As I furrow my brow and stare into the horizon, one thing is apparent: this is war. Ships, planes, subs, all looking to make my fleet into a handful of twisted metal caskets at the bottom of the sea. Such is the life of a captain in Battlestations: Midway.

Although it takes the title of "Real Time Strategy," Battlestations: Midway is as unconventional as they come. Compared to other mold-breaking games of the genre, such as Joint Task Force, Battlestations: Midway takes it about a mile further outside of the traditional limits. It's almost a lie to call the game a RTS, because it just doesn't feel like one.

Instead, Eidos' naval strategy takes the typical RTS micromanagement and applies it to a multi-tiered quasi-sim that allows you to freely control all manner of vehicles. Whether you like being a fighter ace or a sneaky sub-mariner, the game gives you an option to flex your muscles all over the battlefield. Of course, you can't spend too much time doing one thing or another, lest the rest of your fleet go neglected.

And that's the thing that snaps Battlestations: Midway back to the whole RTS genre. Split-second micromanagement skills come into play, making for a bit of challenge. Although the game plays (and looks!) wonderfully on the Xbox 360 with a somewhat complex control layout, I can't help but feel that Battlestations: Midway would be best experienced on a multi-monitor setup which allowed you to see more of the battle at one time.

Of course, that's just a small quibble. As I said, the game looks and plays wonderfully on the Xbox 360. Even though the control layout can be complex for the newbies, a lengthy tutorial slowly eases you into it. After a couple of hours of gameplay, even the smallest tasks are easy to perform—whether you need to maintain a ship, dive-bomb an enemy, or take a look at the current situation.

If you're looking for a game that's fast paced and fun from the get-go, this isn't for you. If you're a couch jockey who enjoys a long day of a tall iced tea and the history channel... Well. Eidos has made the game for you.