Review by: Tony Mitera

Battlestations: Pacific is still a game, much like its predecessor, which is strongly centered on naval and air combat. It features a diverse range of aircraft, ships, and submarines; all of which you not only have under your command but can also take direct control of during a battle. To that end the game doesn’t have a whole lot of new features to differentiate itself from Battlestations: Midway. Lack of new bells aside, the game delivers a polished, solid strategy option for wargame buffs as it gives you the full range of naval warfare at your fingertips.

Controlling your units can be done in one of two ways: either via commands on the overhead map or by directly getting behind the helm/flight stick yourself. Giving orders on the map is simple, and consists entirely of giving single or queued orders to your units. If the unit is in formation with others you only need to give the order to the lead unit and the rest follow suit, and formations can be formed and broken at your will. It at times can be overwhelming given the sheer number of units that can show up on the map, but once you get the hang of things it becomes easy to coordinate ship-based artillery and carpet bombers to pave the way for troop transports while your fighters field enemy aircraft off in the skies.

Direct control is a key feature in many ways; as though the AI does a decent job managing units that you give orders to it is never as efficient as to when you do the job manually. This also offers a lot of freedom to you, as you can just as easily stick to the skies and cover your ships as you can play the role of captain and lead your fleet as the AI fulfills your air cover. Each unit has unique handling properties, even between individual planes, though they are all tied together by a general control scheme. Learning the finer aspects of controlling your ship-based repair orders or how to properly handle a submarine can take time, but experienced players can easily switch between controlling units on the fly and not have to mentally switch to a completely different control set.