Whilst World War II had been raging in Europe for two years, on December 7th 1941 the Japanese Empire launched a pre-emptive strike at Pearl Harbour in the hope of destroying the American Naval Fleet. In as much as it was a success for the Japanese by inflicting major casualties, it also forced the Americans to declare war against them and ultimately dragging them into World War II. Battlestations: Midway puts you in the shoes of a young naval recruit called Henry Walker whose first assignment as a gunner was on that fateful day at Pearl Harbour. After surviving the savage attack by the Japanese, your career as a naval officer will span from the defence of the Philippines to the ultimate endgame at Midway. (That’s the story out of the way)

Gameplay:

I am going to be perfectly honest with all of you, when I first saw the game and played the first mission, I thought this game was not next generation material but how wrong I was to judge this game after just one play. There are in total 21 missions – 11 missions as Henry Walker in the US Campaign, 4 in the Ship Challenge and 3 missions each in the Plane & Submarine challenges. There is also the Naval Academy with 11 missions, but this is a just a tutorial, which comes in very handy if you are like me who never bothers to read the instructions.

At the start of each mission you will be briefed on your primary objective. These must be completed to progress, unlike the secondary and hidden objectives which are there as an added bonus. The game play from here on will differ depending on what type of gamer you are. If you are a tactician, than the majority of your time will be used up looking at the map, directing your ships, planes and subs, but if you want to play a more direct approach, than there is nothing more rewarding in seeing an enemy ship sink beneath the waves under a flurry of torpedoes and flak.

The best way to play is to use everything (maps and direct approach) because the further you get into the game, the more chaotic the battles become and you would have to be superman to be able to control everything directly, not that it matters as the AI for once, will not let you down and put up a pretty good fight. I’ve actually played more than one campaign using the map at least 75% of the time, sending out wave after wave of squadrons from my aircraft carriers and airfields whilst moving my cruisers and submarine because I knew they would not let me down. You do need to keep an eye on your planes because you are only allowed twelve in the skies at one time. Each plane can be fitted with torpedoes, bombs, depth charges or just machine guns. If that wasn’t enough, you have to assign the crew on the ships to repair any damage their ship might take, whether that means to man the pumps, fight fires or get the guns back in working order. Of course, if you are too slow to send the crew to help, there would be a strong possibility of the ship sinking especially if you let a fire go out of control as this will lead to secondary explosions.

Graphics.

At first you might think the game looks ok but it’s nothing special, in fact you would probably go as far as to say this would be an Xbox game and not one for the 360. That is until you look closer and notice how much detail each ship, plane and sub have and the fact that during a battle, there could up to 24 planes in the sky dog fighting, numerous types of ships firing AA guns, submarines travelling underwater and before I forget, plenty of sailors running around on the decks. That’s a hell of a lot of graphics to be going on all at once and with just a flick of the d-pad you could be right there in the thick of it by taking control.

Sound:

I think the soundtrack to this game is spot on, and creates a fantastic atmosphere whilst playing. The sound of the aircraft flying through the sky to the shrill of them dive bombing, the way the torpedoes cut through the water until they hit their targets and the way the engines of the ships strain as you try to manoeuvre them around make you feel like you are just there. The voice acting is a bit cheesy during the cut scenes but so is most nowadays.

Longevity:

The single player campaign in my opinion is over too quickly unless you are aiming to complete all the secondary and hidden objectives. The other three mini campaigns are good and should take you a while but it is the LIVE play that will make this game last. You can play up to eight players in one battle, with each one taking control of a ship from the Japanese or the Americans. Even if you don’t have enough players, the sides are fairly balanced because team work is a must, if you want to win. There is nothing more satisfying than hearing someone shout out “You sank my battleship”

Overall:

Overall, I think the balance between action and strategy is spot on for the casual as well as hardcore gamers out there and is well worth renting it out. Buying this game is recommended if you have friends you can play with, as you know they will not drop out of a game because they are losing. The single player campaign is too short but on LIVE it will be different every time you play, making the game last for quite some time.