55%Dreamcast

The Dreamcast's third survival horror game released on the system, Carrier is very much like a Resident Evil game. In fact, it actually released a mere 3 weeks after Resident Evil Code Veronica. Unfortunately for Carrier, RE set the survival horror genre bar very high, and Carrier never reaches it.

The story takes place on an aircraft carrier out in the Pacific, where the ship has gone radio silent and the player boards the ship as the emotional Jack Ingles (the emotional parts is a slight jab to a few cut scenes with him lol). Once aboard the ship, Jack finds out that many of the crew have turned into mutated monsters, and the plant life known as Ark has essentially taken over the ship, with the goal of arriving on land and spreading across the US. The story setup isn't that bad, and the dialogue between the characters is awful, but in a B-Horror movie bad way so it is often hilariously awful.

Visually this is a good looking game. While many parts of the ship are just a drab gray, the detail on all the objects and environment is quite good. Enemies and characters look sharp, and it is all rendered in 3D, which is unlike the pre rendered backgrounds of previous Resident Evil games (before Code Veronica). However, when using the scanner goggles in certain parts of the game, there is massive slowdown while using them. It's typically not detrimental to the gameplay, but the slowdown can get severe at times, and was very annoying when scanning certain rooms. The music is mostly ambient, but there are a few tunes that are fairly good. There aren't many tracks in the game, and the ones that are there are rarely used though.

Carrier's gameplay definitely feels like resident evil, especially since Carrier uses the tank like controls previous RE titles utilized. Like RE, the player is given limited ammo and health, and must slowly progress through locked rooms and solve puzzles in order to progress. While this game tries to emulate Resident Evil, the gameplay is where Carrier struggles to compare. First there is the issue with enemies often being right by a door when the player enters a room or hallway. This often leads to getting hit before the player is able to react. This problem is exacerbated due to the player having to wait for the door animation, causing Jack to stand there as enemies are allowed to approach. Another big issue with the gameplay is a few events in the game that are only triggered after the player does a specific action that may not have been explained at all. Resulting in a lot of randomly walking around trying to find what was missed. And lastly, something that RE nailed that Carrier really faultered on is the map, which does not show differences in the lower and upper levels of sections on the deck of the ship the player is on. This makes navigation often a pain, and Decks 4 and 5 a nightmare to traverse when the player doesn't know if the hallway shown on the map is on the lower or upper level of that deck.

Carrier is unfortunately the definition of an average experience, it's not bad, but it isn't that great either. I hate to compare this so hard to Resident Evil, but it's obvious Carrier was heavily inspired by RE, and unfortunately it never reaches the highs of any of the early RE games. Personally, I like Blue Stinger more, because despite its faults Blue Stinger at least means more into its own campy story whereas Carrier tries to be serious throughout. I would only recommend this if you have exhausted the better survival horror options on the platform.

Pros:

+ The welder (essentially this games version of resident evils knife) is actually a useful weapon in the game
+ The visuals look very good, with detailed textures on both the environment and characters
+ I like the scan goggles, which allows the player to find items in rooms without hunting through every drawer
+ Two different playthroughs to experience between Jack and Jessifer
+ Campy B-Horror dialogue is often hilarious even though it isn't meant to be, which makes it even moreso

Cons:

- The map does not distinguish between the upper and lower levels of a particular deck the player is on, making navigation a challenge at times
- Many cheap hits when the player steps through a door, and is unable to move until the door animation is finished, but the enemies can move during that time
- There isn't always a clear direction of what the player needs to do, and a few parts require a specific action the player needs to make to trigger an event in order to progress. This causes the player to wander around aimlessly
- There are not that many different weapons to find
- Disappointing end boss sequence

80%Dreamcast

A decent RE clone with hilarious voice acting, genuinely creepy enemies, fair story, good puzzles, and great map.

For fans of RE clones, this one you should play.

70%Dreamcast

Not perfect, and has plenty of flaws but manages to be fun and atmospheric while unintentionally hilarious with its translated dialogue and english performances. Definitely worth trying out.

70%Dreamcast

Gameplay: 4
Graphics: 4
Story: 3
Sound: 4
Replayability: 5

Would be a decent resident evil clone, but the map system is just awful, one of the worst in survival horror history. Anyway when you know the areas, it's easier to navigate and overall game is pretty good despite the cheesy story and hilarious voice acting. NG+ works as 2nd scenario for a different character, like it was in RE2, so replay value is quite good.

80%Dreamcast

Story 7/10
Level Design 9/10
Characters 7/10
Gameplay 8/10
Graphics 7/10
Music/Sound 7/10
Voice Acting 6/10

Difficulty MEDIUM

Overall 8/10