| Heroes of the Pacific | |
|---|---|
 European cover art | |
| Developer(s) | IR Gurus |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Producer(s) | Ali Kojori (senior producer) |
| Designer(s) | Shane Collier Justin Halliday |
| Engine | RenderWare |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, Windows, Xbox |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Air combat simulation |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Heroes of the Pacific is an aerial combat simulator game set in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II.
The player assumes the role of William Crowe, an American who experiences the various phases of the Pacific War with Japan, beginning with the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1941. Crowe's brother Charlie is killed during the attack. He is restationed at Wake Island where he comes under the command of Admiral Daniel Howells. He later participates in escorting Howells off the island as it is about to fall to the Japanese. When they make it to the Lexington, Crowe gets a new squadron consisting of Cunningham, Murphy, Slater, and commanded by Callahan. The Battle of the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway, Guadalcanal, and the Marshall Islands are all featured in one or more missions. The final mission of the campaign is on February 23, 1945, with the raising of the United States flag on Iwo Jima.
There are six game modes: Campaign, Instant Action, Single Mission, Historical, Training, and Multiplayer. One or two players can play simultaneously on the console or up to eight players can play on the network via Xbox Live or using a PlayStation 2 with network adapter.
There are two different control schemes for flying the planes, Arcade and Professional. The Arcade control scheme allows for easier control of the plane via a single joystick with automatic rudders, while the Professional controls offer separate control of the pitch, roll and yaw of the plane.
Heroes of the Pacific also offers multiple difficulty levels: Rookie, Pilot, Veteran, and Ace. Completing missions on higher difficulty unlocks more planes and rewards the player with more upgrade points, which can be used to upgrade unlocked aircraft after missions are accomplished.
This simulation also allows players to pilot famous planes such as the P-40 Warhawk, P-51 Mustang, F4U Corsair, P-47 Thunderbolt and a number of Japanese and German planes from World War II, including several experimental planes, such as the Blohm & Voss BV P.215 and the J7W Shinden.
Ten campaigns, with 26 missions taken from real events of the Pacific campaign. While some of the missions in the game require specific planes (such as the PBY Catalina), the player can usually choose which plane to fly from the allowable classes for each mission (Fighter, Dive Bombers, Torpedo Bombers, Bombers).
Heroes of the Pacific was developed by Melbourne development company Thatgame, who merged with IR Gurus shortly after the release of the game. In 2008, IR Gurus was renamed Transmission Games.
Many of the members of the development team previously worked together at Melbourne House, on titles such as Test Drive: Le Mans , Grand Prix Challenge , and KKnD2: Krossfire.
| Aggregator | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| PC | PS2 | Xbox | |
| Metacritic | 76/100 [1] | 76/100 [2] | 76/100 [3] |
| Publication | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| PC | PS2 | Xbox | |
| Game Informer | N/A | 8.75/10 [4] | 8.75/10 [4] |
| GameRevolution | N/A | C [5] | C [5] |
| GameSpot | 7/10 [6] | 7.2/10 [7] | 7.2/10 [7] |
| GameSpy |    [8] | [9] | [10] |
| GameTrailers | 7.2/10 [11] | N/A | N/A |
| GameZone | 8/10 [12] | 7.6/10 [13] | 8/10 [14] |
| IGN | 8/10 [15] | 8.1/10 [16] | 8.2/10 [17] |
| Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | N/A | [18] | N/A |
| Official Xbox Magazine (US) | N/A | N/A | 8/10 [19] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 81% [20] | N/A | N/A |
| VideoGamer.com | 7/10 [21] | 7/10 [21] | 7/10 [21] |
| The Sydney Morning Herald | [22] | [22] | [22] |
According to the review aggregation website Metacritic, Heroes of the Pacific received "generally favorable" reviews on all platforms. [1] [2] [3]
Midnight Club II is a 2003 racing video game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sequel to Midnight Club: Street Racing, published for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows and first in series to feature motorcycles. Players can race through cities based on Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo. The game also features an online multiplayer component. It is the second game in Midnight Club franchise, followed by Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition.
Driver 3 is a 2004 action-adventure game, the third installment in the Driver series. It was developed by Reflections Interactive, published by Atari, and released on PlayStation 2, Xbox and mobile phones in June 2004, Microsoft Windows in March 2005, and Game Boy Advance in October 2005. The game's story focuses on players assuming the role of John Tanner, an undercover FBI agent, as he investigates a car-smuggling ring across three countries, in order to identify and arrest its boss and learn who they are planning to sell a cache of stolen cars to. The game expanded upon its predecessors with on-foot sections, gun combat, and drive-by shooting, with virtual recreations of three major cities - Miami, Nice, and Istanbul - free-roam game mode, and an improvement to the series' film-making "director mode".
