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Overview:
I finally got my hands on a copy of Command and Conquer:
Generals. As many of you may know, this game comes from a
whole line of great titles created by Westwood Studios. For
me, and I think for many, it all started with Dune 2. It was
my first Real Time Strategy and I was hooked from the first
time I saw a friend playing. Not long after Dune 2 got me into
the RTS genre, the Command and Conquer series followed.
Needless to say, I’ve played them all and have enjoyed
watching the cinematic cut scenes between missions. Now with a
new C&C game in stores, it’s still a Westwood creation, but
officially a production of EA Pacific (parent company of
Westwood). It’s no big deal, seeing as that the teams stayed
relatively the same. However, judging on the games content it
looks like mild changes naturally took place. |
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Plot:
No longer do you get to play the GDI vs. NOD or a simple Good
vs. Bad conflict. Westwood thought it would be a good idea to
use present day situations with high tech equipment.
“Realistic setting though futuristic warfare” has a nice ring
to it so I decided to toss it into the review. Anyways, the
realistic setting I’m talking about has to do with being able
to play the USA and Chinese superpowers or the Global
Liberation Army (GLA) terrorist group. It’s quite interesting
as the scenario gets close to the situation we see in the
world today. Even more so when you fire up the USA campaign
and find yourself in the middle of a tank battle outside
Baghdad. In 30 minutes the destruction delivered by the USA’s
superior forces; crusader tanks, Comanche’s and a fuel-bomb
dropped by a B-52 is staggering. The GLA are about the
equivalent of terrorists we see today. They use bomb-trucks,
terrorists themselves who are always willing to sacrifice
their lives for “the cause” and of course biological and
chemical weapons.
I want to call the warfare futuristic because, despite the
fact that most of the weapons used in Generals do already
exist, the weapons always hit their targets. For instance the
American cruise missile or the Patriot Defense Structure are
dead on winners. Another reason, the developers even stated
that Generals is futuristic!
Graphics:
To tell you truthfully about the graphics in C&C: Generals is
easy. It simply looks gorgeous. The strongest point of
Generals is definitely the action. The explosions and weapon
effects really are quite exhilarating. I’ve yet to see any
other game featuring such explosions. The cool looking
explosions are also one of the reasons why winning in Generals
is so satisfying. Is there anything more satisfying than to
see your opponents getting torn apart by beautiful explosions?
The environments, units, and structures in the game are not as
impressive as the explosions, but look quite well. Movement is
smooth and the camera follows the 3D terrain very well. A neat
feature is when fast units like the GLA truck are hit while
running at full speed. The wreckage maintains the speed for a
while, resulting in a spectacular crash. Aircraft like the MIG
and Raptor fly as they should and are a pleasure to watch
while homing in on the target. However, the graphics are a
little bit cartoonist compared to games that simulate a much
more realistic world, like Blitzkrieg. That’s not a bad thing.
C&C: Generals definitely looks very good.
Gameplay:
So you want to know if the game is worth playing, right?
Alright, so the first disappointment I ran into was that
Generals had no movies as its earlier C&C predecessors had.
Every mission starts and sometimes ends with in-game shots;
which are beautiful because of the graphics, but still it
unlike the good old wonderful Westwood movies. Another thing
that’s changed is the three campaign configuration. Now the
missions are simply a bunch of operations stacked together
without any form. I suppose we can be lucky to be playing with
the same side throughout each campaign. In my opinion Westwood
or EA Pacific should have done a lot more with the great Sage
game engine used for Generals. Now I feel as if they were not
motivated to think of an intriguing story. It appears that
this game is created for people who only play a few missions
and jump right into multiplayer after that. A pity for those
that don’t have an internet connection, yet still want to have
fun with good looking games like Command and Conquer:
Generals.
The missions still give you the chance to play a healthy game
in addition to skirmish like other C&C games. But more about
the units and how it’s possible that Generals could get a
decent rating. Well I think it’s pretty simple, Generals is
another C&C game that features the same addictive gameplay.
Even though the campaigns have been reduced to single missions
in which you test your toys, they are also fun to play.
Generals gives you destructive units with which to blast away.
It’s simply too enjoyable to see your army kicking ass with
dazzling explosions. The gameplay is fast paced, features
loads of action, and makes it worthwhile to actually sit down
and play the missions. This makes winning in Generals very
gratifying, especially after a successful combination of
attacks with as few losses as possible.
I haven’t even mentioned the units in this game, but I don’t
think I have to. It’s much more fun to discover the different
units and upgrades for yourself. However I can tell you that
Generals won’t let you down in this aspect. The variety of
units available is excellently crafted, and because of the
different upgrades possible, Generals will keep you
entertained in exploring the possibilities. A nice feature is
the promotion you receive after killing a sufficient amount of
enemies. This promotion comes in stars and you, as a general,
may decide what you use those stars for. The choices are
different for each side and focus on airpower for the USA,
sneak attacks for the GLA and brutal firepower for China.
Sound:
The audio in Generals is good, definitely good enough to enjoy
them along with the brilliant graphics. Together with the
voices the sound also add to the intensity. The voices don’t
get too repetitive so they will irritate. Most of them are
funny. I even found myself saying “USA Armoured Division”
while cooking dinner. The music is quite entertaining at
first, but once the same song gets repeated enough, that it
isn’t that cool anymore. After a number of games I had heard
it more then enough.
Fun Factor:
C&C Generals is game that will keep you entertained even if
you have an internet connection capable of letting you play
online. However pay no attention to the ranking system as
there seems to be the possibility of using ALT F4 if you are
losing. ALT F4 results in a tie. This can be a minor problem
even though it’s quite possible to play the game online and
enjoy its strong points. These strong points are the action,
beautiful graphics and addictive gameplay.
Overall:
If you don’t have excess to the internet or don’t like to play
online I advice you think carefully before you buy this game.
EA Pacific did include a world builder and new missions are
available on the internet for download. But I felt that the
campaigns in Generals are definitely not worth the money you
have to pay. Multiplayer is what makes Generals worth buying.
This means that the rating for Command & Conquer: Generals is
3 Planets for those who are only interested in single player.
EA Pacific and Westwood should and could have done a lot more
for Generals to make it a game worth playing for single
player. People who will be playing Generals online I give it 4
Planets as it’s not perfect, but definitely a good game.
Arnie Rating:
4 out of 5 Planets
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Command and Conquer: Generals >>
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