Heroes of the Pacific

[Steiner]

April 19, 2004 - Encore announced today that it will publish Heroes of the Pacific, a detailed WWII flight combat title from Australian developer thatgame Studios. The game is expected to ship in winter of 2004 for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and PC.
Heroes gives players a take on the aerial combat of WWII's Pacific Theater. The game will span more than 30 historical missions, including action over Midway Island, the Coral Sea, Wake Island, Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal. A variety of aircraft will be available, including Grumman F4F Hellcat and F6F Wildcat, the Douglas SBD Dauntless, the
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and the Chance-Vought F4U Corsair.

The game will support more than 300 planes on screen at once, and feature detailed, realistic plane, ship, and environmental models. Not only will Heroes of the Pacific support online multiplayer action (yes, that means Xbox Live dogfighting!), but the single player campaign allows for control of up to 32 wingmen for team-based combat.

"The large scale aerial battles and dogfights were arguably the most important part of the U.S. victory in the Pacific Theater, and no game has really addressed it to date," says Ben Palmer, co-founder of thatgame Studios. "With Heroes of the Pacific, our goal is to put players in the cockpit of some of the greatest WWII fighter planes in some of the most decisive battles of the war, and deliver an experience that clearly establishes this title as the next marquee flight combat game."

Encore will be showing Heroes at E3 next month.



FROM GAMESPOT 
Heroes of the Pacific announced

Encore announces that it will release IR Gurus' World War II combat flight simulator in North America later this year.

Encore has today announced that it will publish Heroes of the Pacific in North America toward the end of this year. The World War II combat flight simulation game, which will be shown for the first time at next month's Electronic Entertainment Expo, is in development for the PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox.


The first of the game's 30 missions will see players reliving the attack on Pearl Harbor, and as they progress through the game players will be transported to locations such as Midway Island, the Coral Sea, Wake Island, Iwo Jima, and Guadalcanal. Players will also get to pilot more than 25 authentic World War II aircraft, including the Grumman F4F Hellcat and F6F Wildcat, the Douglas SBD Dauntless, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, and the Chance-Vought F4U Corsair. A number of bonus planes will be available only when players manage to unlock them, such as the Japanese Zero.

"Publishing Heroes of the Pacific represents a significant move forward in shaping Encore's long-term business strategy," said Michael Bell, CEO at Encore. "We're confident in the ability of IR Gurus to deliver an experience that's incredibly immersive and fun and a game that will establish new benchmarks in the flight combat genre."

"The large-scale aerial battles and dogfights were arguably the most important part of the US victory in the Pacific theater, and no game has really addressed it to date," added Ben Palmer, technical director for IR Gurus. "With Heroes of the Pacific, our goal is to put players in the cockpit of some of the greatest WWII fighter planes in some of the most decisive battles of the war and deliver an experience that clearly establishes this title as the next marquee flight combat game."

It's claimed that Heroes of the Pacific will support more than 300 planes onscreen simultaneously, and players will be able to issue commands to up to 32 wingmen while flying their own plane. It all sounds terribly complicated, but we're assured that the game's fast-access menu system is as intuitive as it is innovative.

In addition to the story-driven single-player campaign, Heroes of the Pacific will boast split-screen multiplayer support and online play. We'll bring you more information on the game as soon as it becomes available. In the meantime, you might want to take a look at the official Heroes of the Pacific Web site launched today.
www.heroesofthepacific.com/






* 25 actual WWII aircraft available to the player, plus hidden and locked plans including the Japanese Zero
* Over 300 planes on-screen each with full AI and dog-fighting physics
* Incredible graphical detail on plane and ship models (15,000 - 30,000 polygons) with multiple complex lighting effects
* Realistic environments, including dynamic 3D water
* Control up to 32 wingmen through an innovative, fast-access menu system
* Over 30 missions taken from real events of the Pacific Theatre campaign - the Battle of midway, Wake Island, The Marianas, Iwo Jima and Guadalcanal.
* An engrossing storyline featuring rich character development against the backdrop of the intense naval conflict in WWII's Pacific Theatre
* Multiplayer allows the player to take part in Split Screen, Link Up or Online multiplayer battles:
* Dogfight
* Team Dogfight
* Capture the Flag
* Fox and Hounds - hold the flag the longest
* Multiplayer Missions - cooperative mode