Big B -> RE: Why so expensive? (1/18/2007 1:51:04 AM)
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I came across this while surfing - and I immediately thought of this thread..... For all of our bitching about this or that - I absolutely stand by my earlier statement "there is absolutely nothing like WitP.... Zero, Not'ta, Zip" And having been looking around recently for another game like this - I can tell you - there is no other game like this (UV/WPO excluded of course - part of the family). quote:
War in the Pacific Computer Gaming World, November, 2004 by Bruce Geryk War in the Pacific is the long-awaited update to Gary Grigsby’s landmark Pacific War, released in 1992. Two years ago, war gamers were treated to a preview with Uncommon Valor, a smaller-scale game depicting the battle for the Solomon Islands that used essentially the same game system. Preview or not, there is nothing that really could have prepared you for this. The premise of the game is nothing less than being able to refight the battles of the Pacific theater of WWII in single-day turns, using just about every ship, plane, and ground formation that fought there. The map stretches from India to the west coast of North America, and units of battalion strength are rated for number and size of individual guns. Each turn cycles through numerous subphases, and you can find detail down to the individual commander level, with inspiration and leadership ratings for squadron commanders and ship captains. It even keeps track of kills on an individual pilot basis. The whole thing screams one design philosophy: detail �ber alles. The problem with the game as a game is that while the important decisions are generally metastrategy (which bases to build up, how to construct your logistics network, etc.), the game also plunges you into a lot of detail that is unavoidable unless you turn entire sectors over to the A.I. That’s not necessarily a problem if you see this more as a self-contained virtual world where you can completely immerse yourself in WWII’s Pacific theater. Even so, because strategy takes game-years to take shape, you can expect to get hundreds of turns into a game only to find you’re doing it all wrong. It’s an unforgiving game that demands dedication unlike anything seen before. Grunt Work War in the Pacific isn’t really so much a game as it is a project. The longest campaign scenario lasts almost 1,500 turns, and before you’re anywhere near ready to handle that, you’re well advised to spend time with several of the smaller scenarios. It will take you more time to read and absorb the material in the manual than it would to complete some other games. The familiar Grigsby interface is back—and comes up short time after time—but in a game of this scope that’s almost irrelevant. If you make the decision to learn the game, you’re going to have a lot more to overcome than just nonmodal windows and inconsistently placed Exit buttons. This title is essentially an MMO game for dedicated, hardcore war gamers, not in the massively multiplayer online sense, but simply because it lends itself to complete immersion on a time-sink scale similar to EverQuest’s. To dismiss it as an impenetrable chore is to miss the point. The $70 price tag is a clear warning sign: Casual players need not apply. For war gamers, the game requires total commitment. If you invest enough, you’ll be amply rewarded. Verdict * * * 1/2 War in the Pacific answers the prayers of hardcore Pacific war reenactors. If you’re serious about getting into the game, don’t just read the 62-page tutorial (50 pages of which are devoted to describing just two turns). You can find additional help, including an intro from producer and codesigner Joel Billings, in the Unofficial WITP Strategy Guide at Unofficial WITP Strategy Guide at mathubert.free.fr/ witp_files/witp_tips.doc PUBLISHER: Matrix Games DEVELOPER: 2by3 Games GENRE: Turn-based Strategic War Game ESRB RATING: None REQUIRED: Pentium II 600, 128MB RAM, 900MB install RECOMMENDED: Pentium III 800, 256MB RAM MULTIPLAYER: Hotseat, PBEM (2 players); War College Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.
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