Adam Wills, Digital content sales manager at John Wiley & Sons has reviewed this app for FutureBook: Carlton Books and Gameloft have created more than a reading experience with this app. The reader is immersed more deeply in the text than they would have with the print edition or a vanilla eBook. The question that this raises with me is at what point does an eBook become an app? It’s quite tricky to pin War in the Pacific to a given category. On one hand it is a richly illustrated book with some additional media enhancements but on the other hand it is a user platform packed with media content which transcend the confines of the book.

As a novice in the world of iPad apps I have spent the last few weeks loading my new device with apps – some useful, some fun and some entirely pointless. Any app designed by Gameloft would normally sit squarely in the second of those categories – Real Golf 2011 for example or NOVA 2. Gameloft’s War  in the Pacific is a richly illustrated and enhanced book app about the US activities in the Pacific during World War II.

War in the Pacific is a book app which has many of the hallmarks of a game app. As soon as the app loads the speakers are filled with the kind of dramatic soundtrack one would expect from  video games and epic tv series, such as HBO’s The Pacific. The app is a very good digital and enhanced version of the print book. What we have here is an example of how devices, such as the iPad, can bring books to life and enhance the reader experience.

Each section of the book covers a period of time and is introduced with an animated campaign map giving an overview of the battles in that period.  There are enhancements on every page to support the text. Pictures throughout the app jump the foreground when tapped to give a larger image with captions. Tapping on information bars throughout the text bring out text boxes which serve as explanations for references within the text such as “The Tripartite Pact”. One of my favourite elements is the document folders which, when opened, present scanned images of official documents and communications such as Roosevelt’s official declaration of war with Japan.

In addition to the documentary support throughout the text little ”play” icons signal the presence of  additional archive video content. This is not just Encarta style 20 second showreel footage but minutes of newsreel and documentary video which support the text with additional contextual information.

This app brings the fun but maintains the appropriate tone for the nature of the content. One thing is for sure, I won’t be thinking that Gameloft are limited to the pure fun side of the iPad any more. I would recommend this app for anyone with an interest in this period of world history and also as an example of an excellent enhanced eBook app.

Available in itunes at $4.99, click here