Players can cut their teeth on one of the stand-alone scenarios to get a feel for the revamped ground combat model and the entirely new naval warfare rules, but that's all just preparation for the involved historical campaigns that really make this a game worth keeping. Despite the game's theme, we had more fun with the battles involving a lot of ground units than we had with the purely naval conflicts. That's not to say the naval conflicts weren't fun. Sneaking up on an aircraft carrier battle group with a few submerged submarines is always a lot of fun, and staging air strikes from the carriers really adds a lot to amphibious operations. Whether you have an interest in the period or just like a good war game that doesn't take months of research and practice to master, Pacific General blows similar games out of the water in terms of pure fun. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Easy to play, yet delivers just the right amount of challenge
• New naval battle model makes fleet actions exciting
• Final entry in the popular Five Star series

• Too simple for war-game purists
• Naval model could use a little more detail, considering the theme of the game