Medic: Pacific War

By Joseph Luster

As bombs rain from the skies and your fellow soldiers both fight and fall to either side, for once it’s not up to you to take the fight back to the enemy. In Medic: Pacific War, you take on the indispensable role of combat medic, helping others recover from injuries, manage pain and, in some cases, evacuate under the threat of heavy fire. It’s a viewpoint we don’t see often in World War II games, and developer Hypnotic Ants recently made it available in Steam Early Access for those who want to throw them ten bucks for an early crack at the experience.

While we wait for the full game to eventually launch, the Early Access version gives us the opportunity to check out the first two chapters of the story campaign. As young medic trainee Mayers, your journey begins during the attack on Pearl Harbor before being pushed into the frontlines of battle in the Philippines. From making life-or-death decisions under immense pressure to facing all the other harsh realities of war and live combat, Mayers briskly transitions from trainee to full-blown battlefield medic in the process.

Beyond the campaign sample, the Early Access version of Medic includes the roguelite mode known as Lifeline. This mode takes the gameplay of Medic and blends it with familiar roguelite trappings like unlockable perks and permanent progression. Early Access will always be a mixed bag of an experience, but it’s a great way to join others in helping to shape the active development of a game, and Medic: Pacific War is a novel concept that so far seems to be worthy of the early extra effort.