Heroes of the Pacific
European cover art
Developer(s)IR Gurus
Publisher(s)
Producer(s)Ali Kojori(senior producer)
Designer(s)Shane Collier
Justin Halliday
EngineRenderWare
Platform(s)PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox
Release
  • EU: September 23, 2005
  • NA: September 28, 2005
  • NA: October 25, 2005 (PC)
Genre(s)Air combat simulation
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Heroes of the Pacific is an aerial combat simulator game set in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II.

Plot

The player assumes the role of William Crowe, an American who experiences the various phases of the Pacific War with Japan, beginning with the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941. Crowe's brother Charlie is killed during the attack. He is restationed at Wake Island where he comes under the command of Admiral Daniel Howells. He later participates in escorting Howells off the island as it is about to fall to the Japanese. When they make it to the Lexington, Crowe gets a new squadron consisting of Cunningham, Murphy, Slater, and commanded by Callahan. The Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway, Guadalcanal, and the Marshall Islands are all featured in one or more missions. The final mission of the campaign is on February 23, 1945, with the raising of the United States flag on Iwo Jima.

Gameplay

There are six game modes: Campaign, Instant Action, Single Mission, Historical, Training, and Multiplayer. One or two players can play simultaneously on the console or up to eight players can play on the network via Xbox Live or using a PlayStation 2 with network adapter.

There are two different control schemes for flying the planes, Arcade and Professional. The Arcade control scheme allows for easier control of the plane via a single joystick with automatic rudders, while the Professional controls offer separate control of the pitch, roll and yaw of the plane.

Heroes of the Pacific also offers multiple difficulty levels: Rookie, Pilot, Veteran, and Ace. Completing missions on higher difficulty unlocks more planes and rewards the player with more upgrade points, which can be used to upgrade unlocked aircraft after missions are accomplished.

This simulation also allows players to pilot famous planes such as the P-40 Warhawk, P-51 Mustang, F4U Corsair, P-47 Thunderbolt and a number of Japanese and German planes from World War II, including several experimental planes, such as the Blohm & Voss BV P.215 and the J7W Shinden.

Ten campaigns, with 26 missions taken from real events of the Pacific campaign. While some of the missions in the game require specific planes (such as the PBY Catalina), the player can usually choose which plane to fly from the allowable classes for each mission (Fighter, Dive Bombers, Torpedo Bombers, Bombers).

Development

Heroes of the Pacific was developed by Melbourne development company Thatgame, who merged with IR Gurus shortly after the release of the game. In 2008, IR Gurus was renamed Transmission Games.

Many of the members of the development team previously worked together at Melbourne House, on titles such as Test Drive: Le Mans, Grand Prix Challenge, and KKnD2: Krossfire.

Reception

According to the review aggregation website Metacritic, Heroes of the Pacific received "generally favorable" reviews on all platforms.[21][22][23]

See also

References

  1. ^ Lackey, Jeff (January 2006). "Heroes of the Pacific" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 258. p. 102. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Zoss, Jeremy (October 2005). "Heroes of the Pacific (PS2, Xbox)". Game Informer. No. 150. p. 124. Archived from the original on September 5, 2006. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Hurh, J.P. (October 21, 2005). "Heroes of the Pacific Review (PS2, Xbox)". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on October 1, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  4. ^ Gerstmann, Jeff (February 2, 2006). "Heroes of the Pacific review (PC)". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Gerstmann, Jeff (October 10, 2005). "Heroes of the Pacific Review (PS2, Xbox)". GameSpot. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  6. ^ Osborne, Scott (December 20, 2005). "GameSpy: Heroes of the Pacific (PC)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  7. ^ Leahy, Dan (November 3, 2005). "GameSpy: Heroes of the Pacific (PS2)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  8. ^ Leahy, Dan (October 18, 2005). "GameSpy: Heroes of the Pacific (Xbox)". GameSpy. Archived from the original on December 24, 2005. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  9. ^ "Heroes of the Pacific Review (PC)". GameTrailers. October 27, 2005. Archived from the original on December 9, 2006. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  10. ^ Lafferty, Michael (December 14, 2005). "Heroes of the Pacific - PC - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 25, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  11. ^ Grabowski, Dakota (October 30, 2005). "Heroes of the Pacific - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on December 31, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  12. ^ Zacarias, Eduardo (October 19, 2005). "Heroes of the Pacific - XB - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on May 25, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  13. ^ Perry, Douglass C. (November 4, 2005). "Heroes of the Pacific (PC)". IGN. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  14. ^ Perry, Douglass C. (November 4, 2005). "Heroes of the Pacific (PS2)". IGN. Archived from the original on August 31, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  15. ^ Perry, Douglass C. (November 4, 2005). "Heroes of the Pacific (Xbox)". IGN. Archived from the original on November 7, 2005. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  16. ^ "Heroes of the Pacific". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. January 2006.
  17. ^ "Heroes of the Pacific". Official Xbox Magazine. December 25, 2005. p. 89.
  18. ^ "Heroes of the Pacific". PC Gamer. December 2005. p. 92.
  19. ^ a b c Orry, Tom (September 29, 2005). "Heroes of the Pacific Review". VideoGamer.com. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  20. ^ a b c Fish, Eliot (September 10, 2005). "Joy, oh, joystick". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  21. ^ a b "Heroes of the Pacific for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  22. ^ a b "Heroes of the Pacific for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on August 24, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  23. ^ a b "Heroes of the Pacific for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.

External links

Categories