Attack On Pearl Harbor (video Game)
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''Attack on Pearl Harbor'' is a
combat flight simulation game Combat flight simulators are vehicle simulation games, amateur flight simulation computer programs used to simulate military aircraft and their operations. These are distinct from dedicated flight simulators used for professional pilot and mil ...
developed by
Legendo Entertainment Legendo Entertainment is a Sweden, Sweden-based entertainment company, led by CEO Björn Larsson. Founded as Iridon Interactive in 1998, the company adopted its current title in 2004. Until late 2018, Legendo Entertainment was a dedicated video ...
and published by
Ascaron Ascaron Entertainment was a video game developer based in Germany. Founded as Ascon by Holger Flöttmann in 1991 and later renamed in October 1996 due to the possible confusion with the Swiss company Ascom (company), Ascom AG, the company produce ...
and
CDV Software CDV Software Entertainment AG (formerly CDV Software GmbH, stylized as cdv) was a German publisher of video games founded 1989 in Karlsruhe. In April 2000 CDV became a Frankfurt stock market traded company. In the beginning of the 2000s, CDV wa ...
. The game is based on the
Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
and the following Battles of
Wake Island Wake Island (), also known as Wake Atoll, is a coral atoll in the Micronesia subregion of the Pacific Ocean. The atoll is composed of three islets – Wake, Wilkes, and Peale Islands – surrounding a lagoon encircled by a coral reef. The neare ...
, Midway, and the Coral Sea. The game is presented through a third-person perspective. In the
single-player A single-player video game is a video game where input from only one player is expected throughout the gameplay. Video games in general can feature several game modes, including single-player modes designed to be played by a single player in add ...
campaign, the players assumes control of either a
United States Army Air Force The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
pilot or an
Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...
pilot. The
multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
component allows players to engage in both
cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...
and competitive gameplay. The game was released for
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
in 2007. It received mixed reviews from critics, who generally approved of the gameplay, controls, and graphics, though some were divided on the overall narrative and historical accuracy. The game was later released for
WiiWare WiiWare was a digital media entertainment service operated by Nintendo that allowed the download of games and applications developed for the Wii video game console. These games and applications could only be purchased and downloaded from the W ...
in July 2010 as '' Pearl Harbor Trilogy – 1941: Red Sun Rising''.


Gameplay

''Attack on Pearl Harbor'' is a
combat flight simulation game Combat flight simulators are vehicle simulation games, amateur flight simulation computer programs used to simulate military aircraft and their operations. These are distinct from dedicated flight simulators used for professional pilot and mil ...
that is played from a third-person perspective. In the game's single-player campaign, the player assumes control of one of two fictional pilots:
United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
pilot Douglas Knox or
Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...
pilot Zenji Yamada. Both pilots have two single-player campaigns each, beginning during the
Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
and chronologically featuring the key battles that followed, including the
Battle of Wake Island The Battle of Wake Island was a battle of the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on Wake Island. The assault began simultaneously with the attack on Pearl Harbor naval and air bases in Hawaii on the ...
,
Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of t ...
, and
Battle of the Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the battle ...
. The game also features operations prior to the
Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, fought during 25–27 October 1942, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Santa Cruz or Third Battle of Solomon Sea, in Japan as the Battle of the South Pacific ( ''Minamitaiheiyō kaisen''), was the fourt ...
and the
Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa Island, Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, Impe ...
for both pilots. The game's cutscenes are presented in a
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
-like fashion. The player assumes control of several historic aircraft, including the
Douglas SBD Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main Carrier-based aircraft, ...
,
Aichi D3A The Aichi D3A (Navy designation "Type 99 Carrier Bomber"; World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft, Allied reporting name "Val") is a World War II carrier-borne dive bomber. It was the primary dive bomber of the Imperial Japanese Na ...
,
Vought F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Vought, Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production con ...
, and
Mitsubishi A6M Zero The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-capable fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) from 1940 to 1945. The ...
. If the player fails a mission, planes are deducted from their reserve, and the campaign ends in defeat once all planes are deducted. Aircraft carry unlimited ammunition, limited only by overheating for machine guns and reloading times for rockets, bombs, and torpedoes. The player can view different perspectives of the plane, such as a wing view and a chase view. The single-player component also features a mode titled Dogfight, wherein the player selects the venue, weather conditions, aircraft type, and difficulty. The game mode endless spawns AI aircraft which attack the player. The player can select from three possible victory conditions: Time Attack, where they must survive for a certain time limit; King of the Sky, where a certain number of enemy craft must be destroyed; or Fly and Die, wherein the game ends when the player is shot down. The online
multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
mode for ''Attack on Pearl Harbor'' allows up to twelve players to compete
cooperatively Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English and, with a varied usage along time, coöperation) takes place when a group of organisms works or acts together for a collective benefit to the group as opposed to working in competition ...
and competitively. The multiplayer component features two game modes: Dogfight, in which the last plane flying wins; and Team Dogfight, in which the last surviving team wins.


