Carrier Command 2 released 33 years after original game
After thought lost at sea, one of the greatest strategy action games of all time is back on PC
- By Richie Shoemaker
- August 10, 2021
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Out now for PC is Carrier Command 2, sequel to one of the most successful and beloved games of the 1980s. The game, one of the first releases overseen by the reconstituted publisher MicroProse, fuses first-person action with tactical-level simulation, tasking players with directing a futuristic aircraft carrier and all its vehicles to conquer a series of islands across a procedurally-generated alien world.
Developed by UK studio Geometa, the Carrier Command sequel is predominently played from the 3D bridge of the ship. Intel and visual feeds are delivered to various console screens and from there the player can launch missiles, create vehicle loudouts, direct various amphibious vehicles and aircraft, or control them directly. As more islands come under player control, new capabilities are unlocked and resources can be directed towards expanding or improving the capabilities of their task force.
Given that more than three decades have passed since the original was released, Carrier Command 2 offers innumerable improvements in graphics and scope, with a vastly bigger and more diverse world, a thoroughly modern graphics engine that curiously retains a retro feel, plus a fully featured multiplayer mode. Perhaps best of all, the game ships with a VR version, which offers cross-platform multiplayer between the VR and pancake versions of the game.
The original Carrier Command, developed by Realtime Games and released for various 8 and 16-bit platforms (including PC), was one of the very best computer games of 1988 – coming in the same year as Dragon Quest III, Super Mario Bros 2 and the very first Street Fighter. After Carrier Command, Realtime Games went on to create Battle Command in 1990, which was more of a sequel to Realtime’s 1983 hit 3D Tank Duel, itself a clone of Atari’s Battlezone. (Confusingly, the 1998 reboot of Battlezone is more reminiscent of Battle Command than it is of the original Battlezone.) Carrier Command did eventually end up with a successor in 2012, when Bohemia Interactive – of Arma and DayZ fame – released Carrier Command: Gaea Mission. However, Carrier Command 2 is the first direct sequel.
Carrier Command 2 is available now for PC via Steam and includes Carrier Command 2 VR as part of the deal.
