Adam Wolf

IGN

Battlestations Midway Multiplayer Hands-On
The USS Yorktown stages an epic battle in the Solomon Islands. Then it sinks.
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December 14, 2006 - It was a bold move.

The USS Yorktown, a prize carrier in the Pacific Fleet, double-backed and headed east, trying to outrun approaching Japanese destroyers that were just out of radar range. If the Yorktown could just get around the southernmost island in the Solomons, it would act as a shield, buying the carrier precious minutes to launch squadron after squadron of dive bombers to take out the remaining Japanese airfields.

It was also the wrong move, and as soon as the Yorktown cleared the island, a waiting battleship put a torpedo through her hull, ending my one-hour stint as a carrier captain. Yes, the epic multiplayer battles in
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can take a good hour or so, but in that time we controlled submarines, destroyers, fighter planes, dive bombers, torpedo bombers, PT boats, light cruisers and battleships. While the game still needs some work before the January release, the multiplayer action is intense and exciting for a strategy game, or for any game for that matter.



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You can read a single-player preview of Battlestations Midway by our
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, but we are focusing on multiplayer. Only two maps were playable in this build and we went with the more exciting Islands of Solomon map. (The other map, Vella Gulf, doesn't feature planes, so we said the heck with that one).

The options are slim. Player sign up for a player or ranked matches and jump in for four-on-four action. Each map features epic battles between the Japanese and American forces, inspired by real-life battles. For multiplayer, obviously, the forces start out equal, although the Japanese may have an airfield while the Americans have a carrier -- the difference is basically nil.

Once in the lobby, you select on of eight player slots. Each slot features a different armament. You may control a carrier and the three types of planes that launch from its decks. Or you may control a shipyard that launches subs and destroyers. Or you may get stuck with a cruiser and a couple PT boats. If a slot is empty, you can control those units by simply switching between the D-pad.


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As a strategy game, Battlestations is action-packed. My fleet-mates Doug Perry and some of the Eidos peeps had fun coordinating our fighters and ships around the battle map. As the Yorktown, I continually launched dive bombers to take out enemy shipyards, torpedo bombers to take down approaching boats, and fighter escorts to protect everybody. Doug controlled the shipyard, so the Yorktown was constantly screaming for a new destroyer escort to be commissioned to save my slow-moving ass.

The highlight of Battlestations is the sheer amount of vehicles you can control. While the controls take a while to get used to (there's a hefty training session that will help there), it's remarkable how easy it is to pilot a torpedo bomber, drop your load, and switch to a battleship and launch artillery strikes on your enemy. Part RTS, part Blazing Angels, part Silent Hunter, Battlestations is a surprisingly fast-paced game as you weave through AA fire and drop 500-pound bombs. It's like a chess-match with guns. While the graphics still need some work, this is a solid strategy game that RTS fans and action fans will enjoy alike.

We'll have more on Battlestations Midway soon.