Harrigan was a tank commander - experienced, tactical, and ready. He'd seen it all. Travelling the world, putting his tank driving skills to the test, he'd driven through deserts and over mountains, never missing a beat in the face of the harshest of conditions. But nothing could have prepared him for this.
Trundling down to the side of a river, Harrigan received a command - "cross the river". In reality, it was less of a river, and more a trickle of a stream - narrow, with no current, and little depth, meaning there was little room for hidden surprises. In a new, amphibious tank known as a Walrus, he scouted the area, searching for something to help him overcome this challenge. Amphibious tank or not, he wasn't about to go splashing through the river. After all, these were new shoes. He wasn't about to get them wet for anyone.
His face a picture of steely determination, Harrigan spotted a bridge a few feet down the river. This was his chance. Taking his time, his group lined their tanks up perfectly with the bridge. Harrigan was second in line. "Come on Harrigan, you can do it". With a lurch, the tank in front sped towards the bridge, and navigated it perfectly, before shooting off up the hill towards the enemy base. Now it was Harrigan's turn. Foot down. Heart pounding. Engine roars. "Come on, all you've got to do is drive in a straight line. You can do this!". Suddenly, his hand twitched. "No. Not again!" Harrigan swerved, inexplicably. CRUUUUNNNCCHHHH. As though there were an invisible forcefield blocking the bridge, the Walrus suddenly veered off, sliding half off the bridge, getting wedged on its belly, wheels rotating like a beetle on its back. CRUUUUNNNCCHHHHH. His team mate did exactly the same thing, on the other side of the bridge. Now it was becoming an embarrassment. Face turning red with shame, Harrigan fought, rocking the tank, and eventually managed to get himself free. Lining himself up, he tried again. And again. And again. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get over the bridge. Driving in a straight line was far too complex a challenge for him. Every time he approached it, he'd veer off, as some higher power took control. And that's the biggest problem with this game.
This is Carrier Command, a bells and whistles remake/reboot of the 1980s Amiga classic of the same name. Mixing elements of strategy games with the action of a vehicle based shooter, Carrier Command puts you (wait for it) in charge of a carrier, transporting sci-fi influenced hovering helicopter style aircraft known as Mantas, and all-terrain, amphibious tanks known as Walruses around an archipelago of islands occupied by a hostile force. As the commander, it's up to you to choose which island to attack next, before strolling up next to it in your gigantic aircraft carrier, and launching your forces to take it back.
Icons, icons, and more icons - although some aren't of much use. The guns that are marked up as Anti Tank guns (at least according to the manual), seem to also be able to shoot at planes.
From the second you try to take your first island, though, it's clear Carrier Command is a game that has a lot of depth. Taking a look at the map, you're bombarded with icons and symbols that represent the buildings on the shore. Each island contains a number of important installations, with bases scattered across all corners, and one, mega important command centre, which it's up to your vehicles to capture, by rolling up in front of it, and pressing A. With factories that churn out enemy vehicles to be destroyed, shields to bring down, firewalls to hack, and research bases, harbouring new technology waiting to be discovered, seizing control of an island is a lot more long winded than you'd imagine - especially as you'll be up against some stiff resistance.
Depending on how you're feeling, you can organise your forces in one of two ways - either by sitting back, and giving orders from an overview map, or by drilling down, and taking control of the units for yourself. Letting you take the wheel, or.... whatever you'd use to fly the odd helicopter/drone style Mantas for yourself, taking control manually tends to be the difference maker in any battle, as your units suddenly develop a sense of self preservation. If you need something doing quickly, it's best to take control of the unit for yourself, and drive it there - if it gets under attack, it's best to yank the stick away from its computer pilot, and take evasive action for yourself.
With a maximum of eight units under your control at any one time - four Walruses (amphibious tanks), and four Mantas (planes), you have a fair amount of freedom at your disposal when it comes to attacking an island. One thing you won't want to do, however, is leave your units outnumbered, and outgunned. Luckily, the game lets you assign different groups of units in several ways - if you want one unit to be the leader, you can tell every other unit to "Assist" it - or, you can multi-select units using the handy selection bar at the bottom of the screen (you select units using the control pad, and press down to select units as part of a group). Unfortunately, though, there's no way to create permanent groups of units (at least that we've found), and the groups you do create can be rather unorganised, as they tend to decide formations, and priorities on their own. Which, when the AI is this thick, probably isn't the best idea. Letting an anti aircraft unit, that can only fire upwards, lead the way to attack a group of tanks isn't the wisest of ideas - but it's the sort of decision the AI seems to make on a regular basis.
