Damage Inc. Pacific Squadron WWII – Collectors Edition

It is worth stating before I begin that this is a review of the ‘Collectors Edition’ of the this title. While that would not normally be worthy of note in this case it very much is as the bundle includes not only the game and some DLC but also the Mad Catz PACIFIC AV8R flight stick controller and that is really the star of the package. The AV8R did used to be available in a much less charming grey, non PACIFIC, edition some time ago but it seems scarce now so this new bundle may be your only option.

Playing out over twenty or so single player missions set throughout World War 2 Damage Inc. drops you in the pilot seat and leaves you to get the job done. Mission objectives vary from dog fighting and bombing runs to somewhat dull recon tasks. While Damage Inc. has a certain charm to it, with it’s impressive range of aircraft and occasional missions that are engaging and genuinely fun there is not nearly enough variety and excitement to lift the overall experience. It’s not that it’s an awful game it just asks too much from the player and when played with the bundled flight stick it just ends up being frustrating.

Ultimately the game fails to deliver much more than a mild distraction and an excuse to play with the AV8R stick. The real shame is that it doesn’t come close to doing the hardware justice. Once I was done with Damage Inc. I immediately reached for my copy of Ace Combat 6 where I found the stick to be far more responsive to my admittedly inexperienced reactions. Everything on the stick is very well placed and easily accessible without the need to keep glancing down to find what you’re looking for and while I am by no means a hot shot it certainly left me with that Top Gun feeling. Yes, I said “FOX2” out loud when losing a Sidewinder at an unsuspecting target.

But all this flying left me with a nagging feeling, there was a game I was aching to play, I just couldn’t remember what it was. Then it hit me, potentially the greatest air combat game of all time, the XBLA sleeper hit Snoopy Flying Ace. Checking the AV8R manual it isn’t listed as a supported game but I fired it up anyway and was elated to find that with a little reconfiguration, and baring the reverse throttle, it worked just fine.

I can’t help think that Mad Catz missed a trick here, with the stick supporting the above mentioned titles as well as Blazing Angels, H.A.W.X, IL-2 Sturmovik and several others they could have created a fantastic bundle of older titles to show off their impressive hardware and with Damage Inc. pitched as a stand alone full priced title and the AV8R stick potentially available outside of this Collectors Edition the value of this package becomes somewhat difficult to quantify.