Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers
- September 20, 2012
- Games Farm
Get on Steam"Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers" is an arcade flight sim game set in the Pacific theater of World War II. Players can choose to fight for the US Navy or the Imperial Japanese Navy and engage in thrilling air battles over famous locations such as Pearl Harbor and Midway. Command entire squadrons and equip your planes with realistic weapons to turn the tide of war in this immersive experience. The game features multiple campaigns and multiplayer modes for extended play.
Reviews
- The game offers a fun and engaging arcade-style experience with decent graphics and enjoyable gameplay.
- The ability to switch between planes during missions adds a unique and interesting dynamic to the gameplay.
- The game provides a nostalgic feel for WWII air combat enthusiasts, with some historical elements incorporated into the missions.
- The controls are often described as unresponsive and overly sensitive, making it difficult to fly and complete missions effectively.
- There are numerous bugs and technical issues, including crashes and mission objectives that are unclear or impossible to complete.
- The game lacks historical accuracy in terms of aircraft selection and mission design, which can frustrate WWII history buffs.
- story74 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 81 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally considered weak, lacking depth and engaging character development, particularly in the U.S. campaign, while the Japanese campaign offers a slightly more compelling narrative. Players find the mission objectives often confusing or misleading, leading to frustration, and many missions feel repetitive and linear, detracting from the overall experience. Despite the historical accuracy of the battles depicted, the execution is marred by numerous bugs and gameplay issues that hinder progression and enjoyment.
“The story is actually very good; however, there are just too many bugs.”
“Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers is an interesting take on the Pacific War, with the Japanese campaign especially bringing a more human element to the story.”
“Worth it for the story and aircraft models.”
“Too bad it's lacking the storytelling and personalities the first one had.”
“Story-wise, there's not much to say.”
“The voice acting in the campaign felt a bit forced and was empty of depth or feeling (especially in the Japanese campaign) and didn't really contribute anything to a storyline.”
- graphics29 mentions
- 31 % positive mentions
- 59 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the beautiful visuals and atmospheric effects, particularly during flight over water. However, many criticize the graphics for feeling outdated, with glitches and inconsistencies that detract from the overall experience. While there are moments of impressive visuals, the game is often described as showing its age, lacking the polish expected from more modern titles.
“Very good game, easy to play, beautiful graphics and lots of fun.”
“Some nice graphics to admire while flying around.”
“What I liked about the game was the visuals.”
“Considering that I had a PC game from 15 years ago that featured more realistic gameplay and better graphics, and a better selection of planes, you can see how little effort was put into making this game.”
“Worse than that, the graphics look pre-combat flight simulator 2 (released in 2000) on 'high' settings.”
“I have encountered multiple graphical bugs, and a game crash at the end of the final Japanese mission.”
- gameplay22 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some praising its fun and casual nature, particularly in air combat mechanics, while others criticize it for being awkward, unrealistic, and lacking depth compared to older titles in the genre. Many users noted issues such as bugs, repetitive tasks, and a lack of fine-tuning in the mechanics, leading to an overall impression of a game that feels underdeveloped despite decent graphics. While some elements, like the music and certain gameplay features, were appreciated, the core experience often fell short of expectations.
“Great graphics and gameplay.”
“True, it's not accurate, but it's good for people that are new to Pacific War history, with entertaining gameplay, and very good music. I still love the game music even now <3.”
“The thing it has going for it is the gameplay, and believe me when I say it, it is the best gameplay of all the air conflict games.”
“There is nothing about the gameplay that is exciting, and it's also not very realistic.”
“Considering that I had a PC game from 15 years ago that featured more realistic gameplay and better graphics, and a better selection of planes, you can see how little effort was put into making this game.”
“The ships and planes look good, but it is obvious they put little to no time into fine-tuning the playing mechanics of this game.”
- music6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it loud yet underwhelming, lacking thematic depth and becoming repetitive. However, others appreciate the atmospheric quality it brings to the gameplay, with some even expressing a fondness for it despite its flaws. Additionally, the option to mod the music allows players to enhance their experience with personal selections.
“True, it's not accurate, but it's good for people that are new to Pacific War history, with entertaining gameplay, and very good music. I still love the game music even now <3”
“Both the atmosphere of the battlefield and the background music are splendid.”
“The music manages to be both loud and underwhelming; you get some short dramatic pieces, but it lacks theme. If all you hear is dramatic music, then it gets sickening.”
“The music is really uninspired and meh.”
“Thankfully, you can mod this and add your own music.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and immersion-breaking, as it often requires excessive manual effort with minimal AI assistance. While some patrol missions are necessary for campaign progression, the option to skip certain tasks is appreciated.
“The immersion is terrible because of this, and it makes the game tedious since you have to do almost everything yourself while the AI is just there for show.”
“I can't say what it's like to bomb a plane on the ground with a WWII plane, but if it was actually this tedious in real life, those WWII pilots were freaking saints with more patience than anyone I know.”
“Some of the patrol missions are tedious; you are required to complete some of these to progress in the campaign, but thankfully, some can be skipped.”
- humor3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by its absurd physics, with battleships and planes behaving in comically unrealistic ways, such as rolling like toy boats and sliding off carrier decks. Players find these exaggerated scenarios, especially crashes, to be both cliché and amusing, adding a lighthearted touch to the gameplay.
“Certain aspects of the physics are weird, like battleships rolling about as if they were plastic toy boats, and planes hilariously sliding off carrier decks.”
“It's cliché but hilarious.”
“When you crash, it looks even more (un)funny.”
- stability3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been criticized for its significant stability issues, including numerous bugs at launch that remain unaddressed, frequent crashes to desktop, and unplayable missions that fail to progress. Additionally, players report occasional freezes and a lack of multiplayer activity, leading to an overall negative experience.
“It was buggy as hell when released, and none of those bugs were fixed. Add to that almost zero players for multiplayer, plus crashes to desktop or unwinnable missions as they don't progress properly... just don't bother.”
“Bug-ridden.”
“Freezes sometimes but is exactly like the preview.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere in the game is highly praised, featuring a splendid battlefield ambiance complemented by excellent background music. Reviewers highlight the impressive visuals that enhance the World War II naval and air warfare experience.
“Both the atmosphere of the battlefield and the background music are splendid.”
“Excellent WWII naval and air warfare atmosphere, with pretty visuals to reinforce this.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by a sense of immersion and control, as players feel a strong connection to the aircraft, allowing them to perform complex maneuvers with minimal physical input. This creates a unique emotional experience that enhances the overall gameplay.