Flying the Mantas is around as hard as it looks. They're delicate things.
Unfortunately, though, making poor strategic decisions is the least of your AI companion's problems. When it comes to trusting the AI to do practically anything for themselves, you'd be better off waiting for the proverbial monkeys with typewriters to churn out some Shakespeare, as they're completely, and utterly incompetent. Tell them to head to a point on the map, and you'll likely end up with one of two results - either they'll completely ignore your order, repeatedly, no matter how many times you press the button, or they'll set off in the best of spirits, yet completely mess everything up.
You see, these being the remote, wild islands that they are, they're not exactly the most well kept of places. With rivers, marshland, huge rocky outcrops, random trees, and even cactuses lying in wait, ready to trip your units up, at times, it can feel as though the entire island's a giant pinball machine, and your units are the balls. Give them an order, and watch them drive - CRUNCH - straight into a rock. Getting into a panic, they'll reverse - CRUNCH - straight into another rock, before adjusting their angle, putting their foot down, and driving full whack into a third. Rather than reversing, and turning a little bit, making sure they've angled themselves so they'll fit through the gap, your units instead just crash from one obstacle into the next, like Sideshow Bob on the Simpsons treading on rakes. And this is fine if you have all the time in the world. It's actually funny the first few times they do it. But when you take control of the leader of the group, and run all guns blazing into a base, only to find yourself surrounded by enemies, and being blown up, only to find your crack team becoming best friends with a local rock, it can get kind of tiring. And don't even get us started on how they handle bridges. These are meant to be professional, fighting troops. They're driving amphibious tanks. Yet the only way they'll even consider crossing a river is by taking the bridge (you know, in case they get their tootsies wet), and even then, they can't get it right - swerving for absolutely no reason, and ending up in the drink.
The more you play, the worse the AI seems to get - possibly because the more units you have under your command, and the more complex the island, the more you start to rely on your units to actually, you know, do what you've asked. But when your sole Manta flies itself into a tree and promptly explodes, or your Walrus decides the best place it could possibly park is right next to the building it's currently shooting, thus ensuring it gets caught in the inevitable gigantic explosion, you start to wonder if it's worth all the effort, as you're essentially fighting two enemies - your opponents, and your companions.
Sensible positioning. It's not often you see this.
And it's so frustrating, because there's so much to like here. The battles on the island are a lot more fun when you take over the units for yourself. Exploring the island from a vehicle eye view is the best way to go, seeing as you're always in a position to react as soon as you come across an enemy. While you can happily pick turrets off from a distance though, sometimes you have to get up close and personal, but even then there are tricks you can use. Both Mantas and Walruses can only shoot in a limited ark of fire, so scooting in behind them gives you a free pass to blast away without fear of reprisal - something your computer controlled friends never manage to take advantage of. Similarly, if you're faced with a particularly aggressive Walrus, and all else has failed, you can always just drive full force into it and ram it, flipping it over, and leaving it entirely defenceless. Just make sure you're nowhere near it when it eventually explodes.
Your Mantas and Walruses can both be customised too. Although you sadly can't change their paint jobs or markings, you can change their equipment, letting you specialise each further, fitting them with lasers, grenades, machine guns, or anti aircraft guns. Letting you create a squad that suits each mission, it's a really cool touch - and one of many in the game. Whether it's scouting out the map with your Walrus, before spotting a turret, and calling in a Manta air strike, or driving your flaming Walrus back to the carrier, only to be greeted by the docking bay folding down from the side of the ship, ready to bring you inside, there are loads of neat little touches - in fact, the entire carrier is a really nice touch, with loading bays and lifts letting you see the inside of your carrier when you dock. With an expanding archipelago to explore, there's resources to manage, defend, and capture, as you engage in an ongoing game of one-upmanship with the enemy.
But sadly, all the neat touches in the world wouldn't be enough to counter the fact that the AI effectively ruins the game. It's a strategy game where any strategies you try to use end up unravelling in front of your eyes, as your team get wedged in between two rocks, flip themselves over, and basically act with all the aggression of a bunch of kittens. Rather than Carrier Command, after an attempt or two at getting your team mates to actually listen, the game ends up turning into Carrier Do-Everything-Yourself-Because-They'll-Just-Mess-It-Up-And-Explode. And that's nowhere near as much fun as it should be. It's a shame, because it's a game we really want to like. It's something original, something that's different, and something that keeps showing you little glimmers of potential, but it's so utterly buggy, it's hard to recommend.
Format Reviewed: Xbox 360
