Pacific Storm (PC Games, 2006)

For a game that has come out of no where, this was pretty good I say. The dual-aspect of playing can be enjoyable to take part of what you have created.

I was one of those who played with little plastic army men and 1/72 scale model warbirds (yes, this was waaay before PC puters ever entered the home, even before PONG) and I found enjoyment in the setting up the men, forces and how this battle was going to play out...this is very close to those days.

The demo for this game is so limited, your not exposed to 2/3 of the work that is involved in the game itself to lead you up to the Pearl Harbor senario.

I enjoyed the gameplay of after having all my ducks in a row of an air attack, placing myself in a gunner's position, determined to ride out this mission to the end. I see the enemy's fighters leaving the airfields heading my way brings a certain anticipation that cannot be duplicated in many games. Or, I'm on a ship, I see the incoming formation of fighters, dive-bombers & torpedo planes off in the distance and I am certain that my time is coming, and I am at a AA gun aboard that ship...now, that is gameplay.

The drawbacks...perhaps the first and foremost gripe I have is playing the actual battle, rather having the puter decide on the outcome...I go through the process of dying 10x over in order to achieve the given mission...the enemy is just about eliminated, and I cannot justify investing another hour + of gameplay to eliminate one plane, ship or sub off in the distance...I call it good, the damage is done...I exit out of this game mode, and return to the tactical map...the process is just about over and the outcome of the battle is diplayed...YOUR FORCES HAS BEEN DEFEATED...WTF!? It appears that all that time already into the fighting doesn't take in account of what I have done for the last 1.5hrs...This just totally blows the big torpedo my friends...

Second Gripe...now, that I am reliving my frustration with this game...I am attacking an Small-Sized Island with my Naval Forces...Ok, I want to play this battle out myself, rather than having the puter decide on the outcome...and what does it do? it give me a small area to place my ships...right in front of the frekkin Island!!! It is so close that you can see the enemy forces flipping you off...Oh come oooooon...

Ok, I have to remind myself that this is just the first game out from this company...not terribly bad overall...grumble grumble

I was hoping that a second edition would come out, or a patch, mod or something that can adjust the fallbacks, but I haven't heard a word...perhaps this is as far as its going to go, I dunno...all the battle games out there is all Modern Day...I will pass on that...I have a soft spot to see a formation of B-25s perhaps in the count of 40-50 in formation and I am sitting in the front turrent. Heading to a target like Tokyo, the AA gun burst already ahead of me and the pissed off fighters off in the distance heading my way. It's Gr8 to be a kid again.

If you have reached this far, then you have my sincere thanks.

J H Schwarzkopf