Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies

Worth buying? What 249 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 249 Steam reviews actually say.

Mostly Positive · 70%Mostly Positive · 70%2013

$4.99

US Steam price, checked 2 h ago

The verdict

A cheap, simple hex-based turn-based WWII dogfighting game that's essentially a reskin of the first Ace Patrol. Skip it if you want depth, modern visuals, or stability.

Great for

Casual turn-based fans who like WWII aviation and quick 10-minute missions at a bargain price

Main risk

Frequent crashes (often after missions) plus repetitive, shallow missions in what feels like a reskin of the first game

What players love

Fun, accessible turn-based dogfighting

Mentioned in ~2 in 3 positive reviews

“every encounter feeling like a high-stakes chess match in the sky”
Steam review · 10.8 h played ↗

“More like a board game than a flight sim, so perfect for people who like to take their time making decisions.”
Steam review · 98.5 h played ↗

“Easy to get into but very difficult to turn it off, it's very addictive.”
Steam review · 1.9 h played ↗

Great value for the price

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews

“I think I got this game for less than USD$3 and it is worth it for that price”
Steam review · 32.2 h played ↗

“Definitely worth the $5 price tag.”
Steam review · 9.2 h played ↗

Pilot and plane progression with difficulty options

Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews

“you can change the difficulty level while playing, and practically choose the difficulty level of each and every mission.”
Steam review · 18.8 h played ↗

“Quick little air battles that can be ramped in challenge with a simple adjustment from easy arcade to extreme challenge”
Steam review · 9.3 h played ↗

Short missions suit quick sessions

Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews

“just pick up for five minutes, play a game and put it back down.”
Steam review · 11 h played ↗

“The missions aren't very time consuming, so this is great to squeeze in some gaming when time is limited.”
Steam review · 0.8 h played ↗

What players complain about

Frequent crashes and startup failures

Mentioned in ~1 in 2 negative reviews

“Unstable as hell. Crashes in a matter of minutes, consistently.”
Steam review · 1.7 h played ↗

“Launched the game, played through the tutorials. Played first mission, crashed at end of level.”
Steam review · 0.2 h played ↗

“Both of the ace patrol games crash after mission 2. This is a known issue that has not been fixed in six years”
Steam review · 0.2 h played ↗

Repetitive, shallow missions

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews

“The missions are very repetitive (180 are claimed, but they're really a variation on four or five missions with different enemy planes in them)”
Steam review · 7.7 h played ↗

“But after the first 5-6 missions, when almost all mission types have been tried and most abilities unlocked, there's suddenly nothing left to do.”
Steam review · translated · 1.8 h played ↗

Just a reskin of the first Ace Patrol

Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews

“3/10 grab the normal ace patrol, this is a meh reskin”
Steam review · 7.2 h played ↗

“this is just a skin for the original Ace Patrol.”
Steam review · 2.2 h played ↗

“How do you put out a sequel that has fewer features?”
Steam review · 7.5 h played ↗

Dated graphics and no proper fullscreen

Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews

“there's no way to change graphic settings (leading to either an inability to see the entire screen or the necessity of moving your taskbar around”
Steam review · 3.6 h played ↗

“Fixed low resolution, fullscreen doesn't work properly (windows taskbar always visible)”
Steam review · 1.7 h played ↗

Feels like a lazy mobile port

Mentioned in ~1 in 9 negative reviews

“a mobile app that's been dumped on Steam as a lazy cash grab”
Steam review · 1.7 h played ↗

“A mediocre port of a mediocre mobile game.”
Steam review · 5.8 h played ↗

Save bug with non-Latin Windows usernames

Mentioned in ~1 in 33 negative reviews

“There is a bug ingame that wont allow you to save - if you have special letters in your Windows username”
Steam review · 0.6 h played ↗

System requirements

From the Steam store page

Steam Deck: Verified

Minimum

OSWindows 7 or later

Processor1.8 Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3600+

Memory1 GB RAM

Graphics256MB Video Card w/ OpenGL capabilities (Intel HD4000+, GeForce 7600+, GeForce 100+, Radeon HD2000+)

Storage300 MB available space

OSWindows 7 or later

Processor1.8 Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3600+

Memory1 GB RAM

Graphics256MB Video Card w/ OpenGL capabilities (Intel HD4000+, GeForce 7600+, GeForce 100+, Radeon HD2000+)

Storage300 MB available space

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