WWII - Battles of the South Pacific

The map fills with red and blue square figurines and I realize that war in the Pacific theater was mainly about logistics, territory, and patience. WWII - Battles of the South Pacific is a turn-based tactical strategy from the early nineties that doesn't focus on dramatic clashes but on cold planning.

You play on checkerboard-like maps of Melanesian and Polynesian islands. The goal is to conquer enemy territory or destroy the opponent's units — the game plays in turns and each turn means moving soldiers, tanks, or aircraft to adjacent squares. Units have limited movement range, supply is important, and all distances remind you of real ratios on those islands. Controls are direct: arrows, click on a unit, select its target. Graphics are minimalist, without narration or movie effects — just pure strategic abstract in monochrome colors.

Playing is slow and sometimes boring. Units move blindly — without flair, without clever decision-making. If you want to move five squares further, you have to do it in several turns. The computer plays predictably and doesn't reveal major surprises. What should have been strategic depth often becomes repetitive moving of figurines across the board. The user interface isn't intuitive, menus are navigated slowly and it's no fun controlling the game.

WWII - Battles of the South Pacific belongs to those games that try to be militarily faithful at the expense of fun. At the time of release, turns and logistics had certain seriousness, but today it seems overly stiff and without fun style. Graphics age neutrally — it's not pretty, but not kitschily outdated either.

If you're crazy about wargaming and classic PC strategies without shine and theatricality don't bother you, you could try it as a curiosity. For anyone else: there are better and faster ways to spend an evening with a turn-based strategy. Retro charm is missing here, just cold and monotony remained.