Description:
The Five Star series of war games is one of the most popular ever produced, thanks to its simple gameplay mechanics that somehow manage to capture much of the flavor of the conflict they are trying to simulate. The series began with the hallowed Panzer General, proceeded through another World War II game, a fantasy game, a space game, and finally ended up with Pacific General, a sweeping simulation of the entire Pacific theater of World War II. Despite some historical inaccuracies, an over-simplified naval combat model, and some other flaws, it still delivers a lot of entertainment for the money. Players can cut their teeth on one of the stand-alone scenarios to get a feel for the revamped ground combat model and the entirely new naval warfare rules, but that's all just preparation for the involved historical campaigns that really make this a game worth keeping. Despite the game's theme, we had more fun with the battles involving a lot of ground units than we had with the purely naval conflicts. That's not to say the naval conflicts weren't fun. Sneaking up on an aircraft carrier battle group with a few submerged submarines is always a lot of fun, and staging air strikes from the carriers really adds a lot to amphibious operations. Whether you have an interest in the period or just like a good war game that doesn't take months of research and practice to master, Pacific General blows similar games out of the water in terms of pure fun. --T. Byrl Baker Pros: - Easy to play, yet delivers just the right amount of challenge
- New naval battle model makes fleet actions exciting
- Final entry in the popular Five Star series
Cons: - Too simple for war-game purists
- Naval model could use a little more detail, considering the theme of the game
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