Carriers at War

Carriers at War
Developer(s) Strategic Studies Group
Publisher(s) Matrix Games
Series 'Carriers at War'
Platform(s) Apple II (vintage), Commodore 64 (vintage), MS-DOS (I & II), Macintosh (I & II), Microsoft Windows (current)
Release 1984, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2007
Genre(s) simulation, strategy
Mode(s) Single Player, Multi Player

Carriers at War is a computer game developed by Strategic Studies Group in 1992 for PC-DOS/MS-DOS and 1993 for Mac OS. Carriers at War II: Fleet Carrier Operations in Southeast Asia 1936-1946 came out in 1993. An updated version of Carriers at War was released on June 8, 2007. The current release is the latest in a long history of this title dating back to 1984 for (Apple II) and (Commodore 64) entitled Carriers at War 1941-1945: Fleet Carrier Operations in the Pacific.

Plot

Carriers at War is a strategic war game which features historic, fictional, and random scenarios featuring the naval and air forces in the Pacific in World War II. The player controls either the U.S. (Allied) or Japanese forces (Axis).[1]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGW8-bit: [2]
DOS: [2]
Dragon[1]
inCiderAP2: [3]

II Computing in 1985 called the Apple II version of Carriers at War "the best-playing simulation of naval warfare I have seen on either tabletop or video monitor" and favorably citing its historical accuracy.[4] inCider was less positive, rating the Apple II version two stars in 1986. The reviewer stated that the game "is so difficult to master, it takes much of the joy out of playing it ... Carriers' big drawback is its complexity", adding that he preferred Gary Grigsby's SSI naval games as "they're less flexible, but they're just as detailed and much more playable".[3] Computer Gaming World stated that "Carriers at War is the best game available on World War II carrier operations. It is, perhaps, the best wargame of 1984 on any topic".[5] A 1987 overview of World War II simulations in the magazine rated the game four of five points and stated that "it excels in flexibility, options and limited intelligence".[6] A 1993 survey in the magazine of wargames gave it three stars out of five, stating "Highly recommended for the 8-market".[2] In 1994 the magazine said that the 8-bit version was "one of the first computer wargames to approach the complexity of board wargame simulations while still remaining playable and fun".[7]

In 1992 Computer Gaming World reviewed the new DOS version of Carriers at War, which it described as having "only a superficial resemblance to its 8-bit predecessor" with a mouse-driven interface. The magazine praised the realism of combat including the fog of war, and liked the intelligence of the computer opponent while stating that a human was still better. It concluded that "CAW is the most accurate simulation of carrier warfare available and is by far the best for solitaire play. Players interested in the Pacific Theater of World War II should not miss it".[8] The 1993 survey rated the revised version three-plus stars, criticizing the lack of a campaign.[2] In 1994 the magazine said that the DOS version "was a milestone in computer wargame history".[7] The game was reviewed in 1993 in Dragon #193 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 4 out of 5 stars.[1]

In May 1994 Computer Gaming World said that Carriers at War II was "an impressive wargaming package", with better graphics and AI than the first game.[9] A longer review in June 1994 said that II had "many improvements, both obvious and subtle". The reviewer praised the improvements on "what was already one of the best AIs in all of gaming", stating that "the AI simulates a reasonably good opponent in ways that most wargames only dream about", and welcomed the extensive simulation of the usually unrepresented Royal Navy in the Pacific. He reported that the game was "remarkably free of bugs and crashes, almost unheard of these days", and welcomed the free upgrade of the first game to the second's graphics and AI, concluding that "CAW II is not merely an excellent game, it is a shining example of why SSG is a leader in the computer wargaming genre".[7]

And again on June 25, 2007 in Carriers at War Review at outofeight.info by Allen, James went over the updates in the most recent release.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (May 1993). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (193): 57–63.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Brooks, M. Evan (September 1993). "Brooks' Book of Wargames: 1900-1950, A-P". Computer Gaming World. p. 118. Retrieved 30 July 2014.
  3. 1 2 Murphy, Brian J. (December 1986). "Game Room". inCider. pp. 113–114. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Shapiro, Neil (October–November 1985). "Of Jewels and Ghouls and Butterflies and Strategies of War". II Computing. pp. 24–26. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  5. ↑ Nichols, Bill (April–May 1985). "Carriers at War: A Review". Computer Gaming World. Vol. 5 no. 2. pp. 16–17. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  6. ↑ Brooks, M. Evan (May 1987). "Kilobyte Was Here!". Computer Gaming World. No. 37. p. 7. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 Coleman, Terry Lee (June 1994). "Campaign Wishes And Carrier Dreams". Computer Gaming World. pp. 140, 142.
  8. ↑ Proctor, Bob (December 1992). "Doing Admiral's Work in Carriers at War". Computer Gaming World. p. 134. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  9. ↑ "Taking A Peek". Computer Gaming World. May 1994. pp. 174–180.
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