One of the better changes is that the game has gone out of its way to avoid the stupid spreadsheet nonsense and constant micromanagement issues the first game had. You don't need to spend near as much time in Pacific's tactical map as Midway's because Pacific has largely streamlined unit spawning and orders into context sensitive quick menus. So you don't need to run all the way back to your carrier to spawn a new squadron.
Another good change is that the units are way more defined. Especially the boats. Allied and Axis ships are no longer copy/paste models of eachother. All of the ships and units are characters of their own and not necessarily designed to the be the national polar opposite of another.
Damage control is much more streamlined, though it's still a bit too fast for my tastes.
A big change is the game now uses an "auto aim" system for naval artillery. This was primarily done to work in conjuction with the greater emphasis on "subsystem killing" the developers had in mind. Much like Klingon Academy and other space sims of old, the game wants you to take out components and shoot specific locations on enemy ships to quickly neutralize them. Technically, you can still perform manual aiming in the game against both aircraft and ships by aiming at a point "ahead" of them and shooting at where they will be. The manual mentions this so apparently, it was intentional.
The unit variety is very good but the pickens is a bit slim in some areas. I really like the selection of old school units such as the Minekaze class destroyer.
Also, the game has unit perks. I'm talking Call of Duty 4 style perks. They don't work in the exact same manner as CoD but they're most certainly inspired by it. Things like "Face Hardened Armor - Your ship resists damage better". "Radar Fire Control - You shoot farther and more accurately."
You see I think this was a very cool idea on the developer's part. Since it allows even further individualization of the game's units. It helps to make the game more chaotic and unpredictable. The perks are activated in a menu and are time limited but they "recharge" in multiplayer. Perks are "gained" in a level by capturing bases and depots and they can be passive, applying to all units all the time, or limited, applying to single unit for a limited time.
What's really fun to do is save up all of your perks, and then trigger them all at once in a specific unit. For instance, I was playing as a Cleveland Class Cruiser in Island Capture and was unfortunantly confronted by two Mogami Class Heavy Cruisers and a Destroyer. I activated Face Hardened Armour, Radar Fire Control, and Auto Loaders (weapons reload faster) all at once and my ship basically had a cocaine high. Kicking the shit out of both CA's and sending the destroyer packing.
Now I like this, in a sort of way, it's even realistic. Since the capabilities of any ship in a war can sometimes be more than skin deep.
Finally, the single player is much stronger this time around. The Japanese Campaign was wanky but not unbearably so. It's even occasionally intruiging at some points. Their are many skirmish modes and gameplay types that can be done with and against the AI or other players. Units can be unlocked by performing well in missions (doing things like minimizing losses and maximizing the enemy's). The AI isn't stupid, depending on the difficulty set it plays on the same level humans do tactically. Meaning you can trust units to fend for themselves if you want. You don't need to babysit everyone.
Right, now that i've said what I liked about, here's what SUCKS.
Damage control. Like I said, it's too fast. You can lose your engine and literally have it repaired before you've even lost a few knots. But what's really sad is that the game has visually impressive damage effects, AND THEY DON'T MATTER AT ALL.
You can demolish the super structure on an opposing ship, set him afire, blast PT Boat sized holes in him......and 20 minutes later he'll still repair up to 98% health. Anyone else remember Klingon Academy? I sure do.
The AI cheats like a mother fucker, especially on island capture. Where you can literally watch it spawn a MULTI MILE LONG LINE of unending heavy cruisers that respawn the moment you kill them. This is fucking stupid because it takes all the value out of keeping units alive, they're now individually worthless. Lose an entire Task Force? Replace it in 2 minutes. Wipe out an enemy's task force? Another right around the corner. WHO KNEW JAPAN HAD SUCH INDUSTRIAL POWA?
As I stated before, some of the unit pickings are slim. Other than Wankmato, the Japanese have only two other BB classes, Kongo and Fuso. Compared to the Allies 4 BBs other than Iowa.
The Allies have only 3 major destroyer classes. Compared to Japan's 6 or so. The allies have only two CAs to Japan's 4.
Finally, Colorado isn't in the game. Adding insult to injury, the model is there, but my favorite ship is UNPLAYABLE.
So to sum it up, it's easily better than Midway was. It improves in many areas and is pretty fun for the most part. It has its stupids and moments of embarrasment but none of them are really game-breaking.
