|
Once in a while
there comes along a game which really changes your view on the type of game you
like, for example, I have never really seen myself as a fan of the flight/war
sim genre, as I am more used to using my console for roleplaying/sports games,
however having played for the first time, Eidos's Battlestations Midway, I now
class myself as hooked.
The single
player mode of this game has you working your way through famous battles from
history, starting with the battle of Pearl Harbour,
at the beginning of these
missions you command only one vehicle, however as you progress
through the missions you will then find that you start to take
control of multiple units and this is where the game gets more
complicated, in one mission for example, you have to destroy the
attacking battleship, thankfully you are controlling a aircraft
carrier packed with airplanes, you then have to decide which
aircrafts to launch and which weapons to arm them with and once
they take off you must then control them and attack the enemy,
but if you don't get your strategy spot on you will soon find
that your aircraft carrier is sinking before you get the chance
to do the same to the enemy.
As you can imagine, it does take a
bit of getting used to, when it comes to controlling different units and working
out the exact strategy needed to win, but hey what did you expect? war isn't
easy after all, but to help you along there
is an included tactical chart that displays which vehicles have advantages over
others, this gives you an idea of the best vehicles to use/combine to sink those
nasty enemy battleships.
After a bit of
practice you soon get used to what you need to do and this is
where the game becomes more fun than frustrating and the reward
for all this hard work is the fact that you will gain experience
which will help you later in the game.
There are at least 60 vehicles
for you to control and they all look fantastic, not only that
they handle brilliantly too, from the speed of the fighters to
the diving power of the bombers, you really can't fail to be
impressed, the flying controls really are as good as any other
on the Xbox 360, and if that isn't enough to keep you busy you
also get to deal with damage control onboard the ships, meaning
you can put out fires and repair the engine while under fire.
The single player mode
really is fantastic and will keep you playing for countless hours, but there is
more, oh yes, a Xbox 360 game isn't really complete after all unless the
developer decided to add an Xbox Live mode and in Battlestations Midway you can
find one of the best examples of how this should be done.
Online you can play with up
to eight players, in which you have a 4 vs 4, battle and the units are
divided between each player, or if you are feeling brave you can play by
yourself, which means that you can control all of the units, which in some ways
is more challenging. Most of the missions are based along the lines of
destroying enemy targets, such as ships or land based installations, but you
need to be ready to stick it out because these battles can last from as quickly
as 10 minutes to a couple of hours depending on how competent your opponent is.
The graphics on
Battlestations Midway are pleasing to the eye although you get the feeling they
could have been better, while the clouds in the sky look good and there is no
slowdown even when the action gets heavy, the water doesn't have that reach out
and touch feeling to it that a lot of the other Xbox 360 games now bring, there
are some nice cut scenes though but these tend to drag on a bit to much for my
liking. As far as the sound goes. this does what it needs to, with the bombs and
artillery sounding realistic enough and the musical score not interfering with
the game, which is the way it should be.
Eidos have
given us plenty of options with Battlestations, you can control aircraft, ships,
submarines and with the added bonus of being able to do this on Xbox Live, this
isn't just a game for the strategic amongst us, this is a game for people who
like their games to offer them the freedom of choice to win their way, it makes
you think rather than holding your hand and showing you the way and is certainly
a game that I personally would recommend that you add to your collection.
|
