18.1.2013

Back in 1984 a company by the name of Realtime Games Software LTD was founded by three Leeds University students, Ian Oliver, Andrew Onions and Graeme Baird. During their career they made 3D games, the first few were self published, then in 1988 they released a game called Carrier Command. This game was published by Rainbird Software, a part of British Telecom. Upon release it gathered a huge following, and was immortalised as one of the great classics. Anyone who is old enough to have own an Amiga 500/Atari ST/ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64 and was over the age of nine would probably have fond memories of this game. This brings us to Bohemia Interactive's modern reincarnation, Carrier Command: Gaea Mission,a re-imagining of the classic title, brought up to speed with bells and whistles to boot. However, before we go any further with that, let me explain the original first.GROW OLD ALONG WITH MEBack in 1988 when Carrier Command was released I purchased my copy along with countless others; I remember the blue box which housed the carrier sticker, brown top secret manual, black music cassette and the Amiga 3.5" floppy disk. Back then packaging was used to sell games, and big boxes were common place on the shelves of computer game retailers. The graphics were good for its time, and it was one of the first 'sand box' style 3D games in an era where 3D was in its infancy. To understand its modern reincarnation, you must first understand the original; to do this we must cover what the 1988 classic had to offer.Carrier Command was literally one of the first realtime strategy games, however the formula is vastly different to any modern RTS, and this is part of what makes this game unique. To begin with, the game had two play modes, 'Action Game' and 'Strategy Game'.The action game placed you smack bang in the middle of battle, you start as your carrier approaching an enemy island, and the enemy carrier is not far away. This game is hard, and it puts you in a win or lose situation. You have all your resources at hand, and taking his island is something he rarely gives you time to do.The strategy game however is where real skill is needed. It starts you at one end of the map, and the enemy at the other, then its a race to take as many islands as possible to produce weapons, vehicles and fuel, so that you can then win the game, the way you play this is up to you, head on confrontation with the enemy tends to be short skirmishes, where when he gets heavily damaged he flees. But most of the time he destroys you if you don't have enough fuel for the repairs. Planning your strategy, taking islands and strategically building your network enables you to take the enemy islands, to the point of taking his stockpile island which cuts him off from his supply, and he eventually runs out of fuel, which leave him dead in the water, then you just go looking for him and blow him out of the water while he is a sitting duck.What I described seems simple enough, but it is just scratching the surface of the game. Carrier Command is a game of many different part, which come together to make a whole experience, and not one part would work without the other, which was one of the appealing aspects of the game. The player controls an aircraft carrier known as Epsilon, which houses its own defences, including a large laser Cannon, along with two types of vehicles, of which the carrier hold four of each. The WALRUS (Water And Land Roving Utility Shuttle) is an amphibious tank, which can travel on land and in water, capable of supporting multiple combinations of weapons, of which there is a plethora to choose from, should you build them using you factory island. The MANTA (Multirole Aircraft for Nautical Tactical Assault) is a plane which can travel at high speeds, and capable of carrying bombs and firing missiles to take out island defences.All these vehicles can be outfitted with varying combinations of weapons, and may be launched for an attack all at the same time. This is done by use of your map, which is an overhead view of the islands and their supply lines. Red Islands are owned by the enemy, blue are yours and green are neutral. After zooming in on an island you are about to take, you can command your robotic MANTAs and WALRUSes by setting way points and giving them commands, and this is where the strategy of war comes into play, using your tactical map to deploy your troops. However that is not the end of it, as all of your remotely controlled WALRUSes and MANTAs are capable of being taken over by you at any point, allowing you to get behind the wheel and take control in the heat of battle. This is one of the fundamental parts of Carrier Command that sets it apart from other games. You are in control, and that control goes right down to piloting your craft or tank when ever you feel the need.The enemy carrier, called Omega, is a lot faster, stronger and has greater firepower than you, his MANTAs and WALRUSes are also at an advantage, and this element of superiority is where you as a player must build up your resources, make strategic decisions on which island to