908th played so far
Genre: Strategy
Platform: Various
Year of Release: 1988
Developer: Realtime Games
Publisher: Rainbird
I’ve been in control of planes and cars for this lists, very immersive mechs and various different spaceships. One thing that I don’t think I’ve touched, however, are aircraft carriers and similar massive ships. That’s all about to change, though, with Carrier Command, which puts you in charge of a massive one. It feels like having to manage all of that indirectly, rather than just fighting directly, would be enough of a strategy game, but it sounds like there are campaign maps involved with the game as well. It sounds like an interesting challenge that’d be getting far more streamlined these days – or be an obscure indie game somewhere.
Our Thoughts
There’s a very interesting idea here in Carrier Command. As I said, you’re in charge of an aircraft and tank carrier. You go from island to island and as you get close you launch various drones to take control of each island – defeat the enemy if necessary and setting up a supply base in between – several different ones depending on the lines you want to create. You set up a supply and defense network through your ‘half’ of the area, then fight the enemy backed up by the network. It’s an interesting strategic set up that combines your slow movement speed with a constant urgency as you need to outspeed your enemy. It’s a very decent set up, helped by some speed up options to get past the boring parts.
The one downside is the constant for the era – because of all the complex options, the controls are quite opaque. There’s a lot going on, not everything is possible in every situation, and it takes time just to figure out where you are. I don’t know whether I always figured out the best options, and even having a manual next to me didn’t always get me that far in. It’s a barrier to enjoyment, but it feels like a proper update – possibly a step up from the 2012 sequel – would be a lot of fun.