Carrier Command
Description official description
Carrier Command was one of the first real-time strategy games.
You control an advanced cybernetic aircraft carrier complete with fighters, amphibious assault vehicles, laser defenses, and a fleet of decoy drones. Your mission is to build a series of resource, factory, and defensive bases spanning an island chain. The only problem? At the other end of the chain is an even more advanced carrier under the control of a terrorist organization with the same mission.
As you move around the islands you must decide what facilities to build and where they will best support your advance. Resource islands provide materials that factory islands can use to build weapons and vehicles to replace your combat losses but both will be quickly overrun if the enemy attacks them while you are not present. You also have to ensure that your stockpiles of equipment are stored safely until you can find time to launch a resupply drone to bring them to your carrier.
From your carrier, you can take first-person control of your attack aircraft and amphibious tanks and use them to assault enemy islands or even the enemy carrier itself if you're lucky enough to find it. The weapon payloads on your vehicles are completely configurable based on your needs. An island invasion may require launching a virus bomb that will take over the enemy command systems or just blasting the base with a wire-guided surface to surface missile.
Ultimately, you have to find and destroy the enemy carrier but, doing so will require a solid supply infrastructure and a strategy for depriving your opponent of his.
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Credits (Amiga version)
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 84% (based on 25 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 57 ratings with 3 reviews)
One of the best early 3-D games
The Good
For 1989, this was a spectacular game. It still holds after all these years with incredibly detailed 1st person graphics. One of the best things about it is its functionality. You can use your imagination to expand the gameplay and play it again and again.
The Bad
I thought the manual was pretty goofy. The backstory for the game was largely unneeded, as it really never made it's way into the game itself.
The Bottom Line
An unknown classic.
DOS · by Susan Montgomery (1) · 2003
The Good
At the time Carrier Command was unique - it was the GTA of its day. As I remember there were four amphibious vehicles docked in your carrier, as well as jet planes, all of which could be programmed to carry out tasks or piloted directly. There was plenty of fun to be had just in banging around in these vehicles.
The Bad
Sadly the game crashed at random and fairly regularly, and furthermore it was nigh on impossible to win. If you sent any craft out on their own there was virtually no chance they would return and the best you could ever hope for is to conquer a couple of islands.
The Bottom Line
If only somebody could iron out the bugs and re-release this game I would be in heaven, but there's absolutely no chance of that and it will surely only live on in our memory!
Amstrad CPC · by Colin Pearson (1) · 2010
3D strategy at it's peak on Atari ST
The Good
This game really puts you in the hot seat.
The fact that you can choose between a quick action-game or the whole strategic affair is just great.
If you own an ST with a double-sided drive (1040 and up), you are in for a musical treat when the pre-game loading has stopped.
The action is bang-on, now and then a bit frantic, but just so right for this game.
The strategic side is equally impressive.. choosing which island to visit(conquer) depending upon your fuel-levels, having to ship your stockpile forward when time progresses.. and having to outsmart the enemy carrier attacking your supply-lines is just dead-on.
The Bad
actually steering the carrier can be rather tedious without time-acceleration option
The Bottom Line
Definitely worth a go, absolutely addictive if you can get the hang of it.
I actually tracked down several version of this game on the internet just to get to play it once more.
Atari ST · by El_Freako (180) · 2005
Trivia
1001 Video Games
The Amiga and Atari ST versions of Carrier Command appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
Atari ST version
On the Atari ST disc was a backup-program. You had to wait for the desktop to come on-screen before inserting the disc. The manual specifically commends to make a backup and play from that disc instead of from the original.
Also, the titlemusic would only load if you had a double-sided discdrive in your ST.
Music
The PC, Amiga and ZX Spectrum releases of Carrier Command came with a special bonus, a cassette tape with an extended stereo version of the theme song. It was called Just Another Mission and it was by Dave Lowe, sung by an anonymous female session singer.
The Atari ST and Amiga versions of the game included a short sampled rendition of Lowe's music as the theme tune. The 128K ZX Spectrums had AY chip music, but due to a bug it was not allowed to play all the way through, and so without downloading it the player cannot hear the full piece.
Awards
- Amiga Power
- May 1991 (Issue #00) - #15 in the "All Time Top 100 Amiga Games"
- ST Format
- August 1991 (Issue #8) – #8 Top Atari ST Classic Games (Editorial staff vote)
Information also contributed by Ashley Pomery, El Freako and Mo
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by ClydeFrog.
Macintosh added by Rola. ZX Spectrum, Amiga added by Kabushi. Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST added by Martin Smith. Windows added by BOIADEIRO ERRANTE.
Additional contributors: Martin Smith, Patrick Bregger, Jo ST, FatherJack.
Game added July 15th, 2002. Last modified January 21st, 2024.