The Wargamer

Introduction

War in the Pacific is a 2D operational level portrayal of World War II in the Pacific. There are a number of scenarios that can be played, but the big campaign starts on December 7, 1941 and can run as late as March, 1946 depending on how well the player performs. Expanding on the Uncommon Valor system, it is essentially a turn-based game in which players, assuming the role of the Fleet Commanders and their subordinate staffs, use a planning phase to issue orders and then observe the results as the computer maneuvers and fights both sides in quasi-real time. The operative word for War in the Pacific is “huge” in just about every respect. Huge in scope, huge in detail, huge in documentation, and huge in the amount of time it will take to play. It is a simulation for the hard core war gamer who wants to account for every ship, air squadron and ground element throughout the vastness of the Pacific Theater. True, there are automation routines that allow entire regions to be run by the computer, but in the end the game requires dedicated effort by players willing to put time and energy into the experience.

Installation and Technical Issues

Installation on my system was fairly painless, taking about ten minutes. Loading new and saved games can take several minutes. About 900 MB of hard drive space is required and the game disk is not required for play. I noticed some minor glitches, such as the hot key to remove the jump map not working, but overall the program was stable. As of this writing, patches have been released through Version 1.40 to address bugs and errors. The registration number for the game is required to install the patch.

Documentation and Tutorial

The documentation is where the first “huge” comes into reality for War in the Pacific. The user manual weighs in at a hefty 220 pages. Comprehensive and well laid out, I found it a necessary reference for many of the game functions. The only thing missing is an index, though the detailed Table of Contents makes up for that somewhat. 

At 61 pages, the tutorial does a good job of introducing the major areas of air, naval and base management techniques. Many of the game concepts, including ground unit movement and combat, the production system, and intelligence displays, are only touched on and will require perusal of the user manual for further clarification. The tutorial scenario gives each side a large OOB of all types of forces, allowing for a great deal of experimentation whilst learning the mechanics of play. With the addition of the Editor Manual, the documentation for War in the Pacific ends up at close to 350 pages, so it should come as no surprise that it is all contained electronically on the disc and as is the case with all Matrix Games titles, can be found in .pdf format in the install directory. This can be a bit of a hassle for those of us who do not have a spare laptop to load up the manual on, but at least a E-book version of the user manual is provided so that massive amounts of scrolling around is not required. Of course, it is always possible to print the manuals at home.

Graphics and Sound

Graphics and sound in War in the Pacific are adequate, being essentially the same as those found in Uncommon Valor. The main screen shows a 2D color board game of the Pacific Theater that looks a lot like a board game. The 2D air and naval combat animation have nicely detailed drawings of ships and aircraft, but the animation itself is fairly generic and uninspiring. Since the player has no control over combat, to save time, I found myself skipping the animation of all but the most critical battles. The background music is suitably martial and of a classical nature, though it eventually bacame monotonous. Combat sounds are good, with a comprehensive collection of bombs, torpedoes, guns and artillery. Sites such as Spooky’s Uncommon Valor and War in the Pacific Fansite feature an assortment of graphical and sound mods for those looking for something different.