Damage Inc.: Pacific Squadron WWII

 Xbox 360
Metascore
49

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 24
  3. Negative: 11 out of 24
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  1. ZTGD
    Aug 29, 2012
    45
    In the end, MadCatz' new business model of releasing software to complement their hardware will only work if the software is of respectable quality. Otherwise, it has the potential to drive customers away from rather than towards their product.
  2. X-ONE Magazine UK
    Oct 11, 2012
    40
    This game could send the blood pressure of a Buddhist monk into the stratosphere. [Issue#90, p.78]
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  3. GameOver.gr
    Sep 18, 2012
    40
    More of a "side offer" with the awesome AV8R Flight Stick by Mad Catz than a proper game that could stand on its own in the market.
  5. EGM
    Sep 12, 2012
    40
    There are times it would have been easier to fly an actual soup can.
  6. JeuxActu
    Sep 12, 2012
    40
    When studios like Project Aces are able to introduce us to innovative action flying games, others like Trickstar Games have some difficulties in proposing the same title. With its old-fashioned production and its boring gameplay mechanics, Damage Inc : Pacific Squadron WWII never takes off, the only action players will enjoy being the pleasure of counting the raindrops on their plane's windscreen.
  7. Gameblog.fr
    Aug 30, 2012
    40
    Even with so few competitors, you will be able to find better games to quench your thirst for dogfights than this one. Its poor production values, lack of real challenge, or decent flight simulation are too much for it to really rise above the clouds.
  8. Edge Magazine
    Aug 28, 2012
    40
    Even at its best, when using the AV8R stick, Damage Inc feels clumsy, badly implemented and lacking in imagination. Mad Catz is unlikely to drive sales of its peripherals with a game in which every flight feels like work and every kill is, at best, a Pyrrhic victory in a tedious war.
  9. GameSpot
    Sep 27, 2012
    30
    Mad Catz's lastest outing as a publisher crashes and burns with the awful flight simulator Damage Inc.: Pacific Squadron WWII.
  10. Destructoid
    Aug 29, 2012
    30
    Damage Inc. is a hot mess. Choppy frame rate, ugly graphics, shoddy presentation, forgettable multiplayer, and an overall worthless feeling when playing doesn't amount to much. There's at least a good variety of things to do with the number of missions and planes involved, but you may be too frustrated with the gameplay itself to even care.
  11. 4P.de
    Sep 6, 2012
    23
    I should have been warned by the logo on the box: Trickstar Games. The team that basically ruined the Jane's franchise. And they keep doing what they do best – which is not too much. The presentation is awful, the engine is outdated, the mission design is dreadful.
  12. Console Monster
    Sep 24, 2012
    20
    The massive kill counts and lack of any allied AI once again leaves you as 'the one guy who can defeat an entire nation'. The war was won because of team work, not one single person. I realise that this can never truly be conveyed through a video game, but for that notion to be so crudely thrown to one side is very disappointing. Their lack of understanding extends to their apparent obliviousness to such facts as the US Air Force not even being in existence when you supposedly join up in the story, to the addition of missiles, that were barely on the drawing board by the end of the war. It seems that the developers have taken on a 'that'll do' approach to Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII, well I can tell you now, that simply won't do.

Awards & Rankings

95
#95 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2012

User Reviews

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User Score
5.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 6 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 6
  3. Negative: 3 out of 6
  1. FlushtheFashion
    Oct 16, 2015
    4
    Many of you will be aware of MadCatz, with their awesome hardware bringing gamers closer to the game. What you may not know is that they areMany of you will be aware of MadCatz, with their awesome hardware bringing gamers closer to the game. What you may not know is that they are branching into software and publishing, so, low and behold Damage Inc – Pacific Squadron WWII.

    Damage Inc. is a fighter plane sim with the intention of bringing players a more realistic, dog fighting bunch of goodness. With 20 playable missions spanning various moments in war, starting in WWII Pearl Harbour, you are a rookie straight out of flight school progressing on your military voyage to become a decorated hero of the skies.

    Its plain a huge amount of time and effort has gone in to bringing real life resemblances to the dozens of planes and upgrades at your disposal. There are great explosions, loop the loops and (kind of) time warps galore.

    Unfortunately that’s where the good stuff stops. Visual elements in-game are far from that of being realistic, with graphics seeming grainy coupled with dis-proportioned landscapes & surroundings. I found myself enjoying the dogfights at first, but after a short while it felt I was loosing touch with the game and just slipped into auto pilot of shoot plane, bomb ship.

    Join that with trying to keep your sight on a tiny red dot (that “helps you”) to take down enemy planes, it was a chore at most. Also sprinkle in a big portion of crashes, the game not my piloting skills, bugs and glitches with mission fails and completions occurring, when your not even able to see what is happening but apparently still in control of the aircraft.

    With two controller set-ups at hand, arcade or simulation (which are unchangeable, unless you start over), trust me neither is stand out, so stick with arcade to save yourself any agony. Ok Ok, I could be shooting down the controls as there is a “special” joystick to tie in with the game, which I haven’t tested myself. But… I hear you say? Research has proven many found it easier with the joy-pad as the AV8R failed to navigate even the basics of the menu… I concur!

    Now I know this is an early venture for Team MadCatz and lessons will have definitely been learnt along way. Lets just hope & pray, if we do see that any more titles released under their name, they don’t crash and burn like this one.

    And finally without going into any more detail on how bad the game is, there really isn’t anything I can add. Maybe something other than if you love planes, want to look at them and see them in action. A flight museum or local/ national air show, will be more worthy of your £39.99.

    My score is based on the original vision that was there initially but never really came to fruition in the final product. At best its a plug and play arcade sim to sit in the drawer or take up needed memory space.    … Full Review »
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