take next and what to stockpile. When things get destroyed they can be replaced, but it takes time, and you have to forward plan your inventory. When you want to resupply your carrier, you must request the things to be delivered to you from your stockpile island. During that waiting time the enemy is getting closer, and he takes islands faster than you, as he is capable of a far greater speed. Fuel is your life blood, it is used to power your carrier, run your repair systems when damaged, and fuels your vehicles, without fuel it is game over, and this is why keeping your supply lines open is essential. When sending out a MANTA or WALRUS you must decide how much fuel you want to put in it, remembering that this is being taken away from your carrier, if your vehicle gets destroyed, that fuel is gone, if it returns, it can be syphoned back into the carrier, every use of resources makes you think hard about your actions, and this is what pulls you into the game even more.Enemy islands are taken one of two ways. You can get to the command centre in a WALRUS carrying a Virus Bomb, which infects their systems and makes the command centre yours, or you can destroy the command centre, and then send in a walrus with a construction module for either a Factory, Defence or Resource command centre, once fired, it begins to build the structures on the island, but this can take a long time.Your island network is important, each island links to another via a supply line, these lines allow resources to pass between islands. For example, the the more defence islands that link to another island, the grater that islands defences become, making it harder for the enemy to take it. Making decisions to have a defence island instead of increasing the number of factories or resources is something that can not be taken lightly, and may be a deciding factor in winning the game.THE BEST IS YET TO BEThe original broke the mould of gaming back in the eighties, it offered something that was daring and challenged the player to either get good, or die. This type of relentlessness has all but died completely, and in recent years games have a tendency to hold the player's hand, and wrap them in a security blanket. Gamers expect the best graphics, the best animations, the easiest controls, and a quick learning curve. If you are one of those type of gamers, then this game is not for you.When Bohemia Interactive set about doing a remake of Carrier Command, they did it in a way that would stay true to the original, the head of the company was a huge Carrier Command fan, and most of the programming team grew up playing it. So it was no surprise that, upon release the game didn't fare well among other reviews. After all, those reviews were done by people who didn't even know the original existed until hearing about this game. So the molly-coddled reviewer complained about how hard it is, and how they gave in after a short time, and for good reason too. Carrier Command: Gaea Mission was designed with one thing in mind, be true to the original, but bring it into the 21st century. This one goal is what sets the game apart from others on the market, throwing dirt in the face of conformity that seems to have polluted the games market in recent years.Unlike in the eighties, when purchasing Carrier Command: Gaea Mission, it was done online and arrived through the post in a standard PC DVD case, it contained the manual, DVD and a cardboard printout of the controls for each vehicle, which folds into a triangle and stands on your desk for easy reference.For those of us who remember the original, this remake of the game breathes a new lease of life into a classic. When I received my copy of the PC game, there were a few patches that had to be installed, and this brought it up to its latest version with patch V13.0014. I can't comment on the bugs other people have reported, and reviews written before December 2012 would not have had this update, which to my knowledge has addressed the issues which they found in previous versions. That said, lets me get into the nitty gritty of the game. Like the original, Carrier Command: Gaea Mission has two modes of play, 'Campaign' and 'Strategy'.Unlike the original with its 'Action Game', the campaign does not throw you in the heat of battle with the enemy carrier, in fact it does not even put you in control of a single vehicle. The campaign starts as a first person shooter, although the engine struggles with this, as it was designed purely for the purpose of Carrier Command, and it is noticeable from the start. This however is not a bad thing, and they use the campaign mode as a tutorial of sorts while telling a story. This is the first time this method has been used to introduce a player into a game, and the concept has thrown many reviewers, thinking that this is the main game. It is not and never was intended that way, and although your character can not jump, it offers the ability to storm enemy complexes, which otherwise would not have been possible. The weak story and bad voice acting can sometimes seem laughable, but all is forgiven once you get into the action. As I said before, the