Carriers at War 2

When I loaded up Carriers at War 2, I expected a classic war strategy game. Instead, I found myself in an arena where everything hinges on one thing — the position of your aircraft carrier, the moment you launch your fighters, and which admiral flinches first.

It's a naval simulator of World War II clashes, specifically aircraft carrier battles in the Pacific. Your job is to build a fleet, pick a scenario — historical or alternate — and then lead your forces against AI or another human. The game board is black and white, units are tiny squares, information is delivered as text. Nothing unnecessary, everything essential.

It plays in turns, which is perfect for something so demanding of concentration. You have to plan, not spam commands. Aircraft carriers are your entire fortune and your Achilles heel all at once — losing them means swift defeat. Unit selection for attack, distance, weather, timing of operations — it all matters. The controls aren't intuitive, there's practically no tutorial, so you'll spend the first twenty minutes figuring out what each key does. But once you've got it down, the system is straightforward and logical.

Carriers at War 2 is the opposite of fun, colorful spectacle. It plays like chess where the pieces move on their own, but you have to be involved in every single turn. The Total War series came later as its successor, showing you everything beautifully and backing it up with sound. Here there's no sound, no animations — just the awareness that you've just sent hundreds of men to certain death, and now you're really thinking about it.

The game appears today only in retro-gaming collections and archives. A strategy this austere, with no compromise for uncertain players, appeals mainly to those for whom retro hits personally — those who remember DOS and know the taste of pure strategy without graphical sauce. Playing Carriers at War 2 in your browser means going back to a time when the computer served the mind, not the eyes.