Undemanding shooter which quickly gets repetitive
While it takes WWII as its inspiration, Pacific Gunner is no Call of Duty, Battle for North Africa or Hidden & Dangerous and is instead a rather simple, but mindlessly enjoyable, Beach Head-style shooter. The various missions on display here take place at various important historical locations from the war's Pacific campaign, with players taking control of static gun emplacements and being required to simply blast the enemy as quickly as possible before they overrun you. As a slight twist to this kind of thing, you can switch between turrets to take out different enemies while there are also various ammo types to make use of and which make it easier to knock out ships or planes, depending on their type. To be honest, that's about all there is to Pacific Gunner and despite its updated visuals, the game is little more than a glorified Missile Command clone, with aspects of shooters like Operation Wolf or House of the Dead also tacked on in a simplistic way. If you're looking for an undemanding way to kill a few minutes, then Pacific Gunner isn't a bad option and it is quite satisfying blasting enemies apart in a hail of bullets. The visuals are nothing spectacular but certainly do their job well enough, while there are also plenty of meaty sound effects to back up the action. The controls too are simple enough to pick up and are generally responsive, which again contributes to the game's unashamed pick-up-and-play nature. Pacific Gunner is certainly not a game which has a lot of lasting or replay value, but when all you want to do is blow stuff up without using your brain too much, it certainly delivers the goods.
