A perfect example of an over ambitious project: The developer tried to mix 3 genres, but in the end it all failed.
In game terms, the more time you spend with it, the less you can get out of it until only one very small doll remains.
The pun in intended as russian developer Buka is responsible for one of the worst - read unbalanced, buggy and unoptimized - strategic games i ever had to play.
Should some oldtimers remember Gary Grigsby’s Pacific War, you'll know what to expect: World War II in the Pacific with all its enormous scale and ranges, a logistical nightmare.
And like its spiritual precursor, Pacific Storm is quite infested with bugs.
Some examples are in order:
On the strategic level, the computer assistance for logistical operations - read convoys - is barely usable. More often then not, your bases will not be supplied.
Bad enough when you can't get your invasion fleet back from its target to home waters because of empty oil tanks for over a year, but when your fighters take off without ammunition to fight the enemy, you know the fun is over for sure.
No, i didn't forget to push the "Arm planes" button.
On the tactical level, submarines won the war.
Torpedoes often come in the home-in-on-target variant (there is a research path to actually make them homing torpedoes, but not in 1941. No way!),
always hit their target no matter the impact angle, and submarines are invincible even on the surface - my guess is that destroyer captains know that subs can dive, so they close their eyes knowing they cannot be seen or even fired upon.
On the simulator level, i keep asking myself what made me start it.
Steering a single plane surely is a nice touch, but you lose any ability to command the rest of your forces. OK, i barely managed to not complain about the flight models since no one is left playing combat flight simulators anyway, but where is the catch?
Oh boy, i found it!
Remember those fighters without ammunition earlier?
I grabbed one in good hope of pulling some kamikaze stunt on that enemy carrier. Well, AA fire downed me in one hit. What fun!
Resume:
Pacific Storms basic game design would be a winner if it was not plagued by too many bugs und unbalance issues making it unplayable.
Unfortunately the chances for a life saving patch are next to zero because the game has been out for months already (although not in the US).
Advice:
Steer clear of this game. Should be avoided like peperoni donughnut sauce.