This is the case where I wish Steam would've given "Abandoned game" tag to a released product. And no, one update per 2-3 months consisting of small balance changes is not a development.
The game is in "complete state", yet it is a stillborn in current iteration.
Let me be clear - it's an RTS about immersive futuristic carrier, but the only good-designed part about carrier is it's bridge models, and even that part isn't fleshed out for VR experience.
[h2]First, RTS part:[/h2]
It is tedious and severely limited to a normal RTS game - even though you can deploy unlimited amount of units, you carrier has only one slow, and I mean [b]slow[/b] elevator for aircraft and one ramp for ground units. If first somewhat compensated by "Hold on deck" button, allowing to send two crafts in a short time, ground units take age to deploy one by one, despite ramp having space for 2-3 wide. The problems escalate more with deployed vehicles - ground units are EXTREMELY slow when on water, taking minutes just to get on an island when deployed from 2 kilometers away. This is compensated by Petrel carrier helicopter, but you don't have those 1/3 of the campaign most of the times (islands with blueprints are random). Both your and enemy units are extremely dumb - no flare usage, no any kind of maneuvers to dodge fire, can't even jump down the cliff, it's just straight pathing to a placed point and exchange of fire until someone is destroyed. Get used to enemy ground units conga-lining to the shore and getting stuck in a water forever.
[h2]Direct control issues:[/h2]
...And partially a lack of balance - most vehicles are inferor for direct control, mainly due to being to slow and pretty unfun to play with (Point & click adventure). Armor exists, but not the armor angling. Cover exists, but it is mainly flat terrain or some rocks/trees, and enemy AI will go straight at you, rendering hull-down useless pretty quick.
For flight - it is fun on a decent level, but it is fun as long as you have enough ammunition, which is... questionably balanced. A single Razorbill, starting helicopter with 2 slots), can clean up light, medium and with enough skill and luck - hard-level defended islands, just strap on some 20mm rotary cannons on it and fly kilometers over clumsy, packed ground units, lasering them with 2000 carefully unpacked shots. Aerial units are countered by Albatros/Manta (Slow drone/fighter) fitted with enough IR missiles, requiring more than 4 per island as an exception. But just don't forget that enemy wings will snap themselves flying directly at your AA missiles and CIWS, rendering island defenceless from air threat before approaching at 2km, which returns us to Razorbill + 20mm cheese. Why not missiles against ground threat? - They take 2 per single Seal, which is weakest unit. And that's enough about balance between ground and air units in direct combat.
[h2]Logisticn't:[/h2]
Many modules and most weapons are redundant for vehicles. Most you need is just stamping AWACs onto Mantas, lots of IR missiles USA can afford, 20mm and virus bots for your single seal from the start of the game. And fuel.
You can pack up artillery shells for carrier, but artillery is very inaccurate and can't hit naval targets at all, due to shells not detonating when touching a single drop of water, and naval targets are real threat to you.
You can pack up cruise missiles, which are kinda fun, but when you remember that you can lead only one and they're barely faster than Albatros, a rotor-based plane, you barely use them. They give a punch, but most will be rendered useless due to ground PD/those nasty -Fishes having CIWS (both can be partially dodged if you sway your mouse like having seizure before hitting target).
You can pack torpedoes, and you need a lot, because you will miss LOTS of them on a single naval target, because there is range indicator, but no estimated range of activation for sonar and no estimated torpedo M/S.
You can pack other stuff like Mule, Weasel, artillery cannons on vehicles, but majority of weapons are pretty niche considering bolstered meta of machinegun-IR mid-lategame. And Mule is just a joke of a vehicle - a supply ground unit for a game, where islands are small enough to cross them 3 times around with enough fuel for BBQ.
[h2]Multiplayern't:[/h2]
The game can support up to 16 players on a single carrier, or multiple carriers, or C vs C gameplay. But ask yourself - how fun it will be, when entire carrier can be most efficently manned just by 2 men? This isn't Pulsar, Barotrauma or Jump Ship - you don't have roles on your ship, and most time you will spend behind those 3 tactical terminals, directly controlling vessels... or waiting for them to return. Multiplayer with a big team is simply not fun for most crew, which will be a layabout, rather than addition.
[h2]VRn't:[/h2]
The game has VR support, but it's a fool's gold - VR is incomplete in it's current state. You do not interact physically with controls, you merely point at them with laser-finger and click your trigger button. Planes and vehicles are controlled like you play with a gamepad, instead of funny gimmic-like joystick.
And the worst part - the game has all of those elements inside, but only as uninteractive models. All the switches, buttons, helm - they're here, just not directly physical for our VR experience. And there's also joysticks on control consoles, but those are pure decorations. Not even talking about other interior parts not being interactive for VR users.
Played it both with Q2 and HTC Vive.
[h1]Conclusion:[/h1]
The game simply isn't worth it's money.
Is it cool? It's cool, but purely on novelty. After hours you start to understand it's core flaws and severe unfinished, unbalanced state.
Is it memorable? Yep. Good visual style, nice music, too loud carrier engine. Islands are pretty bare though.
Will it change? Doubt. It's in the state of "finished game" with small balance tweaks and small fixes, no features and new gameplay mechanics will happend, mainly because TF2 janitor is updating this game in his spare time.
You want proper naval futuristic RTS with ships and their systems? Consider [b]Nebulous:Fleet Command[/b]
You want brige-based Co-op experience on a single ship with multiple systems? Play [b]Pulsar: Lost Colony[/b] or a new shiny [b]Jump Ship[/b]
You want Carrier Command it should have been? Then get yourself [b]Carrier Command: Gaea Mission[/b] and forget about this unfortunate "sequel". A game of the past decades plays better than this one.
I'm done with it.
