Attack on Pearl Harbor Demo

Even if the Allies managed to win the second World War, the massive loss of human lives has left a mark on history, as did the huge battles that took place over the course of the war. One of the most cruel and violent theaters happened to be on the shores of the Pacific, where the Japanese attacked the United States forces and forced the USA into the war.

Attack on Pearl Harbor centers around the battle with the same name and it recommends itself as a flight simulator heavily oriented toward combat and action. Thus, while the simulation engine might not adhere to the laws of physics most of the time and the planes are almost too easy to handle, the dogfights are very intense and they prove to be quite the challenge, most of the time.

As you might have guessed, the events unfold over the Pacific and East Asia, where the American forces go head to head with the Japanese army. Since the game focuses on aerial combat, the entire action takes place up in the sky and you get to play both sides, in order to witness the story from both perspective and get to try out every aircraft model in the process.

As previously mentioned, the game is not that concerned with a realistic flight model, since it has to make the battles as interesting and captivating as possible. Thus, it is quite easy to control the planes even with the keyboard, as well as manage the weapons at the same time and keep an eye on your surroundings. Obviously, you still need to take into consideration some laws of physics, such as gravity and the fact that heavy objects tend to fall to the ground if they are not handled properly.

Lastly, the technical aspects of the game are quite satisfactory, mainly because the graphic engine allows for detailed plane models and special effects. The landscapes could have used a bit more work, but that is always the case with flight simulators, since they must handle very large maps and too much detail would hurt the performance, even on powerful computers.

Attack on Pearl Harbor losses the fight against mediocrity, which means that, while not exactly bad, the game cannot be considered good either. Hence, while the action sequences are rather intense, the dull story line and the small collection of planes make the experience a bit too repetitive to be worth an entry in the good games book, or even a second playthrough.