A great idea, well executed but a bit short and could use more content.
The various units are fairly easy to control and the large number of tutorials cover the controls well. There are a lot of controls to remember in this game and referral back to the tutorials is often a good idea. The manual doesn’t even bother explaining all that much as it often refers to the tutorials in the game instead.
The single player campaign breaks you into controlling and commanding your units gently, starting you off in a PT (torpedo) boat, then up to destroyers, cruisers, aircraft carriers, submarines and eventually entire fleets. You also get to fly virtually every plane in the Pacific theatre as you engage in dogfights plus dive bomb and torpedo enemy ships.
As well as the main campaign, there are challenges based around the various unit types. These are standalone missions and pretty tricky. They are very useful, though, in preparing you for multiplayer.
Battlestations Midway is played over Xbox Live with up to eight players taking control of either the US or Japanese forces and attempting to complete certain objectives. This is good fun but naturally, as with so many online games, playing with dedicated people or friends makes it more enjoyable.
Graphically the game is mostly very good. As there is often an awful lot going on, some simple textures and effects are required to keep the framerate up. But that isn’t to say it’s ugly – ships lean as they turn, roll on the waves, water splashes on the ‘camera’, men move around on deck. Planes glint in the sun and water kicks up with explosions and sinking vessels. It often looks absolutely great with the odd rough edge. Sound is good, lots of authentic bangs and good radio chatter keeping you up to date on how soon your ship is going to sink if you don’t get some repairs on the go very soon.
The campaign is pretty short, but has secondary and hidden objectives and multiple skill levels to reward replaying, plus the usual achievements. Online play extends the game by quite a bit and overall makes Battlestations Midway a good purchase.