When humanity’s supply of potable water runs dry, rival factions head for the heavens in search of more. Think they’ll share Taurus’ sparkling oceans? Not likely. Time for you to command a seafaring vehicle carrier on an island-hopping trail of conquest.
Amphibious Walrus tanks serve as your ground-based workhorses.Islands vary from rugged mountains and sticky marshlands to arctic tundra, and no two locales feature the same configuration of base structures and dug-in defenses. You’ll always strive to seize the local command center, but first you’ll track down and detonate shield generators, hack security devices, destroy tracking stations, and more. After customizing and dispatching a handful of amphibious assault vehicles and hovering gunships, you’ll direct each campaign from an overhead map of terrain and targets, or personally control any vehicle at any time.
But what sounds like a salty sea dog’s dream job quickly turns irredeemably sour. Stubborn sailors might soldier past the painfully counterintuitive interface used to group and orders units, and learn to enjoy collecting upgrade blueprints and managing supplies. Less forgivable, though, is how units move with all the urgency and intelligence of wayward sheep. Aerial units drill themselves into hillsides. Tanks lodge between trees and park atop boulders. As you fish individual units out of their thick-headed predicaments using finicky manual controls, your remaining forces battle foes who make up for their own broken pathfinding and tactical idiocy with overpowered armaments.
The upshot is a soul-crushing farce that even dedicated strategy junkies should avoid.
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission is actually a remake of a well-received 1988 computer game. You’re probably better off going back and playing that one instead.PUBLISHER: Rising Star Games • DEVELOPER: Bohemia Interactive • ESRB: Mature • MULTIPLAYER: None • ACHIEVEMENTS: Molasses • COST: $60 • RELEASE DATE: October 2, 2012
+ Long campaign featuring distinct battlegrounds, varied objectives, and customizable units.
– Rotten pathfinding makes indirect control extremely frustrating.
– Counterintuitive UI and unwieldy vehicle control.
? Interstellar travel and perpetual war are cheaper than desalination?
