While Battlestations is simpler than a standalone flight simulator, these planes still pack the Gs for a quick thrill.

Battlestations Midway makes a splash in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Carriers, battleships, submarines, and aircraft clash in a game with the spirit of a kid splashing around in a bathtub. Dozens of units face off in any situation, and you have to balance calling out map-view tactics against your ability to jump into direct command of any one unit. This multiple-point-of-view gameplay loses the complexity of a standalone flight or ship simulator. But the variety allows for faster action—taking over a computer-controlled plane to personally deploy a payload—instead of the slower pace of having to run a complete sortie.

While the single-player storyline opens on the Pearl Harbor attack, Battlestations usually trades that historical weight for a lighter tone. Similarly, individual units—such as an F4F Wildcat—lack the dozens of controls and gauges of a standalone flight simulator, giving Battlestations a more forgiving, action-oriented pace. Submarines move between four levels in the water, instead of providing a real depth gauge. Destroyers can’t independently control props for maneuvering beyond the rudder. These concessions make it easy to pop into direct control of any unit, but we occasionally wanted more realism.

The game’s tactics come from squad orders and overall assignments. While controlling a single unit, you can bark a few simple commands to tell your squadmates to fire at will, return to base, or wait for an attack. The game’s artificial intelligence does a good job of keeping units in formation—our wingmen always stayed close as we turned toward a new target. Otherwise, a live map screen lets you make further assignments, and certain base units, such as an aircraft carrier, let you launch air squadrons.

We enjoyed these tactics, but the controls were often confusing. Battlestations felt like a console video game, designed for use with a controller and not a mouse. Instead of assigning commands with few clicks, we had to remember a handful of key commands, and wished for a simple pop-up menu or onscreen palette.

While often easy, the single-player game introduces new missions and units in a historical context. Online games against other humans give a better challenge. However, players can’t connect to PC gamers and are forced to use the free GameRanger application outside of Battlestations. 
Both of those issues limit the number of potential opponents.