The Battle of Midway
When we think of World War II games it immediately conjures up images of ducking for cover in bunkers, dashing through war-torn streets as bullets ricochet off nearby vehicles or sniping from the roof-tops of an abandoned house. The likes of Brothers in Arms, the Call of Duty series and The Outfit have more recently quenched our thirst for World War II shooters but, with the exception of Ubisoft’s underrated Blazing Angels, no Xbox 360 game has tackled the epic Battle of Midway. While Blazing Angels covered a mere fraction of the battle, solely in the form of flying missions, Battlestations: Midway has covered the whole shebang. From the defence of the Philippines to the strike on Tulagi, Eidos have – metaphorically - pushed the boat out by incorporating both air and sea based missions into their long-awaited tactic based combat game.
Battlestations: Midway follows the story of naval recruit Henry Walker, whose first assignment as a gunner at Pearl Harbour was the starting point of an incredible career at the heart of the US Pacific Fleet in 1942. The pivotal naval battle is widely regarded as one of the most important naval battles of World War II and it’s now been brought to life through a series of intense campaigns that put you in direct control of authentic warships, aircraft and submarines of the era.
Click for larger imageBattlestations: Midway is a vehicle-based combat/strategy game that allows you to switch between and control each unit in your fleet or squadron. Each individual unit is under your command and defending a base from an enemy onslaught or heading off on a daring raid requires a tactical approach and regular bouts of multi-tasking as you deploy units from your base, take part in dog fights above the shimmering Pacific ocean, jump into the bridge (control room) of a Destroyer warship and learn to deal with any emergencies that may break out on board your sea-dwelling craft.
Click for larger imageThere are two ways that you can play the game; you can bring up the tactical map (anyone familiar with an A-Z road map will immediately recognise the layout) and order your units around the battlefield while watching your actions play out in real-time. Alternatively, you can jump into the cockpit of your aircraft or the bridge of your warship in order to take direct control of the anti-aircraft guns, depth charges and torpedoes. These two strategies pretty much go hand in hand and we found a mixture of both was the best way to progress through a mission. We were often using the tactical map to send reconnaissance planes on set navigational paths to sniff out any enemies or ordering a fleet of torpedo bombers to take out a tough surface Destroyer and then we’d mixed up the action by jumping into the control room of one of the surface vessels to man the turrets or leaping over to the cockpit of a Devastator torpedo bomber to experience the thrill of the dog fight first hand.
