Battlestations Midway

I'm becoming a little more critical of XBox 360 games lately, since most seem to lean towards multiplayer online platforms and I prefer single player games. Battlestations Midway marks the latest in the trend. That being said, this game is fun, (relatively) easy to get the hang of with excellent tutorials, beautiful graphics, and good replayability. However the single player campaign is relatively short-lived. The variety of controlling different ships, planes, and subs (and jumping back and forth between them) seems more confusing than it is. You can assign orders to a particular unit and the AI does a pretty good job on its own, leaving you free to focus elsewhere and not having to micromanage unless you want to. The interfaces are pretty easy, although I found flying to be more difficult than usual to do efficiently.

Much like Gears of War, Star Trek Legacy, and others, this game really shines in XBox Live online play. As a single player game, it's still fun to play the...Read more

Well, after the long wait, I did something I've never done. Bought a video game on it's first day of release. I've spent about 3 hours with it so far. And the verdict - It's just what was promised. A great looking WW2 Naval Action Shooter with some strategy. The graphics look great, the training mode, or "Naval Academy" is very thorough, and contols are pretty intuitive. You could pop it in and play, but you'd be missing some subtle tips that help the gameplay.
I like the choice of following a campaign or choosing to man a ship, plane, or sub, specifically. Not sure yet how long it will take to get through it, but it looks to be really immersive and will have high replay value for me.
So, if you are deciding to purchase, I say go for it. If you like WW2 games, this one looks to be one of the best of the bunch.

An UPDATE: After several day of play now, I am seeing some weaknesses. Far too few Single Player Missions...Switching your mindset from the individual...Read more

Battlestations Midway lets you relive WWII as both an airplane pilot, submarine commander and naval tactician. There are a variety of ships, planes and vehicles to work with as you fight on the Pacific.

The graphics are quite nice, as you would expect from an XBox 360 generation of game. The water ripples, the clouds float lazily in the sky. The planes' flaps move as you turn, and the smoke and fire pouring from a damaged ship look convincingly real.

There could still have been improvements, though. The radar / compass is stuck at one size, which just doesn't work well for some missions.

The AI is a mixed bag. You can create a multi-stage move order for your allies, so that they take an indirect route to a target. However, they can't attack once they get there. They just sit and get sunk. If you leave a friend alone for .3 seconds, even the largest ship will somehow get destroyed by a tiny PT boat. Your enemies seem to be relatively smart - but your...Read more