Battlestations: Pacific is the sequel to Battlestations: Midway, and it pits the Japanese against Americans again. Two single-player adventures await the player, one depicting the Japanese beginning with the attack on Pearl Harbor and the other following the aftermath of the Battle of Midway.
Like the Battlefield series, the game immerses the player in the thick of the action, with AI units filling in the gaps. However, instead of battling on foot, the players only use various battleships, u-boats, and airplanes. These are launched by the players from their team’s headquarters and can be outfitted with multiple weapon load-outs. Depending on the aircraft type (bomber, fighter, etc.), these can range from MGs to rockets and bombs to carpet bombs and paratroopers. Of course, no additional units can be launched if the support bar reaches zero.
In addition to having players do all of the work when seated in a unit, the commander can use the tactical map to assign formations, give instructions to the AI and other players, and so on. This is also where the players choose the unit they want to join. Each sort of unit also plays very differently. Ships are slow but can repair themselves, whereas airplanes focus on quick dogfights and low-bomb droppings. On the other hand, U-Boats may dive and disappear from every enemy’s radar. To compensate, U-Boats not only have a limited supply of oxygen but may also be detected by sonar and destroyed with water bombs.
Aside from the campaigns, the game includes five skirmish modes for both single-player and multiplayer. In “Escort,” both sides must guard critical units against the enemy while attacking and eliminating the adversary’s critical units by utilizing a pre-defined unit for each player. “Siege” requires one side to attack an island or shoreline while the other team defends it. Each player can select their department from a pool of available units. “Competition” involves all players controlling one unit but fighting on the same side to defeat as many AI enemies as possible or complete the objectives. In “Duel,” players select their team before each mission and must destroy all enemy troops to win the round. Finally, “Island Conquest” necessitates capturing control points to win the match and access additional units.
