The carrier sits off San Diego, under way, with its wake behind it and the sun on the water. You start on the catapult in the F-35C or the F/A-18E Super Hornet, with the deck crew’s signals and the engines at full power. When the shooter touches the deck, the catapult throws you off the bow.
- ~2 sdeck to air
- F-35Cor Super Hornet
- Movingdeck at sea
The launch
The catapult stroke is modelled for each jet: the end speed, the g and the time it takes, on a deck that is moving through the water. The camera kicks wider as the acceleration pushes you back in the seat. The view shakes, and the sound goes from the scream of the engines to the thump of the shuttle to the quiet of the climb. A gamepad rumbles with it, and on a DualSense the triggers push back.
Then what
Climb away and fly free over the Pacific, or play Defend the Carrier, mission 7 of the campaign. The raid is called as you climb off the catapult. Then come waves of incoming missiles, marked in red, that you chase down with the gun and AIM-9X before they reach the ship. Wave three brings two attack jets that fire and then fight.
The sea
The ocean runs to the horizon with its swell, the sun’s glitter and the ship’s wake. At golden hour the whole sea goes bronze. The carrier’s deck, island and hull are solid: hit them and you crash, and you can eject over the water.
Free, in the browser
Like the rest of VIPER 11, it runs in the browser with nothing to download. Choose Fly › Carrier launch from the menu.