whole campaign is basically a tutorial with perks, and when looking at it in this respect it does its job really well.Similar to the original, the Strategy Game is an open sandbox which allows you to configure the settings to suite the type of game you want. you can set the level of difficulty be setting how many islands you and the enemy start with, and the method of winning the game. This is done with slider bars, that give the player enough freedom and re-playability to keep them going for years to come.As with the original, the game has a network of islands which need to be captured, the blue ones are under your control, the green are neutral and the red ones are enemy controlled. The MANTA and WALRUS have been given a modern update, and so has the carrier, which looks more like a classic carrier with a futuristic twist. There are four MANTA platforms, and four WALRUS docks compared to the original, which only had one of each. These docks are a sight to behold, and to some extent are an ingenious design, not necessarily the MANTA platforms, but the WALRUS docks, which are located at either side of the carrier. These docks are platforms which swing down as they open whenever the corresponding WALRUS approaches, placing a platform in the water which the WALRUS drives onto, and then it swings shut again housing the WALRUS in its bay along side the MANTAS.In the original the islands were flat squares with the odd volcano and a few defences and runways for protecting MANTAs. Carrier Command: Gaea Mission has gone far beyond this design, making each island individual and complete, capable of being explored by MANTA or WALRUS. The game has a complete weather system, and depending on the island the conditions will vary. On snow covered islands it can snow, have blizzards or be calm, on other islands it can be sunny, raining or even have thunder storms, Trees and grass sway in the wind, sun beams through the leaves and shadows cast depending on how bright it is.Graphics aside, the game has been updated in many other ways, the vehicles can now have armour, allowing them to support different types of weapons, heavier armour determines the maximum speed. Each armour type changes how the vehicle looks, so MANTAs can have configurations of heavy fighters which are slower but pack more punch, or scouts which are faster and more manoeuvrable but can be destroyed easily. The WALRUSes armour determines the type of vehicle, heavy armour is tank like, this allows the WALRUS to support heavy weapons, where light armour allows the support of lasers and machine guns.Given the complexity of the terrain, the WALRUS path finding does a great job of finding its way around rocks, trees and over hills, but on occasion they can get confused, even on a straight road, on these occasions you have to jump in and take control, to get it back on course, but this does not affect the game in any way as it has been vastly improved over the previous versions. As more patches are released these hiccups will be completely eradicated.As with the original there are two ways to take an island, destroy the command centre, or take a hack capsule, which hacks the command centre and makes it yours. Getting to the command centre is more tricky than the original, as it requires sometime taking out shield generators or firewalls which are dotted around the island, and the defences are a lot harder, meaning you have to think about the tactics you wish to use to storm the island.One of the best parts of this new rendition of the game is the ability to jump in the cockpit and give order to your other units to assist you without having to leave control of the vehicle. This seamless jumping between taking control and issuing orders is where your skills and strategies as a player will need to be honed, and this game does not hold your hand or help you determine the best course of action in any way. I could go on about the ability to attach a harness to a MANTA so that it can pick up and fly a WALRUS into battle, or the various weapons, but i'm not going to, instead I am leaving it there.THE CONCLUSIONThis game has had a lot to live up to, and they would have fallen short had they pulled to far away from the original. Bohemia Interactive have ben bold enough to go against the grain, and produce a game which does the original proud. If you are an old time fan of Carrier command, then definitely check out Carrier Command: Gaea Mission, you will be pleasantly surprised. If you are too young to have played the original, but are willing to persevere, the game is worth getting, and if you stick with it, it will be rewarding. Given that it still has a few nonessential bugs that they are working on, patch v1.4 is due out soon, and they have just released a beta SDK, it is looking like a good sign of things to come.Pros: A remake of a classic that keeps the original feel at heart with a modern varnish. Taking direct control as you get into the heat of battle.Cons: There is no multiplayer, or co-op, and the game can be a little buggy at times. Although, in time both these factors will be rectified.Score: I give this game 8/10.