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is a first-person shooter video game in the Battlefield series, developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts. Modern Combat is the first Battlefield game for video game consoles and the first to offer a full single-player campaign. Despite its name, the game is neither a port nor a spin-off of Battlefield 2, which was in development at the same time.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 is a 2002 racing video game, the sixth installment in the Need for Speed series and the sequel to 1998's Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. It was developed by EA Black Box for the PlayStation 2, and by EA Seattle for GameCube, Xbox, and Microsoft Windows. It features cars from various high-performance and exotic car manufacturers. Players can compete in races using these cars, or opt to play as a police officer and pursue speeders.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown is a 2005 tactical first-person shooter video game published by Ubisoft for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Microsoft Windows. It is the fourth game in the Rainbow Six series. The game's plot follows Rainbow, an international counterterrorist organization, as they battle a terrorist organization that has stolen a deadly bioweapon.
Burnout 2: Point of Impact is a 2002 racing video game developed by Criterion Games and published by Acclaim Entertainment for PlayStation 2, GameCube and Xbox. It is the sequel to the 2001 video game Burnout and the second title in the Burnout series. It was the last Burnout game to be released on the GameCube and the series would not see a release on a Nintendo platform until the release of Burnout Legends in 2005. The game also marked Acclaim's last entry in the Burnout series, as Acclaim would go bankrupt in 2004; the rest of the series would be published by Electronic Arts.
Auto Modellista (アウトモデリスタ) is a racing game developed and published by Capcom, first released on PlayStation 2, later ported to GameCube and Xbox.
Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is a first-person shooter video game developed by NovaLogic. It was released for Microsoft Windows on March 25, 2003; for Mac OS X in July 2004; and for PlayStation 2 and Xbox on July 26, 2005. It is the 6th game of the Delta Force series. It is set in the early 1990s, during the Unified Task Force peacekeeping operation in Somalia. The missions take place primarily in the southern Jubba Valley and the capital Mogadishu. The game also features a mission editor with which players can make custom missions. The game is based on the book of the same name, not the Sony film.
NBA Live 06 is a 2005 installment of the NBA Live series released on the Xbox, Xbox 360, GameCube, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2 and Mobile. It was developed by EA Sports. The game features several game modes, including Dynasty, Season, Playoffs, or Free Play. It features Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat on the cover. This was the last NBA Live game on the GameCube and it also was the first NBA Live game on the Xbox 360 as a launch title and on the PlayStation Portable.
Secret Weapons Over Normandy is a World War II-based arcade video game. Published by LucasArts and developed by Totally Games, the game is composed of 15 objective-based missions set in 1940s European, North African, and the Pacific theatres of war. The story was written by Derek Chester. The music was composed by Michael Giacchino.
Conflict: Global Terror is a tactical shooter video game developed by Pivotal Games and Synergenix, and published by SCi Games and 2K for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows. It is the fourth installment in the Conflict series.
Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII is a flight combat video game for Microsoft Windows, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii. It was developed by Ubisoft Bucharest during the second fiscal quarter of 2006 for both the North American and European regions. The game features 46 different World War II fighter planes and allows the player or players to take part in several World War II events as a fictional squadron. Online support allows 16 players to take part in head-to-head and co-operative battles.
Street Racing Syndicate is an open world multiplatform racing video game produced by Eutechnyx, and released by Namco on August 31, 2004, for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox and Windows-based personal computers. The game was also released for the Game Boy Advance on October 4, 2005. During its release, it was meant to compete against Need for Speed: Underground 2, the sequel to the critically acclaimed first game released in 2003.
SpyHunter is a vehicular combat game. It is a remake and sequel of the 1983 arcade game of the same name first released for PlayStation 2 in 2001. It has since been ported to GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Tapwave Zodiac. In the game, the player drives the G-6155 Interceptor, an advanced, weaponized spy vehicle. Unlike the original's top-down view, the remake is played with a chase camera, similar to a racing game.
Catwoman is an action-adventure video game based on the 2004 film of the same name based on the fictional character. It features the likeness of the film's lead actress Halle Berry, while the character's voice is provided by actress Jennifer Hale. This would end up being developer Argonaut Software's final game.
MTX Mototrax is a racing video game developed by Left Field Productions and published by Activision for PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2004. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X later that year developed by Beenox and published by Aspyr. It was also released in 2006 for the PlayStation Portable. Additional releases were planned for the GameCube console in 2004, which was later canceled, and Tapwave Zodiac, which was called off when Tapwave went out of business. A demo version of the game is available in the options menu in the PlayStation 2 version of Tony Hawk's Underground.
FIFA Football 2004, also known as FIFA Soccer 2004 in North America, is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts. It was released in October 2003 with the tagline "Create Brilliance".
Starsky & Hutch is a vehicular combat video game by British studio Mind's Eye Productions and published by Empire Interactive based on the television series of the same name created by William Blinn. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Game Boy Advance and GameCube.
MX Superfly featuring Ricky Carmichael, released as MX Super Fly in PAL regions, is a motorcross racing game developed by Pacific Coast Power & Light and published by THQ for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube. It is the second installment of THQ's MX trilogy and a sequel to MX 2002 featuring Ricky Carmichael, garnering professional motorcross racer Ricky Carmichael's endorsement like its predecessor.
Gravity Games Bike: Street Vert Dirt is a sports video game developed and published by Midway for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It was released in North America on June 27, 2002 for the PlayStation 2 and on September 4, 2002 for the Xbox. It was the only game released under the Gravity Games license by Midway.