TeamXbox Hands-On
What fans of the first game will truly appreciate is how the gameplay has been improved. None of the basic concepts behind the controls or way you play – switching between aircraft and ships on the fly, actively engaging their different weapons systems, while commanding you’re A.I.-controlled units around – have been changed in any major ways. They’ve just added features like the ability to move ground troops on to contested atolls either by landing craft or by parachute. New unit types are here too, including the terrifyingly deadly Kamikaze planes. The new content makes for entirely new ways to play the game that are just as historically faithful as the old stuff.
Escort Mode: Just like it sounds, you have to escort some units and prevent them getting attacked by the other side. You’ll take turns playing assassins or bodyguards, and you can only control one pre-determined unit at a time. This mode is supported on all eight multiplayers, each map with a specific scenario for each side, making for sixteen in all.
Siege Mode: Once again you’ll only control one unit at a time, chosen from a preset pool, but instead of protecting a moving craft you’ll be protecting an island from an incoming onslaught. Islands are dotted with artillery and AA, so its not an unfair fight whether you’re on the attacking or defending side, each of which has its own scenario.
Competitive Mode: Sort of a co-operative mode without the co-operation. All the players are on the same side, fighting an A.I. controlled fleet, but they’re competing against one another to score the most points for defeating enemy assets. How pissed will you be when someone steals your kill in this one?
Duel Mode: Sounds a bit like deathmatch at sea when you think about it. It’s everyman for himself, with each player controlling one unit of a specific type. So you might have eight destroyers attacking one another, or eight battleships. Cruisers and Fighters are your other two options for a mode that sounds like it could be a lot of fun, if not completely void of any historical accuracy.
Island Capture Mode: This is the big daddy, everything-goes mode. Two teams of up to four players square off on a map that features a bunch of islands with supply points and bases on which new planes and ships can be created by spending command points (which you get for doing stuff like capturing islands and taking out enemy forces). Capturing neutral and enemy bases unlocks more factories that will allow you to build different types of craft, but you also receive victory points that will ultimately crown a winner.
At the event on the Hornet, I played a pretty decent 2v2 battle versus some guys from the studio and PR. Playing as the Japanes side with one other guy, we quickly started thinking about dividing duties, one guy concentrating on planes another on ships, coordinating our attacks on enemy islands with paratroopers landing on freshly shelled enemy positions, and landing craft hitting the beaches after being strafed a few times by the Zeros. Of course, once my Fuso class battleship hit the lagoon, I thought it was over for the other guys. But wave after wave of torpedo bombers were too much for it and stopped it just short of its big guns being in range of the enemy command point. Then next thing you know, the tide turns and the rest of task force slowly gets chipped away at by the ridiculous number of planes they have in the air. Game over. Some may feel the somewhat realistic pace is a bit too slow, but after a 45 minute match that might have gone on even longer, I’m not complaining.
Who knows if BattleStations: Pacific will be the breakthrough title for the nascent franchise, it might still be too wonky for many. But for this fan of the first game, and its amazing ability to blend exciting action and complex strategy, it couldn’t be more fun.
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