24.1.2013

It`s a good game, I`ll explain the rest later.Oh wait, I`ll explain now!It`s hard explaining a game to people many of whom were not aware when the first version of this game was around. Put aside your finger-twitch, high-octane knee-jerk gaming mentality and instead, relax in the seat of a comfy chair as Commander of a Military Sci Fi Carrier -and think as in you need to make a PLAN, then execute that plan and see the results of your efforts in time. Think American Carriers fighting the Japanese at Midway or even being Captain Picard on the Enterprise giving your orders and telling them to `Make it so,` then sitting back as your soldiers get to work... although,sometimes you get to join in too (so there`s a little finger-twichy).So with that in mind, Carrier Command pits you against an enemy Carrier over a set of islands. There are 2 modes to the game; Campaign and Strategy. I would advise reading a bit of the nice manual and checking the instruction card then going straight to strategy and run a few games as practise then start a proper strategy game once you get the feel of it. I would advise doing this even if you are completely new because campaign mode doesn`t really get you involved the way it should and might even put you off the game...The Campaign mode starts you off in 1st person shooter mode. The game clearly isn`t meant to be a personal shooter. Now I have the latest patched version 1.3 (recommend install) and I did not find it all that bad, yes, the config`s a bit quirky, the movement`s slightly uncomfortable and it hasn`t got the FPS feel like say FC3, but it wasn`t awful. Even with auto aim off I found playing with the Mouse and shooting droids was ridiculously easy which made up for the clunky controls. Later it starts to introduce you to the carrier and other stuff, gradually getting better, and you realise that it`s a tacked on tutorial. I didn`t find the voice acting terrible. So the guy has a common English accent? So what? It didn`t sound amateur at all. Not everyone talks with Shakespearean English. Really, it`s not that bad. The story wasn`t great. I found it quite silly when I was attacked by a robot in a scripted scene and although I had full ammo before, now my gun was empty or jammed for the scripted scene and no gun ever jams in this futuristic world before or since- Guess it needed to jam for this scene.But I did find it somewhat pointless and is why I`d say just go straight to the Strategy mode if you`re ready to take the time to get the feel of it.The Strategy mode starts off with a randomised set of Islands which is nice cos it makes the beginning of each campaign very interesting. You can get a good set of islands with a bunch of easy to take neutrals or start with the enemy islands right next to yours. You can end up with choke points or wide fronts- All adds to the strategic thinking side.You have 4 Mantas and 4 Walrus` in your Carrier plus your Carrier guns. You have one stockpile island and some resource and production and defence islands. The stockpile island is precious and should be kept at the rear. You can move it, but if the enemy Carrier slips through and takes it, he gets all your ready-made stuff just like that. You need to keep islands under your control and capture more. The more islands under your control the more stuff you can mine to enable you to produce weapons, vehicles and fuel. There are a wide variety of extra weapons stuff you can order such as spy drones and even nukes eventually.The 4 Mantas and 4 Walrus are your real hands and feet. You use the carrier to get to an island and take it. Neutral islands are easy. You send a Manta, your flying drone, to check out the land and quickly locate points then send a Walrus, your amphibious vehicle, with a Module (resource, manufacture or defence) that it will plonk on the island, turning it into the island of your choice. Job done, collect your drones to momma and leave for the next island. By the way, one of the very, very first things you should do is start ordering Fuel and plenty of it- not only does it govern how far you can travel, but its essential for all repairs of your Carrier... Order a couple of Mantas and Walrus plus ammo while you`re at it! If you run out of fuel, you`ll waste precious time having to reorder it to be ferried to you while the enemy takes over your islands.An enemy island is a differnet affair. There are several ways to deal with it. I usually send in my flying Mantas to check out where the Command Centre is and to take down air opposition, destroy their airields and their Walrus garages. then I`ll send in the Walrus laden either with a Hack module to reprogram the installations or a completely new Module depending on what I need. Sometimes, you`ll need to look on your strategy map in case the island is a good choke point, which you can make a defensive island. the enemy carrier can bypass but then it must go further and this limits its fuel and choices making it easier for you to intercept it if you wish. There`s plenty of tactical and strategic possibilities.Of course, some islands are harder to take than others depending on what the enemy carrier did to it. Your few personell on board will advise you if attacking a certain island is a good idea or not as well as informing you if an island has particular kinds of defences such as jammers which limit the range of your