pacific assault

As much as it burns many gamers to see game publishing behemoth EA succeed, it's not from lack of a solid lineup. The entire EA Sports brand, Need for Speed, The Sims and of course Medal of Honor have all proven to be guaranteed moneymakers, regardless of quality. The cynical might even say that EA's reliance on past successes and hard focus on sequels make it the whore of the industry; in the case of Pacific Assault I'd say that they've at least been paying attention. Not to be outdone by its competitors, EA has incorporated the best aspects of Allied Assault, the squad-like gameplay of Call of Duty and some brand new features all its own.

At half a gig though, the demo is criminally short and barely allows you to get into the game. Needless to say I've played through it around 20 times, intent on gathering as much reconaissance as possible from the meager mission included. The Unreal engine makes this tropical setting visually credible - from the waving palms to the fighters flying overhead. Although objects like towers and aircraft explode more believably this time around, terrain and most objects are static and suffer the same fate as other games using the Unreal engine. I can use oil drums on an airfield for cover, with no need to fear a stray bullet causing my protection to blow up in my face. Vegetation is similarly indestructible. With the Unreal engine comes improved physics, and character models now fall realistically instead of the awkward contortions of Raven Shield and Unreal Tournament 2003/2004.

The frantic and chaotic feeling of battle definitely took a few pointers from the presentation of Call of Duty. You can hear your fellow soldiers yelling "grenade!" when you or the enemy cuts one loose or medics tending to the wounded, gently assuring the fallen that things will be okay. As another realistic touch, when one of your squadmates falls, shouts of "he's gone, forget about him!" are heard above the gunfire and explosions. Assigning character to each of the AI controlled allies is something that we will also see in Brothers in Arms.

Taking damage in this game is quite interesting, as your physical state will deteriorate the more wounds you sustain. You will move slower the less health you have, and your vision will become blurry. You could say this was just an influence of Doom, but it's much more realistic than being able to run around aiming perfectly with next to no health. A great design decision was removing randomly placed medkits; instead, you have a limited number of times you can call a field medic who will come over to fix you up. This process is not instantaneous, and while he is tending your wounds you are essentially incapacitated. As a result there is still a chance you can get hit by nearby fire. This adds a much needed level of realism, and certainly adds a cohesiveness to your squad, because the medic doesn't just magically appear. He's always around, assisting your wounded sqaudmates. As a result you will have to defend your medic, because he is unarmed and will usually be taking fire with the rest of your squad.

There are also no dropped or placed ammo reserves - you can pick up any weapon and use it, and that's pretty much how you're going to replenish your supply. One of the biggest complaints about the Medal of Honor series was your inability to go completely prone, even though the enemy could, providing some extremely imbalanced firefights in low-cover situations. Pacific Assault thankfully allows this. Both were features of Call of Duty's that were wisely integrated.

Probably the most noticable addition, though, is your character's ability to issue basic squad commands such as Attack, Retreat, and Regroup. This can be useful in completing objectives, or if you're in a tough spot and need reinforcements, but the demo didn't really let me use these real-time tactics to their full extent. As part of the larger campaign though, I can definitely see them coming in useful.

I can't really say much about the enemy AI at this point, as the demo takes place in an especially brutal battle at Henderson Field at Guadalcanal. The Japanese use mostly swarming and "banzai" tactics, but they do take cover and launch distance or grenade attacks where the terrain allows it. This could all be simple scripting, but the AI seemed to respond to my playing methods: I played it safe in some instances, firing from a distance; in another play through of the demo I ran full on into the enemy. The latter seemed to prompt close quarters retaliation with bayonets. You can apply the real-life tactics of the Japanese in that sense, because their answer to eliminating US Forces was constant waves of soldiers doing these "banzai" attacks; whether they could actually manage to secure the position was almost happenstance.

Taken as a whole, I can easily see myself purchasing this game strictly as a fan of the genre. Pacific Assault isn't that much of a departure from the tried and true elements of these games: supress the enemy, jump on that stationary gun and eliminate fighters flying overhead - I mean this stuff has been done to death. But I can still see some innovation peeking through: the use of basic squad maneuvers, the field medics you can call for assistance, and for me this is enough to keep play interesting. Most importantly for EA, though, this game will be released before Brothers in Arms, which will be supplying many of the same improvements to further rejuvenate a tired genre. After a number of delays, my anticipation of this title has only dwindled somewhat; as the year comes to a close there are just too many games competing for my attention.

drawn to the ground