Pacific Storm – PC – Review

Pacific Storm is a RTS
game that combines a bit of action arcade that will sure to please fans of
both genres.  Taking place in the pacific theater of WWII, the action found
here are mostly sea and air battles.  Hence the tag line, “Sink them All!”
Players will encounter historically inspired units including bombers,
battleships, aircraft carriers, fighters and other powerful units in the
Pacific fleets.

Pacific Storm’s RTS side
of the game is nicely done.  Just about every element found in this type of
game is there.  Manage your resources and construct buildings and units then
research technology to get that deciding edge on who will dominate the Pacific
Seas.  If the RTS game is not enough, the developers added some action by
allowing you to directly control many of the units.  Whether it is flying a
kamikaze run, or sending lead into the air from an AA gun, you actually get to
take part in the actual battle.  This provides a nice twist to the typical
humdrum strategy game that will likely please most players. 

Units have many
abilities like passive, defensive and aggressive tactics that can be assigned
to individual or groups of units. With carriers you can also choose to auto
land planes, so they do not run out of fuel and crash into the sea.  On the
flip side you can also command the Japanese pilots on a one-way kamikaze trip
so refueling is simply not an option.  You will build warehouses and other
buildings to start production on your fleet. 

You can play from both
the US and Japanese sides and even play some historical battles that may have
a different outcome now that you are in command.  With so much to learn and so
much to do, it really is hard to commit to directly controlling units in some
games because the action is just too intense.  This is not a bad thing; I just
did not want to paint the picture that this is also an action arcade game.
Just that it has a few elements that add a nice change of pace to a RTS game.

Visually the game looks
pretty clean.  The opening sequence is very impressive and one can tell a lot
of talent went into those 3 minutes of animation.  The game itself is not
quite as pretty, but holds its own.  The effects were decent at best, but as I
stress in most RTS reviews, it’s about the finished product.  Yes, the
graphics do it justice, but it’s no first person shooter despite the ability
to control some units.

The game sounded great.
The musical score was ok, but I would have to say some of the sound effects
were top notch.  Subtle differences in certain battles really added realism
that you sometimes miss in strategy games.

I was disappointed that
multiplayer over the Internet is not supported.  You can play on a LAN
provided you can set up such a thing, but honestly most players like playing
against someone on the other side of the world, not the office.  Don’t get me
wrong – nothing against playing with a few friends, it is just more convenient
playing from home at any given time rather than having to set up a LAN party.

For a MSRP of about 30
bucks it is well worth it.  There is a lot to this game and with the ability
to play both strategy and arcade styles of play, it will sure have an added
shelf life despite not being able to play online.

Review Scoring Details for  Pacific Storm

Gameplay: 8
There are a ton of key commands to
learn on the interface, but with some hours logged players will find that it
really is quite simple to navigate.  The game is fast paced and can be toggled
to slow down or speed up to ensure a speed that will fit all players.   I
found that the game is pretty much bug free and played quite smooth on my PC.

Graphics: 8
For a RTS game I thought visually
Pacific Storm is quite good considering that most titles in this genre fall a
bit short.  Action players will find that the arcade style of play will be to
their liking as well.

Sound: 8
Good sound effects and a great
musical score.

Difficulty: Medium

Ability to toggle the difficulty
settings to make this game as easy or as hard as you like.  I believe it has a
bit of a learning curve, but nothing that should deter any hard core gamer
from giving this RTS a try.

Concept: 7.5
There are a ton of WWII RTS games
out there, but I did like the ability to toggle into an arcade style mode and
actually directly control units in combat.

Multiplayer: 5

Only available on LAN.

Overall: 7.5
For a MSRP of 30 bucks I think it
is a steal.  I would like to mention that there is no multiplayer capability
online.  This will most likely be the most controversial down side of the
game.