The war in the Pacific would be distinguished from that fought in Europe, where the distances meant that the war would turn on the power of the combatant’s air and sea forces. The destruction of the American fleet at Pearl Harbour both temporarily crippled the Americans response, whilst at the same time sowing the seeds of Japan's defeat, when they failed to sink the carrier force and her planes.

Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII from Mad Catz takes a look at the pacific campaign from the perspective of the pilots which fought. It is a flight simulator, which can be played in either arcade of simulation mode. Flyers are funny folk, with their own preferences on how they view the action, so PS WWII allows three differing camera modes, inside the cockpit, over the nose and one which shows your whole plane.

There is a story which takes you from the attack on Pearl Harbour right up till the end of the war. The great thing about this is the amount of different planes you get to fly. The game has over thirty, highly detailed planes for you to play with, each with their own physical characteristics. The planes can be upgraded during play to give even more options. However, I must add the caveat here, for real purists, that Mad Catz has been generous with the planes handling capabilities, allowing manoeuvres which make for a better game, but stretch the flight credibility of the original aircraft. This is most obvious when playing in arcade mode, which allows you to slow time for a better shot.

The actual game play is split across twenty sections, with more than one mission each, here you will find yourself engaging the enemy in dog fights, bombing and torpedoing enemy shipping all of this against some impressive backgrounds. Not all of the missions are of the kill or be killed variety and the game also sends you on reconnaissance missions.

There is also a co-op mode and the option to play against real people online. This level of detail comes at a price and anyone who has a PC older than two years should check their machines specs before purchasing.

There is also a problem of control with the PC version; unless you have a compatible joystick controlling your plane can be a frustrating experience at times. Whilst it is perfectly possible to play the game without a joystick, it is not the preferable option, the games is compatible with all Saitek Flight Stick controllers, including the Pacific AV8R FlightStick, the official stick. To add to your sense of ‘being there’ there is also voice chat so you can talk to your fellow pilots during a mission.

The level of detail and the ability to choose from arcade or simulation mode means that there are many tens of hours of game play, that’s even before you get hooked on online fighting. The level of detail impresses as does number of planes. This one should appeal very much to the hordes of propeller heads waiting for a new sim to take to the skies.

8

Charles Packer