How does it look?
From the fine details of the ships and planes, which have been painstakingly crafted to represent their real-life counterparts to the life-like ocean which shimmers in the sunlight and undulates under the pressure of the heavy warships; Battlestations: Midway is graphically impressive. Explosions are extremely satisfying as fighter planes unload machine gun fire into enemy dogfighters sending them gyrating towards land or water or shattering them into tiny fragments that fall down to the sea like a fiery rainstorm. The visual effects of dropping a 1000lbs bomb onto a ship aren’t as impressive, perhaps because you’re too far away from the action to appreciate it and the feeling of being undersea in a submarine hasn’t quite been captured in the way we would have liked; but the overall visual impact is impressive.
Aside from the stereotypical English accents of the British forces during cut-scenes, this did irritate us, the audio in Battlestations: Midway compliments the gameplay excellently. A big soundtrack gets the adrenaline pumping during the battle segments and the noise of torpedoes being fired from vessels, aircraft propellers rattling and the combination of gun fire and explosions during a dogfight stains the air with glorious discord.
Battlestations: Midway is a great deal of fun if you’re willing to put the effort in to learn and master the commands. Delve straight into the game without completing the tutorial is ill-advised, especially if you’re hoping to compete online. At the time of writing we hadn’t been online, but if the multiplayer lives up to the single player experience then Battlestations: Midway will be a game that will test our co-ordination, tactical skills and blood pressure to the limit. As it stands, a game that was announced back in 2004 has been well worth the wait and despite becoming a little disorientated during the spiralling air battles, the two elements of strategy and combat have been blended together with style.
Click for larger imageBattlestations: Midway is available at the end of February.
