Pacific Strike

ORIGIN Systems Incorporated worked on the programming for the historical flight simulation game, Pacific Strike, which was later published by Electronic Arts Incorporated in the middle nineties. It was created especially for the MS-DOS operating system on the personal computer and actually uses a modified Real Space engine that is very similar to Strike Commander’s engine. It is a first person simulation with sequences that feature third person perspectives. It is a single player game.
In Pacific Strike, the user will play a World War II combat pilot.

The game is somewhat historical in the fact that the gamer will be able to fly real United States planes against actual models flown by the Japanese military. Many of the battles are recreations of actual battles that took place during this time period. The game alternates between the missions the user will fly and cinematics that detail the results of the missions and their impacts on the war efforts. The game begins with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and progresses throughout the course of the war. It is possible, in this game, to change the outcome of ensuing battles and the war itself by succeeding or failing in the missions assigned to you. As the game progresses and the user completes several successful missions, he will gain rank and liberty. The higher his rank, the more planes he has to choose from and the more influence he has in the plan of the mission attack.
As in real life, the missions the user will be asked to fly will vary, as will the planes that will be used for each mission. The pilot can expect to experience bombing runs, escort missions, reconnaissance flights, dog fights, and missile attacks. Each confrontation will result in a new bit of the larger conflict unfolding. All of the missions take place in the Pacific Theater near Japan, hence the title of the game.
The thing that sets Pacific Strike apart from the countless other Pacific Theater of Operations games that were popular at this time (such as 1942 the Battle of Midway, or MicroProse’s Pacific Air War) is the attention to graphic detail in the battles. The user will be able to see tracer fire, flak and other little details. Also, the game concentrates more on game play rather than an accurate flight model or historical detail. In short, it is a game that is built around fun, and the gamer should have plenty of it.