by It’s been only six months since Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol brought its unique, tactical take on World War I air combat to iOS, and already we’ve got a sequel. Pushing the action forward to the Pacific during World War II, Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies pits American and Japanese aces against each other in missions that range from simple dogfighting to defending or destroying vital ships, bases, or other structures.
As in the original, the action’s turn-based, and your planes (which usually head into battle two or three at a time) move a little bit each round when you tap on movement markers to tell them where to go. These start out pretty simple — pilots can climb, dive and turn — but as your pilots shoot down enemies, they earn more complicated moves (including loops and rolls) that make them far more nimble. And because the amount of damage their attacks deal usually depends on the angle and altitude of approach, more movement options often spell the difference between scratching an enemy plane’s paint or downing it in one shot.
Aside from the shift in scenery, there’ve been a number of changes between Ace Patrol and Pacific Skies; for starters, the number of missions in each of the four campaigns (which let you play as the U.S. Navy, Japanese Navy, U.S. Army, or Japanese Army) has been expanded from 24 to 32. Also, there’s more variety in the types of missions you’re given, although it’s worth noting that whether you’re escorting a bomber or photographing enemy bases with a spy plane, it’s often just as easy to win by ignoring those objectives and annihilating your enemies. While it’s nice to have more than one path to victory, the practical result is that all missions boil down to same-y combat runs, some of which just happen to have bonus goals.
More strikingly, the original’s freemium trappings are completely gone; not only does Pacific Skies cost a flat $4.99, but the option to buy quick POW-camp escapes or new pilots has disappeared. At first, we actually missed the convenience — waiting around for a rescue mission to free your downed pilots at the start of each campaign chapter can be a drag — but we quickly adjusted, and not being pestered with ads is a definite plus.
Also, if you get bored matching wits with the computer, there’s an asynchronous multiplayer mode to try, either by swapping your iDevice with another player or setting up a network match. The latter can take a while if your opponent isn’t particularly responsive, but Pacific Skies can keep track of multiple games, alerting you from the lock screen when one of your rivals makes a move. The downside is that multiplayer is fairly shallow — aside from picking your side, there isn’t much room for customization — but it can be a pleasant change of pace from the more involved campaigns.
The bottom line. Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies isn’t a drastic re-invention of the original, but adding more content and refined gameplay to an already impressive strategy game is hard to argue with.
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