Oh Fury Software, how I love thee. They have made a few of my favorite games of all time.. their WW1 game is one of the best turn based hex strategy games I have ever come across and one of my favorite games of all time... War in Europe is another masterpiece, and while a bit more of a boardgame than a simulation, World at War is an absolute classic and still their most popular game.. as all Fury fans know, things have been getting a bit interesting as of late! These games are still very fun but are getting less and less realistic as they grabble more abstract fronts/wars. The American Civil War game is an odd sandbox, where instead of troop build ups leading to short battles, everything gets drawn out and meanders into WW1/2 style fronts that last for months on end. Well, here we have it again, the battle of Midway is just a vague idea, and these epic island battles that define the Pacific front are just a single well defended hex or two. So! Once again, we have a very very fun game that just doesn't reinact the war very well. Once again, the naval warfare is just not simulated well.. My favorite aspect may be the China front, as it is rarely covered and again is in the best style for this engine.. front based land warfare. I love Fury, and will continue to build everything that they release.. but at some point I hope they change their approach for certain wars (I know that means re-writing everything) or! Open the history books and think about researching some other eras.. they have the best front/land based beer and pretzel system hands down, either zoom in on single battles, or go back in time before complex naval warfare! Long story short, as usual, I love this game, but it doesn't feel like the Pacific front aside from the maps and units. Much love Fury!
Oh my, this game is pretty great. The first game that I can remember that brings back those sim city warm and fuzzies. The campaign is very flawed.. The bonus quests are a complete mindless slog, before long you will dread getting the little side quest pop-ups to do something completely arbritrary. They are placed clearly to let you tinker with something while you wait for resources to be gathered... but my goodness, what a waste of time. The missions themselves have you slashing and burning what you just did to make room for some new random demand, which is also a bit demoralizing. That said the different flavors of the missions are a welcomed feature. Now.. the freegame shines! At first it seems like a wall of of questions glaring at you, but as you begin to tinker and tinker, it really starts to unfold. Constant failure leads to new approaches, more failure, and the sweet nector of success! You could easily just find a guide and get the roadmap laid out for you, but that seems to defeat the purpose of this game, which is sinking your teeth into a big train set sandbox full of riddles to be answered.
If you are on open world junkie I'm sure this won't quite live up to the GTA fever dreams, if you need a rich open world full of wacky silly adventures... again, it will only slightly itch that need. If you want a badass adventure, with a straight forward but cut throat story with epic climaxes - come on in! I love this game like I love Missing In Action 3, it's just Real Deal Holyfield.
I have loved my experience with this game. It reminds me of Adventures of LoLo on NES, not because of mechanics but just the brutal unforgiving situation you find yourself in. This is a highly rewarding game that will not hold your hand once it gets going. If you are a fan of old school puzzle games on pc or console, this is a must buy! I'd say 4.5 stars, a bit taken off just because a few of the puzzles get kaleidoscope brained as things moved on and would benefit from being tightened up a bit. But that said, this is a genre that desperately needs more enteries, and this is a wonderful one!
