Reviews// Battlestations: Pacific

The thing about wargaming – whichever way you cut it from board, to bedroom floor to tabletop to video game – is that it's best played against other folk. BSP comes with a five new multi-player modes. While Island Capture (not singular, plural... this one's for the number crunchers as it requires nerve and tactical nouse), Duel (everybody at everybody), Competitive (everybody on the same side, but vying for high points scores), Siege (you defend an island, another team takes you on) are all well laid out and playable.

My family ties lead me to Escort. No, not because I figured it had anything to do with the burlesque star, Polly Jane Rae, but because that relative I was talking about was a British Navy tar in the North Atantic Fleet during WWII, protecting allied merchant ships against U-Boat attack, and believe me, he told some pretty terrifying tales before he passed away.

Yes, I like to bring my real life into gaming! What of it?

Anyway, Escort sees you doing roughly the same thing (but without fear of your mate getting his legs sliced off even though he's only standing three feet away from you... but that's another story). For me, while Island Capture might sum up many of the aspects of the historical campaign and overall game, Escort is actually quite gripping and certainly personally evocative of the real lives of real fighting people... even if this is 'what if'.

SPOnG Score: 90%
Conclusion
I'm lead to believe that this is an improvement on the previous outing... however, as a first experience of the BattleStations series, I can quite happily state that once past the badly thought out practice stages, this rewards thought and time spent. Forget nonsense like the voice acting (or at least write a complaining email to Eidos), this game can exercise brain and reflexes. Next time round, tweak the AI, stop what can occasionally be long, drawn-out chases, set the damn thing in the North Atlantic. This time around, it's a game with ambition, obvious love of the craft (pun intended), solid single-player, and multiplayer modes which, I hope, will provide longevity.