Carriers At War

by Matrix

Product Features

• Windows 2000, Windows 98, Windows Vista, Windows Me, Windows XP

Product Details

• ASIN: B000SM4YZ2
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,598 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Scratch One Flat Top!... Your task is clear, Captain, find the enemy carriers, and sink them before they find you. Easy to say...Hard to do! Carriers at War puts you in command of the task forces that battled for supremacy in the Pacific Theater. Take to the high seas and crush your opponent with the mightiest ships in all the world Carriers at War The essence of carrier combat! You are in charge of commanding carriers with immense amounts of firepower tasked with delivering a knockout blow to the enemy, while avoiding retribution at the hands of a fanatical foe. Carriers at War focuses heavily on carrier fleet command strategy, which requires the player to use all of their naval prowess to best the enemy. Throughout the wide rage of scenarios and campaigns found in Carriers at War, history buffs and strategy fans alike will recognize and enjoy playing though famous engagements including Pearl Harbor, Midway, Coral Sea, Easter Solomons, and more. Carriers at War also features the most ruthless and endlessly challenging AI in any SSG title to-date. Apart from going head to head against a human opponent over the internet or LAN, players will find that the AI in Carriers at War will test the skill of both basic strategy fans and retired admirals alike! In Carriers at War you must find the enemy carriers before they find you! Game Features Six dramatic historical scenarios: Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, Midway, Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz, Philippine Sea Ruthlessly efficient programmable AI Massive battle maps covering millions of square miles Interactive tutorial Dynamic animated combat display Extensive rollover help text Realistic weather modeling Full scenario data, ship, plane and map editor Historically accurate ship and aircraft profiles ... and many more!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Biggest game disappointment ever, June 27, 2007

By 

Bruno "Bruno" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Carriers At War (CD-ROM)

When I found out they were coming out with this game, I was very excited, since I have a strong interest in the subject. I had played similar games way back when graphics were crude and it was mostly manipulating data tables. I figured this would be a prettier version where you managed your air units on carriers. Well, what can I say except the game is a huge disappointment.

It's cumbersome. The interface is not as intuitive as it could be. Lots of command menus that don't always come up easily and nothing is easy to do directly. Definitely need to read the manual first.

But the worst was the actual game play. Despite tons of detail in some areas, damage to ships is crude (points on a scale) and you don't really get much control over your air units. You don't decide what they are armed with, when they launch, you don't do much of the deck managment, the computer does it for you. So crucial things like timing strikes so you don't get caught with fueled and armed planes on deck are just mostly out of your control.

The single most crucial aspect of carrier warfare, scouting, is mostly automated. You can control only the general arc of search patterns, not how many planes are sent out to each direction, which means you may only have one search plane over a 30 degree arc, not nearly enough at longer ranges. If it gets shot down, too bad. You can't send followup search planes either. You can't decide if search planes are armed or not. You can't time when search planes are sent out to find enemy carriers at dawn Dual stage searches are also not done.

So you are basically steaming in the general direction of the enemy and trying to launch a strike. Yawn. The nuts and bolts that make it interesting are out of your control in most ways.

I also noted a tendency for massive numbers of planes to attack cruisers when a carrier is nearby. That happened some historically, but not this much. They knew to not waste a bomb on a surface ship unless the alternative was dumping it in the sea.

Just a huge big mess. Worse, it costs about $70 with fees for a hard copy. They should fix these items and it could be a playable game, but I will be selling my copy.

0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Game, March 5, 2008

By 

binkinsect "binkinsect" (DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Carriers At War (CD-ROM)

This game is absolutely superb. Great AI and a unique treatment of the WWII Pacific Theater.

It is currently available from Matrix Games.

Google some reviews - they are very good.