Game Review: Battlestations: Midway
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that like all video games that recreate
real war battles, there's a learning opportunity here as well
as an opportunity to offend those who think making a game out
of real traumatic events is insensitive to the people who
endured them. In terms of violence, you can shoot enemy planes
and try to sink enemy boats. Some cursing includes "Run that
son of a bitch out of here!" "Poor bastards," and "God
damnit."
Families can talk about how game developers sometimes use real-life events to create playgrounds for games. Does playing a game set in WWII help you to better understand it? Families may want to discuss how tens of millions of soldiers and innocent civilians lost their lives in this worldwide war. Do you think this game experience mirrors real life? Is it fun to do things in this game many of us will never do in real life -- such as fly fighter planes and try to sink enemy ships?
Common Sense Media Review
Take command over boats, submarines, and fighter planes in
BATTLESTATIONS: MIDWAY, a polished and highly enjoyable World
War II-themed action/simulation game for the Xbox 360 and
Windows PC.
The game begins with the attack on Pearl Harbor. You play as Henry Walker, a gunner on a PT boat who must stay alive through this Japanese assault, but then must soar over the Pacific as a pilot to take down enemy aircraft and their carriers. An hour later, you're manning a submarine using torpedoes to sink opponent ships. In total, the game offers 60 historically accurate warships, planes, and submarines.
These intense battles in the skies, and in or under the water continue through the Philippines and other parts of Asia Pacific. They climax at the epic Battle of Midway. While the initial gameplay is arcade-style, aiming crosshairs, firing upon enemies, and adjusting the speed and direction of your plane or boat; soon you switch to more strategic gameplay that includes issuing orders while viewing an overhead map, cycling through objectives, and choosing to repair damaged watercraft (except PT boats).
The main U.S. campaign mode includes 11 lengthy missions and 12 bonus missions. Other modes include Naval Academy (11 tutorial missions); Ship Challenge (increasingly challenging watercraft missions); Plane Challenge (dog-fighting missions); Submarine Challenge (hunt transports and evade destroyers); and online head-to-head or cooperative modes playable over the Xbox Live service ($50 a year).
Despite some minor inconveniences, such as lengthy load times between some missions, Battlestations: Midway is a worthy war game with plenty of gripping gameplay.
Other recommended WWII-based combat sims include Ubisoft's Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII and Call of Duty 3 .
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