By Robert R Smith Midway is a real-time 3D tactical strategy game that adapts the naval battles of the Second World War. It introduces how the naval warfare changed during WW2 from the early memory of Battle of Jutland (The greatest naval battle of the First World War. Jutland had all the ingredients to be a great British naval victory, but in the event the result was much less clear-cut) which were to be the forerunners of modern carriers. Midway can be played on Xbox 360 and PC, the game takes place from the time the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and the Battle of Midway the following June. The story plays out as seen through the eyes of Naval recruit Henry Walker, as he is promoted in rank during the Pacific Theatre while fighting the naval battle against the Japanese.
Midway is not a visually stunning game but I think the graphics are very acceptable and the game moves along with a smooth even flow even in large complex battles which is something we can all appreciate. Audio wise the sounds sound true to life, or rather I should say true to what you would expect after watching the WWII movies about these battles.
There are around a dozen missions that will take Walker from the Day of Infamy on the Hawaiian island of Oahu as a PT boat gunner, to commander of a small fleet of US Navy ships. Gameplay focuses on the wider scale of the battles, by following the progression of the war in the Pacific through Henry's eyes, injecting a personal angle into the game play of sea-based conflicts. It's a way of giving the game a more personal feel which helps you develop a more realistic experience for the game as it moves on.
This strategy action game stands out for a number of reasons, because of its ability to create a tense and busy battlefield at what is ultimately a sedate pace of gaming at least in the first stages of the game as it builds to the full scale sea battles that you will face. Just like the real battles it is much like a game of chess or Battleships, where in some of the later missions players command ports, airfields, and an entire naval fleet of units, positioning your units and being prepared for action. This may not be ideal for everybody, but it's the patient build up and positioning of your units before launching batteries of artillery, torpedoes, and AA flak against enemy units that gives Midway an edge.
Don't be fooled as the game starts at a trivial pace, it are not long before you find it rising pretty sharply. The first few missions are straightforward and you may well complete them on the first go, and they can also be accomplished in quick succession, making the inevitable steep learning curve several levels in, all the more dramatic. Midway does balance the frustration and humiliation of defeat with the desire to give it another shot very well. Even when you get blown out of the water the first couple of minutes for the tenth time something that will happen, there's this pull to coming up with a better strategy to guarantee your success a strategy that seems to be working fine until you realize that it has in fact guarantees another defeat. You soon become determined to win the day and prevail, and after a few miss calculations, even the toughest missions can prove to be attainable.
As the player you have the option to take direct control of any single unit, or take command of the fleet like an armchair Naval Commander, you will be issuing commands to the entire force. A full-screen map, stylized to resemble a naval map, offers players a bird's eye view of the battlefield, displaying the positions of all known units. From here, it's seems easy to issue orders to engage with specific enemy forces, or you can jump into a unit to take direct control. As some of the more massive attacks on the Japanese war machine take place it becomes difficult to find a required unit. With so many units under the player's control, the map can quickly become cluttered with everything from PT boats and Landing Crafts, to Aircraft Carriers and B-17 Bombers, that results in it becoming even more difficult to see find and utilize your units affectively. The interface could also be improved for issuing orders from the Navy's ports, aircraft carriers, and airfields as I believe that many a commander was wanting during the actual conflict. For instance, if a B-17 Flying Fortress has dropped its payload, and is holding its position, there's nothing to distinguish it on the airfield interface from a second squadron of B-17s that hasn't dropped its bombs both units are displayed with an In flight symbol, making it difficult to choose the correct squadron to call on.
But it's not even the creation and execution of a strategy that sometimes makes Midway a deceivingly manic game to play. The numerous ships that form the US naval fleet, have their own damage systems much like in true life, you will have to keep track and balance them. Water, fire, and the loss of maneuvering and weapon systems can quickly spell the end of the mission if they're not carefully looked after, which can lead to frantic jumps between the action and the damage control screens, as you desperately try to priorities the ship's repairs. If your strategy sinks faster than a damaged submarine, then the sedate action of the Pacific War will all too quickly become crazy, as you find your self jumping from besieged vessel to besieged vessel, trying to assigning repair tasks to engineers and crews before you loose another unit.
Midway will put you in the intense action with the epic, large-scale naval combat and brings to life the great Pacific battles of World War II experience it for yourself.
