Okay then, straight into it then.
Some time ago I mentioned that I thought that Command and Conquer 3 was arguably the best RTS game made in a while and I thought that maybe I should quantify my statement or risk being thought a fanboy.
If you are new to the C&C series you may be surprised by the Full Motion Video's taking the place of cinematics for briefings and mission assignation. If you are familiar, you will immediately notice how Kane looks exactly the same as he did nine years bloody ago.
Alright, on to the story. C&C 3 is the third of a trilogy of games blessed with a great premise of a quasi-religious cult with the desire and means to catastrophically alter the world. This is a refreshingly new approach to storytelling rather than the usual 'I-have-a-nuclear-device-now-give-me-money-and-I-promise-not-to-set-it-off-honest-Oh-no-a-single-person-has-managed-to-infiltrate-my-base -kill-umpteen-million-guards-and-escape-the-unnecessarily-slow-crane-death-thing' Having said that EALA are not above doing the Hollywood gambit by giving female actors roles based on hotness rather than skill, and the Nod characters are so melodramatic and weirdly written it's impossible to take them seriously.
Anyway, moving on from the story, C&C 3 is a sort of return to form for RTSs in that you are given a single linear story path and base-building is central to gameplay. Note that I do not think these are negative aspects, far from it, but nowadays saying that a game is non-linear and not about base building is considered some demented euphemism for "it dispenses cocaine and hookers." Base building is easy to manage without any bastard builder units, since you only need to protect a single structure, although if it goes, you're pretty much fucked from then on. Altogether I like the general premise of the game. C&C 3's units are divided into 3 tiers, each unlocked by building a prerequisite structure, and luckily it doesn't make you build an unlocking structure for EVERY separate unit.
-Tier 1 includes basic tanks, AA vehicles, most infantry and most base defences.
-Tier 2, through construction of a Command centre/Operations centre, gives access to basic aircraft, advanced infantry and more specialised vehicles.
-Tier 3, through construction of a Tech Centre, makes each factions iconic uber unit (sometimes just called 'tier 3 units' because that?s all you will EVER go to Tier 3 for) available, as well as advanced artillery.
Unit-wise, the game is superbly balanced, thanks to numerous patches, and every unit has a hard and soft counter to it, making rushing with a single type of unit inflexible and inadvisable. However, some issues have got through, which I shall demonstrate with an example from the game. GDI (the C&C 3 universes version of the UN on crack) has access to a powerful basic tank right from the get-go in the form of the Predator tank. This is the strongest of the tier 1 tanks, with good firepower and decent armour. One of the key things about the C&C games is that tanks firing their main cannons at infantry are basically useless, which helps preserve some of the rock-paper-scissors aspect of gameplay. In the late game, however, the Predator gains access to one of the most overpowered upgrades imaginable, Railguns. This replaces the traditional turret, and generally dishes out about 2-3X damage. All well and good, but the issue rears its ugly head when you find out that the railgun round will kill any infantry unit in a single hit, meaning that a battalion of these ubiquitous fuckers is nigh on unstoppable. All the GDI player needs from then on is a little AA and away he goes. /win, anybody?
Aside from these issues, C&C 3 is well balanced, and early patches reduced the emphasis on spam, and encouraged more creative thinking about how to get the most out of what you have, and many amazing tactics can be devised. The game has even spawned a TV style program about itself (which can be downloaded as a podcast, by the way, and is something I encourage you to do. Said amazing strategies are featured therein.)
Summary: Well balanced, return to form for RTS fans with strong gameplay and an iconic and immersive universe which anybody owning a PC and a sense of dignity should buy.
Some time ago I mentioned that I thought that Command and Conquer 3 was arguably the best RTS game made in a while and I thought that maybe I should quantify my statement or risk being thought a fanboy.
If you are new to the C&C series you may be surprised by the Full Motion Video's taking the place of cinematics for briefings and mission assignation. If you are familiar, you will immediately notice how Kane looks exactly the same as he did nine years bloody ago.
Alright, on to the story. C&C 3 is the third of a trilogy of games blessed with a great premise of a quasi-religious cult with the desire and means to catastrophically alter the world. This is a refreshingly new approach to storytelling rather than the usual 'I-have-a-nuclear-device-now-give-me-money-and-I-promise-not-to-set-it-off-honest-Oh-no-a-single-person-has-managed-to-infiltrate-my-base -kill-umpteen-million-guards-and-escape-the-unnecessarily-slow-crane-death-thing' Having said that EALA are not above doing the Hollywood gambit by giving female actors roles based on hotness rather than skill, and the Nod characters are so melodramatic and weirdly written it's impossible to take them seriously.
Anyway, moving on from the story, C&C 3 is a sort of return to form for RTSs in that you are given a single linear story path and base-building is central to gameplay. Note that I do not think these are negative aspects, far from it, but nowadays saying that a game is non-linear and not about base building is considered some demented euphemism for "it dispenses cocaine and hookers." Base building is easy to manage without any bastard builder units, since you only need to protect a single structure, although if it goes, you're pretty much fucked from then on. Altogether I like the general premise of the game. C&C 3's units are divided into 3 tiers, each unlocked by building a prerequisite structure, and luckily it doesn't make you build an unlocking structure for EVERY separate unit.
-Tier 1 includes basic tanks, AA vehicles, most infantry and most base defences.
-Tier 2, through construction of a Command centre/Operations centre, gives access to basic aircraft, advanced infantry and more specialised vehicles.
-Tier 3, through construction of a Tech Centre, makes each factions iconic uber unit (sometimes just called 'tier 3 units' because that?s all you will EVER go to Tier 3 for) available, as well as advanced artillery.
Unit-wise, the game is superbly balanced, thanks to numerous patches, and every unit has a hard and soft counter to it, making rushing with a single type of unit inflexible and inadvisable. However, some issues have got through, which I shall demonstrate with an example from the game. GDI (the C&C 3 universes version of the UN on crack) has access to a powerful basic tank right from the get-go in the form of the Predator tank. This is the strongest of the tier 1 tanks, with good firepower and decent armour. One of the key things about the C&C games is that tanks firing their main cannons at infantry are basically useless, which helps preserve some of the rock-paper-scissors aspect of gameplay. In the late game, however, the Predator gains access to one of the most overpowered upgrades imaginable, Railguns. This replaces the traditional turret, and generally dishes out about 2-3X damage. All well and good, but the issue rears its ugly head when you find out that the railgun round will kill any infantry unit in a single hit, meaning that a battalion of these ubiquitous fuckers is nigh on unstoppable. All the GDI player needs from then on is a little AA and away he goes. /win, anybody?
Aside from these issues, C&C 3 is well balanced, and early patches reduced the emphasis on spam, and encouraged more creative thinking about how to get the most out of what you have, and many amazing tactics can be devised. The game has even spawned a TV style program about itself (which can be downloaded as a podcast, by the way, and is something I encourage you to do. Said amazing strategies are featured therein.)
Summary: Well balanced, return to form for RTS fans with strong gameplay and an iconic and immersive universe which anybody owning a PC and a sense of dignity should buy.