Carrier and therfore your Walrus and Mantas.You can get a lot of aerial or ground battles against enemy defences and you can also take over remotely any of the units to fight (you still remain with your skeleton crew in the safety of your Carrier). Fly against other Mantas or bomb ground installations or attack on the ground with your Amphibious tank Walrus`... Don`t go on swampy ground or you`ll really find what a Walrus wallowing in mud feels like!Of course, the most exciting moment is when you bump into the huge enemy carrier. You`ll hear alarm bells ringing as you drop out of a kind sea-warp (speeds up time). Then you have to jump up from your leisurely chair and start arming all your Mantas and Walrus` as fast as you can as the AI carrier turns slowly towards you and you spot it launching aircraft against you. Your automatic defense systems will start opening fire, but I like to take over the big guns and batter the ship while my drones attack. If your lucky you will have ordered additional equipment to help you out.Carriers will catch fire and belch smoke as parts of them are heavily damaged and each part damaged will correspond real time to a system, so it`s a good idea to try to hit important areas first. The AI Carrier is pretty good at knocking out my main gun then smashing my deployment doors shut so I can`t send anything out. First time I bumped into it, it destroyed me 3 times, but the 4th time I actually figured out what I was doing and sank it (the game loads at your last arrival point, so retrying wasn`t arduous - It didn`t do that in the original). The destruction of yours or the enemy carrier is well done and most satisfying when it goes down- It explodes in many places with secondary explosions, then dramatically splits in half sinking. Very nicely done. The only thing missing is it making a great groan of metal as it goes down, like a dying Dragon.Of course sometimes the AI Carrier will simply run, which can be a relief as I often wasn`t that strong anyway. But if you manage to damage it enough or knock out its Mantas and Walrus` then it too must spend time ordering fresh units, giving you time to do the same and taking the initiative.Graphically it looks excellent. The seas looks authenticl, waving about, skies are immersive, etc, and islands look very realistic with undulating terrain and even weather systems (snowy weather effects on the view and water drips drops on the screen). Sound is good with that double explosion effect you get when something explodes at a distance. However, I feel the explosion and shooting sounds are just not quite meaty\realistic enough for me. Alarm sounds and music during Sea-warps are very nice. I love the `enemy Carrier close proximity` alarms.AI:I have the latest 1.3 version so I was pretty please with the AI. It seemed to do most everything right. The only problems were sending the amphibious Walrus onto the islands. You have to choose a road or a clear bit of land otherwise, the AI Walrus will get stuck gainst a tree or some hilly incline and will take ages trying to figure a way round, and never send it over swamps. If I have trouble with swamps imagine how bad the AI is with it- In cases like that, I jump in and take over. Mantas are good most times, they sometimes take a while shooting gun emplacements, jockeying continuously for position- but they shoot enemy tanks, aircraft and buildings just fine. So it`s important just to recheck these guys every now and then to make sure they`re doing what you want. Hopefully, a 1.4 Patch will improve path finding, but it`s no way game breaking.In truth, some will hate this game because it`s TRUE OLDSCHOOL. It`s a representation of the Golden Age of Gaming 20 years ago, but with far better graphics and sound. It puts you in the realistic strategic and logistical seat of a Carrier Commander. I wouldn`t be surprised if it in someways represents what real Carrier Commanders of today have to think about. You do have to micromanage (a dirty word for some now) and it doesn`t dumb down for you, except to give you the 1st person campaign tutorial which is fair. You can tell the guys who made this loved the original Carrier Command and wanted to bring it uptodate without losing what made this great in the first place. Perhaps this game has not garnered many accolades or guaranteed profits, but just like the great classic movies, that does not make them bad, just under appreciated or misunderstood, drowned in the mass of the mindless popcorn eating crowd to whom the companies solely cater for, caring for nothing else. This game will be seen as classic in years to come, I lie to you not. It`s a real pleasure to see that the true soul of gaming is not yet dead.Yes, I like it. A lot.p.s. DRM. Well it`s pretty ok. You can get it on Steam, but it is not mandatory (that`s all I ask). The version I had simply required a small code I had to register with online and hasn`t bothered me since. It is not intrusive or Big brother on my privacy. this is good. I don`t like the idea of having to register games online , but unfortunately they all do it now.Hmm... this became a far bigger review than I expected....UPDATE:Also the Devs have NOT abandoned the game like some thought they would. They have continued steadily improving and fixing the game with constant patches right up to the present day (July 2013). This proves their worth.

