Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers

About

"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.

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Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers screenshot

41%

Audience ScoreBased on 271 reviews

story20 positive mentions

stability8 negative mentions

The game features great graphics and an engaging WWII Pacific arcade atmosphere.
The ability to switch between planes adds a unique gameplay mechanic and keeps the experience dynamic.
Despite its flaws, the game can be entertaining for those who enjoy arcade-style flight combat.

The controls are often described as clunky and unresponsive, making gameplay frustrating.
There are numerous bugs and technical issues, including crashes and mission failures that hinder progress.
The missions can become repetitive and lack variety, leading to a dull experience over time.

story
151 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
77%
9%
The story aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it lacking in depth and engagement. While some appreciate the historical context and accuracy of the missions, others criticize the repetitive and often confusing mission objectives, as well as the poor voice acting and character development. Overall, the narrative fails to captivate, leading to a sense of frustration among players due to bugs and mission design flaws that detract from the experience.
- “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.”
- “Graphics are gorgeous, and the story is pretty decent.”
- “Poor story, poor acting, unfun missions, lots of bugs, the watch patrol missions, poor graphics, poor controls.”
- “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.”
- “The story is not interesting, and neither is the gameplay.”
graphics
58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
55%
9%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the visuals as beautiful and decent, particularly in aerial and water scenes. However, many criticize the graphics for being outdated, glitchy, and inconsistent, especially when compared to older titles. Overall, while there are moments of impressive visuals, technical issues and a lack of polish detract from the overall graphical experience.
- “Very good game, easy to play, beautiful graphics and lots of fun.”
- “Graphics are gorgeous, story is pretty decent.”
- “The game itself has beautiful graphics and if you like WWII aircraft, you're going to enjoy the views.”
- “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.”
- “Not only has it a really bad performance, the graphics are really bad and the controls are unorthodox, to say the least.”
gameplay
43 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
58%
16%
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some praising its accessibility and fun mechanics, while others criticize it for being repetitive, lacking realism, and featuring poor AI. Many players noted that despite decent graphics, the core gameplay feels outdated and uninspired compared to earlier titles in the genre. Overall, while there are enjoyable elements, significant issues with controls and mechanics detract from the experience.
- “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.”
- “Another simplified (but enjoyable) riff on air combat from Games Farm, 'Pacific Carriers' seems to leverage a lot from 'Secret Wars.' As in its predecessor, this game stays fun because of its core combat mechanics.”
- “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 gameplay is excessively repetitive, the AI is almost nonexistent, controls are meh, and the game overall feels very generic and uninspired.”
- “Apart from the graphics and sound, the actual gameplay doesn't appear to have moved on in more than 20 years.”
stability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has been widely criticized for its instability, with numerous reports of bugs, crashes, and unplayable missions at launch. Many users note that these issues remain unaddressed, leading to a frustrating experience, particularly in multiplayer modes. Overall, while some find enjoyment in the gameplay, the persistent bugs significantly detract from its quality.
- “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 un-winnable missions as they don't progress properly... just don't bother.”
- “Bug ridden.”
- “Extremely buggy.”
music
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
25%
38%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it loud yet underwhelming and lacking thematic depth, while others appreciate its ability to enhance the atmosphere of the battlefield. Although some describe it as uninspired and repetitive, there are positive remarks about its entertainment value, especially for newcomers to the game's historical context. Players also note the option to mod the music, allowing for a more personalized experience.
- “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.”
- “I love the music and all of it!!!!”
- “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.”
- “Music is really uninspired and meh.”
- “Thankfully, you can mod this and add your own music.”
grinding
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
80%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and immersion-breaking, often feeling forced to perform repetitive tasks with minimal AI assistance. While some missions can be skipped, the overall experience is likened to a frustrating balancing act, detracting from the enjoyment of the gameplay.
- “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 pass the campaign, but some can be skipped, which is handy.”
optimization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with users reporting poor performance even on high-end hardware, including powerful GPUs and CPUs. Many players find it unplayable, even at the lowest settings, and describe the overall experience as frustrating due to subpar graphics and awkward controls.
- “The performance isn't good even with a high-end video card and CPU.”
- “Even on the lowest settings on a high-performance MacBook Pro with 512MB of VRAM, this game is unplayable.”
- “Horribly optimized.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
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 the exaggerated mishaps, especially during 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.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
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.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players report a strong emotional connection to their characters, particularly feeling a sense of loss when a beloved pilot dies in combat, which can lead to a more hands-off approach to gameplay as they grapple with the emotional weight of their decisions.
- “It gets emotional when one of my starred pilots dies in combat.”