The American Civil War. Why anyone would want to relive it is beyond me, but if you do, you have two options. You can put on a heavy woolen uniform and go stink up the countryside in a reenactment, or you can play through AGEOD’s American Civil War, the latest in a long line of popular strategy games published for Mac OS X by Virtual Programming.

Battlestations: Pacific is a great game. There’s a large, frustrating learning curve to get past, but it’s worth it. If your idea of a good war game is just running around in villages and clearing buildings, stay far away from this. But if you want something more epic in scope, and something you won’t finish in a week, you won’t do much better than Battlestations: Pacific.

War returns to the Macintosh on Friday, October 8th, when Feral Interactive will release Battlestations: Pacific. Developed by Square Enix London Studios, Battlestations: Pacific takes the critically acclaimed action/strategy game play of Battlestations: Midway to the next level with two huge campaigns across land, sea and air. One campaign is based on the actual events of the War in the Pacific. The other is a “what-if?” scenario based on the premise of Japanese victory.

Before computer games, even before role-playing games, there were war games, where players could reenact battles—historical or otherwise—by moving miniatures or cardboard chits along a 3D terrain or board map. Commander: Napoleon at War is an almost direct translation of these war games; there’s little flash in terms of graphics—the entire focus of the game is on the creation, management, and movement of military units.

Whether you’re in a warship, aircraft or submarine, you control the battle and lead it every step of the mission. Battlestations: Midway allows you to choose a different path on which to play the game. U.S. Campaign, Naval Academy, Ship Challenge, Plane Challenge and the Submarine Challenge are the five different battles of which you can take control. So, if you’re playing the Ship Challenge and are really getting annoyed from the submarine shooting missiles at your cruiser, play as a submarine and demolish a ship.

This fast, action-packed game has stunning graphics that make you wonder if they could get any better. Leading and controlling your ship, submarine, aircraft, shipyard or airfield requires more skill than pointing and shooting, such as creating tactics to avoid the emenies and complete your mission. Each unit has its own unique features which change gameplay and keeps it interesting.

Read the full review after the break.

Feral Interactive has released a demo that gives further details of the capabilities and features of Battlestations: Midway, which is due out soon for the Mac.

Created by Eidos Studios Hungary, Battlestations: Midway invites you to take command of the greatest battles of the war in the Pacific. Players will experience every aspect of combat in a superb blend of action and strategy as they lead a host of US and Allied air, sea and underwater units through intense, action-packed missions in hotspots from Pearl Harbor to the Battle of Midway itself.

Details after the break.