Release

''Attack on Pearl Harbor'' was produced by
Legendo Entertainment Legendo Entertainment is a Sweden, Sweden-based entertainment company, led by CEO Björn Larsson. Founded as Iridon Interactive in 1998, the company adopted its current title in 2004. Until late 2018, Legendo Entertainment was a dedicated video ...
and co-developed with 3DIVISION and Arcade Moon, and was published by
Ascaron Ascaron Entertainment was a video game developer based in Germany. Founded as Ascon by Holger Flöttmann in 1991 and later renamed in October 1996 due to the possible confusion with the Swiss company Ascom (company), Ascom AG, the company produce ...
worldwide and by
CDV Software CDV Software Entertainment AG (formerly CDV Software GmbH, stylized as cdv) was a German publisher of video games founded 1989 in Karlsruhe. In April 2000 CDV became a Frankfurt stock market traded company. In the beginning of the 2000s, CDV wa ...
in North America. A single-player demo was released on the game's website on 18 May 2007; according to CDV Software, it received more than 175,000 downloads within two weeks. The game was submitted for manufacturing in the United States on 5 July 2007. It was released in the United Kingdom on 22 June, in North America on 6 August, and in Australia on 9 August; it became available on
Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...
on 20 August. The game's soundtrack was published on streaming platforms by Mad Villa Tunez on 30 November 2012.


Reception

''Attack on Pearl Harbor'' received "mixed or average reviews", according to review aggregator
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
. Tristan Kalogeropoulos of ''PALGN'' wrote the game offers "great 'arcadey' action and some incredibly fun aerial combat". In a retrospective piece, John Walker of ''
Rock Paper Shotgun ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' is a British video game journalism website. It was launched in July 2007 to focus on PC game, PC games and was acquired by Gamer Network, a network of sites led by ''Eurogamer'', in May 2017. History ''Rock Paper S ...
'' praised the satisfaction of combat. Conversely, ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
''s Charles Onyett concluded that the game "manage to take something as interesting as World War II's air battle over the Pacific and turn it into something as repetitive as bouncing a tennis ball against a wall". ''PALGN''s Kalogeropoulos lauded the enjoyment of the gameplay and simplicity of the controls. ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...
''s Darren Allen described them as "extremely basic, but then they're supposed to be", though he found the missions overly similar. Andy Mahood of ''PC Gamer'' (US) found the controls "easy to master" but the environments "surprisingly small". Johnathan Neuls of ''
Ars Technica ''Ars Technica'' is a website covering news and opinions in technology, science, politics, and society, created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews, and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, sci ...
'' described the game's speed controls as "a mess" due to their unpredictability. ''PC Gamer''s Mahood described the graphics as "lush", and ''GameZone''s Michael Lafferty called them "terrific", praising the satisfaction of effective combat. ''PALGN''s Kalogeropoulos noted they are "not overly complicated but ... do a great job of portraying the skies of World War II". ''Ars Technica''s Neuls commended the historical accuracy of the plane designs. ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
''s Brett Todd found the terrain "a bit odd-looking" but commended the technical performance, and John Walker of ''PC Gamer'' (UK) praised the weather and smoke effects, but criticized the lack of detail on buildings and aircraft. ''PALGN''s Kalogeropoulos felt the casual nature of the historical missions fit well with the overall content. ''GameSpot''s Todd described the missions as "formulaic" but entertaining, preferring the campaign missions over the empty online mode. Neuls of ''Ars Technica'' criticized the story and historical accuracy, describing it as the " Cliff Notes version" of the battle. ''IGN''s Onyett described the action as "so undemanding that it gets boring within about 10 minutes", particularly criticizing the repetition of the missions. ''PC Gamer''s Walker criticized the simplicity and repetition of the missions, and '' Jeuxvideo.com''s Frédéric Fau felt they were uninteresting and the atmosphere unengaging. ''
4Players ''4P'', formerly known as ''4Players'', is a German online magazine that provides news and reviews of video games and related content. Established in August 2000, ''4Players'' is owned by the Hamburg-based company 4Players GmbH, an indirect subs ...
'' Bodo Naser enjoyed the short mission length but thought they soon became tiring. ''
Gamekult Gamekult is a French video game journalism website founded in December 2000. ''Agence Française pour le Jeu Vidéo'' (AFJV) described it as an iconic brand and the second largest French language video game website in 2018. History The website ...
''s Gaël Fouquet considered the game boring even in multiplayer, though he found hunting down enemy planes with a mouse click occasionally amusing.


Notes


References


External links

* * {{moby game, id=/44560/attack-on-pearl-harbor/ 2007 video games 3Division games CDV Software Entertainment games Combat flight simulators Legendo Entertainment games Multiplayer and single-player video games Pacific War video games Red Ant Enterprises games Video games developed in Slovakia Video games set in Australia Video games set in Guam Video games set in Hawaii Video games set in Indonesia Video games set in Oceania Video games set in Okinawa Prefecture Video games set in Palau Video games set in the Northern Mariana Islands Video games set in the Philippines Video games set in the Solomon Islands Video games set in the United States Windows games Windows-only games World War II video games Arcade Moon games