Carrier Command: Gaea Mission Preview

Do you remember Carrier Command from 1988 on the Atari, Amiga, Commodore 64, AND ZX Spectrum? Probably not. However, back when it was released it was extremely well received with a wide array of 90+% scores across the board. Now Bohemia is bringing it back to remind us just how simple and yet ball-bustingly difficult strategy games can be, and they gave us a crash course in Carrier Command: Gaea Mission.

The game is based around the same idea as the 1980’s original. You captain a naval carrier loaded with vehicles, which you then use to seize islands, and attack until the enemy has been erased from the face of the planet. What Carrier Command does differently however is that it blends Real Time Strategy (RTS) elements with more action-orientated gameplay, and does so rather well.

You see, while you still have the option of pulling up the map at any time and issuing orders from the bridge to your various AI controlled force, a vast majority of the game will be spent from the view of the driver’s seat of a vehicle.

For example, you can issues orders to the rest of your force to flank a building while you personally charge in, with full control of your vehicle, and blast away at the front doors. It even has an option to view the AI’s perspective after you’ve issued orders, a nice edition if you only want the strategy elements or want to grab a coffee, and you still have the ability to take control if things get heated and tits begin heading in an upward direction.

As an avid RTS fan myself it does please me to see something refreshing the genre. You can go full RTS, near enough, if you want to, or you can charge on in action style and still win – albeit in a different manner. It’s an idea that has been attempted before but it feels as if Bohemia has finally been able to find the balance between the two so they both work, at the same time, on completely different levels. They even have big plans for the franchise, there’s a strong possibility of a trilogy of books coming out, and the prospect of many future updates if Gaea Mission sells well enough. The most interesting aspect of Carrier Command: Gaea Mission though is how simple the building blocks of the game are, but how the game itself is incredibly hard to master.

There are only two types of vehicles. Yes, that’s right, just the two. A ground based amphibious tank called a ‘WALRUS’, and an air based helicopter called ‘MANTA’. The skill lies with how you use them in battle when in the driver’s seat, the strategy you implement through the map system, and the equipment you give each one.

You have a plethora of customisation options for both vehicle types, so perfecting different individual vehicles for the task you want to complete is but one of the crafts you’ll have to master to compete in Carrier Command. Two vehicles may appear limited but forming the right combinations to make them work for you demonstrates that it really isn’t. This doesn’t even begin to cover the choices you need to make about whether to destroy an enemy island’s installations or to hack them – that’s a bag of Apple branded cables even I couldn’t untangle in the short space of time I had available.

It goes even deeper, as the enemy also have their own carrier. While you are storming and claiming islands, they’re doing the same back at you. It’s a juggling act where you have to try and keep all the right balls in the air to continue progressing. Each island you take can be formed into three different ‘classes’ of island: production – for faster units/parts, mining – for more money for upgrades and vehicles, and defence – which will fend off enemy attack and help to protect nearby islands. With a single stockpile island for you store all your weaponry and supplies, may Thor have mercy on you if you lose that one.

This creates various choke points, strategic choices, and a constant real-time battle for territory across the map in both the skirmish and the story campaigns. As if all that wasn’t enough, the islands, starting points, and locations in the skirmish campaign are randomly generated so there’s no “automatic win” course of action. Adds a ton of replayability though.

If you’re after multiplayer mayhem then this is likely not going to be the game for you, as there is no multiplayer element on launch, be it co-op or competitive. Bohemia has stated that if Gaea Mission is well received that it will possibly implement multiplier portions at a later date, but for the time being you should be prepared to only welcome well-crafted single player action strategy into your life.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppAcPdnUTx8&w=600&h=338]
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Carrier Command: Gaea Mission is set to release on Xbox 360 and PC on September 28th in Europe.