Battlestations: Midway

Sad To Say, but the reported 'lost at sea' status of Battlestations: Midway sometime after its announcement in 2004 wasn't greeted with the usual sorrow and rending of hair, but more with the irritated tch' noises people make when the cat's pissed on your second-favourite rug. Considering the lukewarm emotion attached to it the game's return, steaming at full speed back from the horizon, isn't likely to be greeted by cheering crowds on the dockside. Rather, there's more likely to be a mild interest as to where the f*** it's been. Not all escapees of development hell get the welcome of Prey.

The game is based around the naval war in the Pacific. In the main campaign, you take control of two friends, captain Henry Walker and his pilot buddy Donald. You follow their careers and their overrapid promotions between the tragedy of Pearl Harbor (it was a truly awful film) to the Battle of Midway itself (not quite such a bad movie), some 11 missions later.

The plot is a familiar warfare tale, though it has a touching respect for the Japanese side. There's also a trio of Challenge modes, allowing you to take control of subs, planes or ships in progressively more difficult scenarios.

which are passably entertaining'if not particularly challenging. In the battles, you take control of the various vehicles in arcade-style versions of popular games. So the subs are Silent Hunter-lite, the planes are diet IL-Sturmovik and the ship bits are faux Battleships. You can control them personally or give them orders through a top-down strategy screen. In each mission, you have various objectives to achieve, though it's not always clear what they are. We have no problems with any of this, though controlling any of the craft gets same-y very quickly.

Control Freak

In addition, as PC users we're more used to complicated controls - but for a game with a simplified console interface, Midway can be astoundingly convoluted. Many of the controls are scattered over the keyboard, with different set-ups to remember for each type of craft but no real reason why. It also feels harder on PC than on consoles, with the higher difficulty levels being nigh-on impossible. As the Al gets more accurate and more damaging, there's simply no way of avoiding its attacks and, as the ships don't repair during battles, take a torpedo and you might as well start again.

Battlestations: Midway doesn't go for realism; however it doesn't go for totally arcade action either. It's not terrible by any means, but it's just not very exciting either. It's not hideous to behold, but it's not up-to-spec. The question is, would anyone have noticed if it had stayed lost at sea?

Battlestations: Midway is a strategic action game about World War II, where the third-person player will shoot down planes with shipboard guns. The goal of the warrior behind the guns is to land Allied infantry on enemy-held islands.

Gameplay

Enemy squadrons and a powerful fleet try to stop the player's advance. Charge full ammo to blast enemies en masse.

Battlestations: Midway does not try to look like a realistic flak gun simulator, but rather a spectacular arcade game like Enigma: Rising Tide.

The military variety is astounding:

• Submarines stealthily sneak under your enemy's stern and fire small missiles
• Infantry, copying pirates, trying to take the user's ship by storm in boats
• Huge aircraft carriers seek a frontal attack - a meter of armor saves the life of the crew
• Planes drop shrapnel bombs on the deck

You'll have to readjust your fire to get deeper into the harbor. Adjust for wind and range. Sightings are indicated by the fire on board and the thick column of black smoke.

Rating

Suitable for fans of strategy: the player will not get into the first echelon of foot troops, and will control the process of battle from above.