Battlestations: Midway

"Excellent WWII Action/Strategy Game, Unnecessary Storyline"

Battlestations Midway is a game developed by Eidos, where you get thrown into the Pacific Theater of World War Two commanding an extensive range of of Naval vessels and airplanes from a PT boat to an aircraft carrier.

Introduction: Set in World War 2, you take command of over 60 ships, planes, submarines, and other vehicles.

10
Gameplay: Gameplay can be very tough for this game. But if you have the patience to sit through the entire tutorial and graduate from the Naval Academy by learning to press a few buttons (it couldn't be that easy coud it?) you will get into the other aspects of the game very well. Controls are easy to manage once you complete this part of the game and there is just nothing like steering your aircraft carrier to take evasive action from incoming torpedoes. The battle map also provides help in coordinating attacks using multiple squadrons and fleets for later missions.

4
Story: Look. If you're going to make a videogame based on history, you might as well scratch the "I'm an 18 year old voice actor out to become a heroic and fictional admiral" which is what this storyline follows. Beyond the stereotypical characters and this angsty 18 year old fictional captain the game does actually follow the true events of the USS Yorktown and USS Lexington as well as most all of the major warships involved in Battles of Coral and Midway. But all of this could have been saved by just removing the last minute slapstick storyline. I found myself just skipping these in-between mission videos.

9
Graphics/Sound: The graphics quickly take away anything bad I said about this game in its storyline. The ships and planes all have remarkable detail and plenty of work was spent on the detail on exactly how these ships and planes looked. Ships take extensive damage when taking a beating and bombarding a land target from the water is probably the most impressive thing I've seen in such a game. It is everything you expect should be in a game of this caliber and has excellent graphics and sound.

9
Play Time/Replayability: You'll be spending plenty of time on this game once you get into it. Once you graduate from the Naval Academy (which I recommend you do first) you can go to the Campaign missions, ship, airplane, and submarine challenges, or try out multiplayer on Xbox Live. I should also add there are substantial gamerscore points to be had for this game and should be a must for you achievement point gurus. The Campaign missions also offer a variety of replay value as the enemy will appear in different areas and you can always attempt different ways of attacking.

Final Recommendation: I highly recommend this game. WWII game lovers will find this a good game despite its horrible and unnecessary story line. If you are a fan of strategy games, this is a perfect fit for you and can provide lots of replay value.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/11/07