eight players, and that is fun. There’s no every man for himself mode online – instead it’s all about teams, so players absolutely should have their headsets on and work together for the online mode to be enjoyable. Online is only as good as the other players you’re working with – so it can have highs and lows. You can play 1 v 1, which maybe more enjoyable than the teams of four – especially if your quick match always pairs you up with dolts…

Overall the game is fun but just leaves me wanting more – while not necessarily a bad thing, I think that a few more missions would have helped. While both the action and strategy elements are simple, they do work together to create a fun game. I would rather have had these areas flushed out more…I can see how action game fans would feel about having less simulation elements and how simulations fans would want less action elements. As you progress through the game, you’ll do less action and more strategy, so enjoy those action levels early!

Battlestations Midway is a welcome change from the traditions first person World War II shooting games that have been all the rage over the last few years and if you like naval warfare, there really aren’t many games out for the 360 besides this one to get your fix. Because the game is such a mix of action and strategy and the single player mode is short, I would recommend a rental before you go out and pick this one up.