Battlestations: Midway - Hands On Preview

Eidos' WWII amalgamation of action and strategy set in the Pacific Theatre of War has had a lot to struggle through as it finally emerges onto the horizon. Nevertheless, development disputes, rumours of illegal proceedings and a change of formats haven't been enough to stop the title on its way to the Xbox 360 and PC, as TVG recently took a look at a near-finished build of the game in action.

Focussing on the aerial and naval battles that took place above the Pacific Sea, leading up to the climatic "Battle of Midway" that proved to be a pivotal victory for Allied forces, Battlestations: Midway aims to provide a compulsive blend of direct action and combat whilst orchestrating strategical events from afar. Assuming the role of Henry Walker, Battlestations: Midway follows his early days captaining a wooden-hulled torpedo boat as he advances through the ranks of the US Navy, before ultimately commanding entire battalions of ships and subs along with squadrons of aircraft against the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Although the preview build only included four of the 11 missions to be found in the "US Campaign", a fully featured "Naval Academy" provided an opportunity to appreciate the level of depth and blend of gameplay that Battlestations: Midway is shaping up to offer. Taking direct control of planes, ships and submarines, Battlestations: Midway looks to offer something for the typical, action-fanatic, console gamer; but at the same time, much of the game's appeal seems to stem from the tactical decisions you'll have to continuously make during the battle. Using an overhead map of the area, Battlestations: Midway literally casts you as the captain, planning manoeuvres and tactics by setting waypoints and indicating targets to attack.

Tacticians and WWII enthusiasts will likely spend most of the time in the map view, planning attacks with intricate precision; nevertheless being a console title, Battlestations: Midway does encourage you to get hands-on with what is, by all accounts, "Battleships" for the next-generation. Command a colossal naval fleet, engage in furious dogfights above the sky, and conduct a sinister attack from the depths below in a submarine, there looks to be a good sense of variety and visceral action that is essential to the game finding appeal amongst the traditional Xbox demographic. There's something undeniably satisfying about taking direct control of an SBD Dauntless during a dive-bombing raid, swooping from hundreds of feet to skip along the ocean's surface, readying a payload of torpedo's into a ship's hull. Yet at the same time, merely watching the CPU enact the technique the way it's supposed to be is also gratifying - especially with the whistle of air rushing past and the effortless style in which the CPU pilot accomplishes such amazing feats. Sitting back and watching your plans take place without a hitch (or more likely in abject failure) is strangely compulsive, probably due to the sheer amount occurring onscreen and the elegance with which Battlestations: Midway conducts itself; for some reason, the game's strategy elements are a lot stronger then we first thought.

Beyond planning tactics and engaging in combat, the safety of your fleet is also an aspect of paramount importance. A menu system portraying the ship split into different sections allows you to designate troops to damaged areas; the difficulty stemming from having to balance the areas when all hell is breaking loose, the engines are on fire, the guns are jammed and the boat is filling up with water faster then a drowning rat.

The four missions playable in the build suggest that each of the 11 featured in the final game will be of epic proportions. The type you put everything into, only to find one mistake or lapse in concentration taking you all the way back to the start again, slightly hesitant to jump straight back in and replay it - it takes awhile to digest but that's a good thing for a game of this nature. Although only a small taste of what's to come, missions entitled, ""Holding the Lombok Straight", "Rendezvous in the Java Sea", "Strike on Tulagi", and "Battle of the Corral Sea", served as indicator of the variety that the final game will offer. Defend and escape, escort, and intensive attack objectives are smattered throughout the missions, each one developing with further challenges as you progress. Particularly the recreation of the "Battle of the Corral Sea" stood out at this stage, the first battle between aircraft carriers that plays out like a strategic game of chess, switching fiercely between attack and defence to gain the upper hand.

Aside from the 11 missions in the single-player campaign, Battlestations: Midway includes a handful of skirmish missions split into "Ship Challenge", "Plane Challenge", and "Sub Challenge". It's the promise of Xbox Live multiplayer that's causing a stir around here, however, think "Battleships" crossed with "Risk", crossed with "Battlefield" - hopefully if the single-player is any indication we could be in for some marathon multiplayer sessions.

Perhaps our only concern at this late stage is that the sheer complexity of what's on offer can seem a little overwhelming at times. Admittedly the game appears to do an exemplarily job of automating processes that aren't currently under your watchful gaze; however, little inconveniences such as not being able to check out the damage and ammo remaining on an aircraft before calling it in on the aircraft-carrier, makes the process a little more cumbersome then it perhaps should be. Unfortunately, the plodding pace of the tutorial and the deep-south drawl of the instructor also makes learning the basics less enticing then they should be for a game of this complexity. Hopefully either Eidos can tighten up this section significantly and speed the process up a little, or better still, seamlessly implement the tutorials into the main campaign, as by the time we'd played through the entire tutorial we'd forgotten most of the things once the four missions in the campaign actually commenced.

With some trepidation surrounding the promise of an action/strategy hybrid set during WWII and the protracted development period, Battlestations: Midway could actually hold a few surprises for most gamers. The blend shows every sign of coming together successfully, with both aspects offering rewarding and memorable moments when taken individually. Although the game's legacy as an Xbox title is unmistakable, that's no reason to overlook Battlestations: Midway when it's finally makes it to the shelves next month.