Remembering: Heroes of the Pacific (2005) - PS2

My earliest memory with virtual aviation is one that I hold dearly, it was of me sitting on my mother's bed staring at her CRT with my PS2 hooked up to it, as I watched as Ace Combat 5 loading in with its ominous music coming from the speakers.

I remember those times of my life with joy, as many do. It was simpler when we were kids and still trying to figure out the world, and everything that surrounded us. One of said aspects was our history, and everything that came before us; hence why I developed a bit of an obsession with WW2 as a kid.

I was in love with stories of aces and dogfights between propeller aircraft, both over Europe and the Pacific; and at the time around 2006, is when I started binging the Dogfights series by History Channel and obsessing one other thing: Heroes of the Pacific on my PS2.

I just loved the idea of being able to fly these WW2 legends, and seeing some of the battles that I heard of or watched in documentaries. Having the game start in Pearl Harbor made it so much more iconic for me.

Of course, I started noticing all the small, and big, historical inaccuracies that the game had. Both in relation to battle strategies, events that didn't happen or just straight up crazy made-up encounters that would make any historian cringe. That being said, I was 7 years old at the time so I really didn't mind any of that.

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It was a crazy and bombastic experience for me, and one that I still hold pretty dearly in my heart. Getting to follow Lt. Crowe's journey throughout WW2, from Pearl to Iwo Jima, was such a blast for little Cube. His corny journey of vengeance against the IJA's 13th Squadron members to avenge his brother was fun, regardless of how unrealistic it was.

The gameplay was excellent, I loved the feel of speed and how visceral the kills would feel. You could see pieces of the Zeroes just fall to the ground in flames, and every target had a destroyed state that would stay on the battlefield until the end of the mission. It gave you a tangible feel that you were in a war, and that the events that were unfolding in front of you were brutal.

From sinking IJN carriers, to shooting down Betties and even the flak popping right beside you. Everything helped to give you a sense that you were in a war.

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One has to remember that this is a PS2 game made for children, and not a historically accurate retelling of the Pacific Theater. The fact that everything loosely follows the flow of the war as it happened was enough for 7-year-old me, and is understandable by a 27-year-old me.

Codemasters, the developers of this game, made many others that vary between excellent to pretty much cringe. But I miss them, everything aviation coming out nowadays from any sort of AAA developer seems to be either too serious or just Ace Combat. The only silliness left lies in the hands of the indie industry, which are usually just kids like me that have grown up with the desire to make even more games, like the ones they played as a child. Screenshots in this article were courtesy of Runsva, thanks for your archivale footage!

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About the Author

Santiago "Cubeboy" Cuberos

Longtime aviation fanatic with particular preference towards military aviation and its history. Said interests date back to the early 2000s, leading into his livelong dive into civil and combat flight simulators. He has been involved in a few communities, but only started being active around the mid 2010s. Joined as a Spanish to English translator in 2017, he has been active as a writer and the co-founder of Skyward ever since. Twitter | Discord: Cubeboy