Heroes of the Pacific

I really wanted to like this game.

User Rating: 5 | Heroes of the Pacific XBOX

By sfadick04 | Review Date: October 14, 2005

With good reason there are probably going to be lots of comparisons between this game and Crimson Skies. I played and enjoyed both the PC and Xbox versions of CS and was disappointed how the physics were downgraded on the Xbox version. My hope was that this game would be more realistic. It is. The controls (of the first plane at least) do what you would expect without being too cartoon forgiving. The graphics are adequate and the story is presented well. Unfortunately there is a fatal flaw.

Compromises must be made to map flight controls to an xbox controller, I understand that. There is really no good way to represent aileron, elevator, rudder and throttle controls with two joysticks, but what the developer decided to do is unforgivable. There are two modes (professional and arcade) and two controller configurations per mode. In all of them the throttle and one control surface are mapped together to a single joystick. The throttle is progressive as well, with changes made slowly over time based on the position of the joystick. It is nearly impossible to (in the default configuration for example) to use the rudder (right joystick) without accidentally changing the throttle setting. In all there are just four controller configurations available and none are even close to the setup I would prefer if given a choice.

Had the developer included an arbitrary controller setup option I would consider this game to be outstanding. As it is now it is unplayable.

Other Helpful Reviews for Heroes of the Pacific

• Rating:8.4

  A much more enjoyable game than reflected by most publisher's scores. Trust me on this one.

  By jpetrolino | Review Date: Oct 13, 2005 | XBOX

  For those of you who rely on or defer to a publisher's score on a game before going out to spend your hard-earned dollars, be careful not to rely too much on the low ball scores coming in on this game. If you take the t... Read Full Review

  10 of 11 users found the following review helpful
• Rating:9.8

  I loved it, better than crimson skies, even without planes that fire tesla bolts, fire balls and mini scatter rockets.

  By Kronosphere | Review Date: Apr 27, 2006 | XBOX

  I hired it 3 days and havent finished it yet, if I havent finished a game with level based campaign in 3 days, well thats a achievement in itself, its surprisingly long for, as i said, level campaign eg. halo, halo 2, do... Read Full Review

  2 of 2 users found the following review helpful