Carrier Command: Gaea Mission

Carrier Command: Gaea Mission
Box Art for Carrier Command: Gaea Mission
Developer(s)	Bohemia Interactive
Publisher(s)	Bohemia Interactive, Mastertronic,[1] Rising Star Games[2]
Designer(s)	Jaroslav Kašný
Programmer(s)	Filip Doksanský
Composer(s)	Troels Folmann
Engine	Enforce
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360[1]
Release date(s)	‹See Tfd› WW: September 28, 2012[3][4]
Genre(s)	Real-time strategy Action
Mode(s)	Single-player

Carrier Command: Gaea Mission (CCGM) is a modern remake, by Bohemia Interactive, of the original 1988 Carrier Command.

Development

The game was in development since 2008. It was originally a project of Black Element Software that was later acquired by Bohemia Interactive and continued under its wings. The story was inspired by the unfinished Gaea trilogy of David Lagettie (concept) and P. D. (Phil & Didi) Gilson (author team) and most notably its unreleased second book "Gaea: Sonrise", sequel to "Gaea: Beyond the Son".^[5][6][7] A film adaptation of the first Gaea book was planned before the game and a film trailer was released. ^[8][9][10]

Gameplay

Carrier Command is a real-time action/strategy game, where the overarching objective is to conquer and control islands. It features a 33-island archipelago on the moon Taurus.

The player's fundamental unit is the Carrier, from which they may deploy and dock up to four aerial units and four amphibious units. Other defensive and offensive systems are present, such as drones which protect the Carrier when under attack.

Battles take place in the air, on land, and in the sea. The player can take control of any deployed vehicle at any time.

Traveling between islands is real-time and seamless. Islands are composed of 6 distinct climatic zones, including Wastelands, Arctic, Marshlands, Volcanic, Mountains and Temperate. The game features real-time weather changes and day/night cycles.

Islands may be used, once controlled, in one of three ways: defense, mining or production.

Plot

The story takes place on the planetoid of Taurus, a pivotal battleground in the war between two factions: the United Earth Coalition (UEC), and the Asian Pacific Alliance (APA), the latter having gained control of Earth in an apocalyptic conflict.

The player controls a UEC lieutenant Myrik. Myrik leads a team participating in Gaea Mission whichs task is to gain control of Taurus. The mission is led by Major Harrigan with Captain Aurora as second-in-command. Myrik and his team are shot down while trying to land on surface but survive and gain control of an APA Carrier. They start to conquer islands controlled by APA and try to reconnect with other UEC units. They gain a video that shows an execution of Major Harrigan by an unknown APA officer whose voice is familiar to Myrik. Myrik and his team find some UEC soldiers and reconnect with Aurora. It is revealed that APA builds a developed Carrier to face Myrik.

Myrik tries to stop APA from building the Carrier but its too late and Aurora is captured and the APA officer is revealed to be Mao Shin an old enemy to Myrik. The cat and mouse game between the two starts but they eventually engage in the final battle. The ending is dependent on player's actions during the final battle.

In the bad ending Mao Shin escapes killing Aurora in process. Myrik is then seen being captured on highly damaged carrier as APA forces led by Mao Shin take control over it. Myrik's team is seen killed inside of the Carrier.

In the good ending Aurora kills Mao Shin but is fatally injured. She dies in Myrik's arms. Myrik is then seen as a commander of a UEC Carrier fleet. The game ends with Myrik noting that the battle of Taurus has just started.

Reception

The game was released to mixed reviews from critics. The game currently holds 60 on Metacritic based on 23 reviews.^[12]

A positive review from Games.cz criticised unused potential and frustration caused by horribly executed AI of units. It also means very bad pathfinding which was noted as one of the biggest problems that Realtime strategy could have. The review on the other hand praised graphics soundtrack and the gameplay if the player has strong nerves enough to stand the AI.^[15]

The game scored in PC Gamer review with 59%. The review concluded with: "This much belated franchise-resurrection trips in execution due to unit pathfinding issues and the lack of multiplayer." The review also criticised the story and characters but the most critical point was the pathfinding of units.^[16]

A negative review was released by Impulse Gamer where the game was given 45%. The review criticised poor gameplay, bugs and audio. Some praise was gained for visuals on the other hand: The review in the end noted that some problems with the game were probably caused by Duke Nukem syndrome.^[17]

The game was awarded in Booom Contest for being the 3rd best video game developed in the Czech Republic of 2013.^[18]

References

External links

• Bohemia Interactive website
• Carrier Command: Gaea Mission website