5.6.2014

Having been a big fan of the original Carrier Command (back in ye specturm/amiga/st days)I was quite keen to try this modern update.It is in many ways quite faithful to the original, with a major makeover graphics wise.I didn't care much for the initial "on foot" first person part of the story, but once you get into the Carrier section (ie the main game) things improve a lot.One of the earlier resource games in the 80's Carrier command is a game of strategy and building up resources and planning attacks. It is very close to the first version, in terms of capturing islands, building bases and ensuring you have enough supplies of ammo, fuel and weapons.The team have expanded the scope of weapons,

16.1.2013

I confess I absolutely loved the original so had high expectations for this.Was impressed with seamless integration of 1st person shooter with the strategy - wasn't expecting that. It is basic FPS and not hard but provides a nice level to work on for the future!The strategy side is exciting at the beginning. The graphics are frankly superb with day-night cycles and environment/weather cycles contributing to how you might try and take an island - heavy snowstorm - probably not going to fly a poorly armoured manta in to scout an island's defences. However the strategy side does get a tad boring after a while. The original game was pretty repetative and so is this game.

29.9.2012

Now I have been playing this since around 4:00pm GMT and have just stopped to take a look at some reviews for it. I LOVE this game. It's now 12:06am and the campaign is superb but like all games... It does have its con's but overall beautiful game!Pro's:* Amazing feel to first-person, third-person and overview of the battlfield.* Take control of three types of units: The Mantus, Walrus and Carrier. While also managing turrets, missle strikes, upgrades, equipment and more!* Manage island to island for production queue's.* Real-time strategic feel.* Futuristic.* Good daytime and environment switch - with weather too.* The awesome feel to docking and undocking a vehicle.* Ability to switch between

12.10.2012

I was a massive fan of the original carrier command game in the 80's and played for many hours on my trusty Atari ST. I was very excited to hear about this new release and purchased the "play & contribute" beta several months ago.I've played only the campaign mode so far so please don't take this as a "complete" review of the game. What I enjoy the most is the reviving of the vehicle control and co-op needed to succeed in a campaign. Using multiple Walrus (Ground tanks) and Manta's (Aircraft) to beat each scenario the game throws at you.The good parts of this game are the graphics, there are some great weather effects, the story wraps with the campaign mode well. The walrus and manta controls get some getting used too,

1.10.2012

I bought this based on happy memories of the Amiga version, and I certainly have not been disapointed.- Graphics are great, and at times beautiful!!- Tanks are a lot of fun to master with the revolving turrets and upgradable armour and weapons.- Aircraft combine helicopter and aeroplane almost best of both worlds.- interface intuative.- Combat is huge amout of fun.- There's even a FPS bit at the beginning to set the scene for the campaign (not the bast FPS but I just saw it as a freebee).What you get is a huge open ended world with vehicles, resource man, empire building, weapons to research and build. So much more than any game I have played for years,

19.10.2012

This game is really fun but can get boring quickly, How you are meant to take over islands is really hard with all the mantas and hogs with terrible AI. But with guided rockets and a chain gun you can do it with one manta and one million redocks!Fantastic concept, but will be better when modders get involved to make the game more friendly.

28.5.2014

Videos graphics, the excellent musicthe way of upgrading the shields, weapons, second weapons, the map system, communication, the inner of the Carrier, the changing vehicles, the forming between them, the choice among defensive or offensive character, the escalation ech...

8.8.2013

Got the demo and decided to buy the full game but on the official site it was more so decided to look around. I buy so many things from amazon am glad I took a look best game ever. I hate some games you get and only last a few hours am happy this is not one of them

24.9.2018

came in time and packaged well, the game had good reviews so i bought it since it was cheap had nothing to loose, have played the first part and enjoyed it, when you install it make sure you get the latest updates.

15.12.2014

I with have given it 5 but it lacks setting adjustment it makes my laptop run warmer than I like it to but not a big problem.

13.1.2013

One thing with this game is you will need a really powerful computer to run it, anything like it should be played anyway.

22.5.2017

Arrived, installed everything looked good.The game was quiet good compared to its original in the late 80's...

25.1.2013

Bought for my son for Christmas, he loves it ! Have to keep calling him over to come down for his dinner!! :)

Carrier Command: Gaea Mission (PC) - Reviews

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