Victory At Sea Pacific

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Victory At Sea Pacific is a strategic naval war game set in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. Command a fleet of ships and aircraft, engage in large-scale naval battles, and manage resources to complete objectives. The game offers a dynamic campaign and a variety of customizable ship classes, making for a unique and immersive experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

62%

Audience ScoreBased on 734 reviews

gameplay36 positive mentions

stability98 negative mentions

The game has a great concept and offers a vast campaign with strategic depth, allowing players to control naval forces in the Pacific during WWII.
The developers are actively working on patches and updates to fix bugs and improve gameplay, showing commitment to the game's future.
The tactical battles are immersive, with the ability to manually control ships and aircraft, providing a sense of command and engagement.

The user interface is clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult to navigate and manage fleets effectively.
There are numerous bugs, including issues with aircraft not following orders, ships getting stuck, and problems with saving progress.
The AI behavior is often frustrating, with enemy fleets behaving illogically and friendly units failing to respond to commands properly.

gameplay
126 mentions
29 % positive mentions
67 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players appreciating the improved combat mechanics and strategic depth compared to its predecessor, while others criticize it for being overly simplified and plagued by bugs and clunky controls. Players noted that understanding the complex mechanics is crucial for enjoyment, but the lack of detailed tutorials and excessive micro-management can hinder the experience. Overall, while the game has potential and can be fun, it is often marred by technical issues and a steep learning curve.
- “Having played the first Victory at Sea game, I feel like this does improve upon it in many ways: the combat is better, there are additional mechanics and options for issuing commands to your fleets, and the new supply chain forced me to choose each target with more thoughtfulness than I ever did in the previous title.”
- “Excellent mix of fleet/strategic map control/gameplay and individual control over units.”
- “The gameplay is fine and can be fun, specifically when you're right up in the action having the ship maneuver to avoid torpedoes and air attacks, and launching submarine attacks on convoys and task forces.”
- “Gameplay is way too simplified and arcade-like.”
- “Lots of bugs, glitches, and aspects of 'clunky' gameplay that make this not fun; I spend more time fighting my own units to get them to do what I want than fighting the enemy.”
- “This game falls a little flat; it has a great grand-tactics and strategy built on a very aged system and overly complex gameplay in some areas while lacking complexity in others.”
graphics
112 mentions
18 % positive mentions
64 % neutral mentions
18 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players noting improvements over the original, particularly in ship and explosion visuals, while others criticize the overall quality as outdated and lacking detail. Many users report performance issues, including frame drops even on high-spec systems, and express a desire for better textures and models. Overall, while the graphics are deemed acceptable for a grand strategy game, they fall short of modern standards and leave room for significant improvement.
- “The graphics are phenomenal and the variety of ships is insane, especially in regards to the Japanese and US forces.”
- “Graphics for this game are a vast improvement over the original; the water looks good, the guns firing, and the map looks solid.”
- “Not a simple game, much like Pacific Storm, but more realistic and nice in graphics.”
- “Visuals are terrible, everything has zero detail, minimal effort put into any of the assets.”
- “The graphics are so appalling for a current age game it's hard to even look at your units and care.”
- “Graphics do feel low-poly, and the textures aren't exactly of the best quality.”
stability
98 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game's stability has been a significant concern among users, with many reporting persistent bugs, glitches, and crashes, particularly during large-scale engagements. While some players note improvements since launch due to developer patches, the overall consensus is that the game remains unpolished and frustratingly buggy, making it difficult to fully enjoy the experience. A few users have found it playable and fun, but most recommend caution, especially at full price.
- “The whole point of the game is air superiority, but sadly it just freezes and crashes as soon as you engage a large attack... right when it starts getting good.”
- “In a very literal way, this is the single most unplayable, buggy excuse for a game I have ever seen released on Steam.”
- “A game should never be released in such a state, and I would personally be ashamed of myself if I ever released software in such a buggy/broken state.”
optimization
14 mentions
14 % positive mentions
43 % neutral mentions
43 % negative mentions
The game features an impressive scale and offers extensive customization options, but it suffers from significant performance issues, particularly during late-game scenarios, leading to stuttering and lag. Many players report needing to lower graphics settings to improve performance, indicating a pressing need for optimization and patches to enhance the overall experience. Overall, while the gameplay concept is strong, the current optimization shortcomings detract from its potential.
