Carrier Command

One aircraft carrier, an island archipelago and an enemy fleet that wants the same thing you do: to control everything. Carrier Command from 1988 was a bold hybrid game for its time, one that combined action and strategy long before it became common.

You command a futuristic amphibious carrier and your goal is to seize a chain of islands, while a second, enemy-controlled ship with identical capabilities stands against you. The game seamlessly combines strategic planning with direct action, because at any moment you can switch into the cockpit of the launched fighters or amphibious vehicles and attack yourself, defend islands or build a production and defensive network. This freedom between commander's overview and direct control was exceptional.

Behind the game stands the British studio Realtime Games, and it was released under the Rainbird label. Technically it was a remarkable piece: a 3D world with polygon graphics, a simulation of resources, equipment production and logistics across the islands. You had to manage the economy, produce equipment for your vehicles and at the same time not forget the defence of your own ship, because the enemy never slept.

Carrier Command is today seen as one of the early predecessors of the genre we now call action strategy or open-world game elements. Its ambition to combine the macro level of command with the micro level of piloting was inspiring, and the game earned recognition as well as later remakes and spiritual successors. For the players of the eighties it was an experience of exceptional depth.

The magic of Carrier Command lies in the tension between overview and chaos. One moment you are planning a long-term strategy on the map, the next you are sitting in a fighter's cockpit in the middle of a firefight above an island. That constant oscillation between the role of commander and soldier makes playing an experience that forces you to think and react at the same time.

Why play: A visionary fusion of strategy and action, where you command an entire aircraft carrier as well as individual machines. Depth and freedom that were ahead of their time.