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Pacific Fighters

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8.3 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 20 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 8 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: 1C - Maddox Games

Genre(s): Combat Flight Simulation

Players: 128

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: October 22, 2004

Summary

Backed by the Oleg Maddox development team, Pacific Fighters allows you to participate in the most compelling air-war experience ever created! Fly missions for the Allied forces or become an ace pilot for the deadly Japanese empire which will you choose? Select from a large variety of flyable aircraft such as the lethal Japanese Zero, U.S. made F6F Hellcat and a variety of British fighter planes. Target enemy ships, vehicles and aircraft on one of the 16 maps featuring famous historic locations. New to the series will be the emphasis on flyable bombers and aircraft-carrier action. [Ubisoft]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: IL-2 Sturmovik

Also On The Web: GameSpot Hands-On Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Gamer's Hell

Maddox has proven to me that Flight Sims are indeed fun and that realism in some situations is a good thing.

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GameZone

I loved this game. It is rich, engaging and has a great repeat-play factor. I wanted to play it often, and for long periods of time. It's been a long time since I felt that drive from a game, much less a sim.

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GamingTrend

A complete flight sim package, that looks really nice, and has great mission modes. This game, and it's previous versions stand head and shoulders above the Microsoft Combat Flight sim games.

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eToychest

And while the difficulty will turn away those who either don't have the time to invest in learning how to pilot an aircraft properly or were simply looking for an arcade-style flight-sim, it shouldn't turn away many and the learning curve, while extremely steep, is also very short.

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PC Gamer

The best-ever WWII sim gets new planes, new settings, and carrier operations. [Jan 2005, p.76]

Worth Playing

If you are a flight sim gamer, you need this title.

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PC Format

The best Pacific-based flight sim you can buy, without question. [Dec 2004, p.86]

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PGNx Media

The game's visuals are incredibly impressive, and the action is great when something is actually going on. But the sometimes braindead AI and bits of action-less flight bring the game down a bit.

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Game Chronicles

With a strong community, excellent developer support and MP support, Pacific Fighters looks to be soaring high for years to come.

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FiringSquad

On the one hand, I love the flight models, the graphics and the challenge of multiplayer. On the other hand, there's no escaping the conclusion that this is really just a spruced up "Forgotten Battles" with carriers and more American-Japanese planes.

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IGN

The wide variety of planes certainly have their historical performance characteristics but, overall, the flight modeling just isn't as tight as I expected. Add to that the lackluster content of the missions and some outright mistakes on the part of the artificial intelligence and you've got a game that barely scrapes by.

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Computer and Video Games

It's as solid, competent and thrill-packed as the previous entries in Maddox Games' single-handed assault on the flight genre, it just doesn't really do anything that we haven't seen before. Nothing major at least. [PC Zone]

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GameSpot

Pacific Fighters uses the acclaimed IL-2 Sturmovik engine to simulate this epic conflict, but unfortunately it turns out to be the biggest letdown of the series.

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Computer Gaming World

With some A.I. tweaks, flyable torpedo bombers, and various bug fixes, this game would be a sim junkie's dream. [Jan 2005, p.97]

Sydney Morning Herald

While it does have its fair share of bugs, we're confident that with a little patching (something the developers haven't been afraid of in the past) Pacific Fighters will surpass "IL2" to become the top World War II flight sim.

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GameSpy

Yet even with some new features, you get the sense that gameplay isn't very different from what the series has shown since its debut.

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1UP

The real stars of the show are the planes. Fans of the Discovery Wings channel will be thrilled by the loving detail that went into the sixty some odd planes that come with the game.

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GamePro

The exhilaration of getting the enemy in your sights and squeezing the trigger still hasn't worn out, even despite its similarities to "Forgotten Battles."

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Next Level Gaming

The good include the graphics, the historical background for each map, tracer bullets in your ammo, and the detail put into the planes. The minus include a poor map, horrible objectives, long boring flying time and a general sense of pointlessness to the game.

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Computer Games Magazine

Friendly AI, on the other hand, can be frustratingly idiotic and suicidal. [March 2005, p.76]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

M. Lancer gave it a10:
Along with the rest of the IL-2 series, this is the best combat flight sim around. Excellent online gameplay, excellent flight models and AI. You dont just point your guns and shoot - you have to manage that plane in every possible aspect - this way a kill is most rewarding. Or you could switch realism off and enjoy a good shootout.

Leo Z. gave it an8:
A must have for combat flight sim enthusiasts. In the tradition of IL-2, but with a new theater of combat and carrier ops. Granted, the menus, briefings, and production values are rough. But if you dig deeper, you'll find a sim that rewards in spades. The time flying to mission objectives could be tedious... if I didn't use the "Skip Time" feature to quickly move to the next waypoint or enemy contact. This feature is not bound to any key by default; a strange decision by 1c. But bind it, use it, learn it, and you will love it. Not for the casual simmer, but rich enough to satisfy the dyed-in-the-wool flyer. If you're looking for an arcade-style shoot-em up with higher production values, I heartily recommend Crimson Skies.

MrMig Ming gave it a 10:
Absolutely amazing game! The best of IL2 series imho. And it got even better after the patch!:)

Trey Blingbling gave it a 10:
Great physics - with a foundation like IL2 - well says it all!

Mike B. gave it a 1:
This game is terrible. It takes 40 minutes just to get to wherever the action is in a given mission. The menus suck, the briefings are terrible, the production values are nonexistant. All this game has going for it is the graphics. Screw this game.

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