- “You can switch up most game variables, ship and airplane stats, campaign starting ports, resource production, shell performance, etc. You get the gist.”
- “The scale of the game is amazing and is a true RTS; it should be its own genre like a 'grand RTS.' In real time, you can be fighting in Midway and Pearl Harbor while also sending aircraft from a carrier 100 miles south. It needs optimization and a facelift.”
- “Quite a bit of stuttering in late game as well, especially when you have a large carrier battle.”
- “This game has an excellent concept, great gameplay, decent enough graphics; however, it suffers from extremely poor performance, especially in the late game.”
- “I can easily see why this is getting all the negative reviews; it really needs a patch and some serious optimization.”
music
14 mentions
21 % positive mentions
57 % neutral mentions
21 % negative mentions
The music in the game has been widely criticized for being bland, repetitive, and intrusive, with users noting that it cannot be effectively muted as it resets itself during gameplay. Additionally, there is a lack of music in key areas like the campaign screen and battles, leading players to recommend alternative soundtracks for a better experience. Overall, the music detracts significantly from the immersion and enjoyment of the game.
- “A last tip: play the 'Tora Tora Tora' movie theme (you can find it on YouTube), start the game and switch off the in-game music (via options) to get a more immersive experience.”
- “A few things I noticed that are annoying to me (but not really game breaking) are the ships don’t rock with the waves, the order that you get new ships (getting the ability to make WWI era ships while I’m already able to field better ones), generic sound effects, and almost nonexistent background music.”
- “Sure, there is a setting in the menu, but you set it to 0, and it just resets itself in-game about a minute later, and the dreadful music is blaring again, and the only way to kill it is to run the game on silent.”
- “The music is bland and the variety sucks; it also cuts in and out randomly.”
- “But the killer for me is that you can't turn the music off, and the music is dreadful.”
- “Sure, there is a setting in the menu, but you set it to 0, and it just resets itself in-game about a minute later, and the dreadful music is blaring again. The only way to kill it is to run the game on silent.”
story
10 mentions
20 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
30 % negative mentions
The story centers on the challenges faced by pilots and crews during missions in the Pacific theater of war, emphasizing realism and the unpredictability of success. While there are suggested narrative paths, players have the freedom to explore the storyline at their own pace. However, some users feel that the developers' lack of transparency regarding the game's status detracts from the overall experience.
- “If the developers had been honest with the community and called it early access, it would be a different story.”
- “The war at sea in the Pacific is a story that almost completely revolves around certain vessels and their crews.”
- “There are suggested ports to take along the storyline, but you have free rein in general and don't need to follow.”
replayability
8 mentions
25 % positive mentions
38 % neutral mentions
38 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability, featuring three extensive campaigns that can each take dozens of hours to complete. While the addition of modding enhances the experience, players may find the unmodded base game lacking, suggesting that modding is essential for maximizing replay value.
- “Three campaigns, each of which has a lot of replayability and will take dozens of hours to complete.”
- “Now modding has been added, the game is more playable, but the base game unmodded is still a dire mess, so be prepared to mod or use other people's mods.”
- “There is a huge potential for replayability as well.”
- “Immense replayability!”
humor
8 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is largely derived from amusing bugs that players find entertaining rather than frustrating. Additionally, the gameplay features moments that players find comically easy, particularly when facing American forces after the initial Japanese push, contributing to an overall lighthearted experience despite some criticisms regarding the game's completeness.
- “There are definitely some funny bugs in this game, but I digress.”
- “It's funny that most of the negative reviews of this game are by folks that have very little time in the game.”
- “Minus the bugs, which I don't really mind because they make for funny moments, the game is decent. I enjoy playing it, although it could've been an early access due to it not being complete.”
grinding
4 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be initially tedious and frustrating, particularly during the early learning phase. However, many note that as they become more familiar with the mechanics, the experience improves and becomes more manageable.
- “The first two days were tedious learning and it drove me mad!”
- “It gets tedious at times, but once you start to learn the mechanics it gets easier.”
emotional
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Users express frustration and annoyance due to technical issues, particularly with the game camera malfunctioning, which detracts from their emotional engagement and enjoyment of the game.