Command and Conquer Generals

Review - A very important title for EA Pacific gets a thorough grilling. This is C&C in 2003.

In reviewing a brand new Command and Conquer game, I find myself lodged somewhere between a rock and a very hard place. It’s a tough proposition, attempting to balance the game’s popularity and polish with a lack of innovation and increasingly tough competition from elsewhere in the genre.

With these multiple objectives in mind, EA Pacific have made my job no easier by altering their premise ever so slightly with this sequel, and adding-in a politically dubious and controversial setting – surrounding a number of warring factions that do bare a resemblance to the current political situation, albeit minus a number of complexities.

Indeed, before I continue in my analysis of the game proper, I’d like to address these nuances that have been touched upon to various extents and ends in a number of Generals reviews already floating around online.

The game is based around three warring factions in the near-future. The Americans, the Chinese, and the GLA (Global Liberation Army), the latter resembling some kind of middle-eastern terrorist faction. Whilst this rather unnervingly relevant setting might not be particularly responsible given the current political climate, the fact remains that Generals does not give enough attention to the particulars of each side, and their various aims and motivations to prove dangerously political, and whilst one does feel EA might have been more sensible to avoid any painful reminders entirely, this is only a minor issue, and should cause no offence to those with views on the world situation at the moment.

Indeed, EA Pacific’s rather simplistic and childish approach to war and politics, may actually have saved them from causing offence on this particular occasion. If games are going to carry political messages, it should at least be well-informed.

Moving on from the altered story to the game itself, and it’s a case of same old same old in the main. Whilst the graphics may have improved, the AI tweaked, and we get a few new units, setting and options, the fundamentals of the game remain largely faithful to the previous instalments in this most illustrious of gaming series.

The basic gameplay remains much the same; a balancing act of resources and unit variety, whilst choosing strategies to attack and defend against similarly positioned foes. As with past outings I am pleased to report that generally all is good light-hearted fun, albeit nothing revolutionary. This is a plus as well as a minus point for Generals, which will no doubt appease the games numerous fans, though it won’t be luring gamers away from Warcraft 3 or Age of Mythology anytime soon, either.

The traditional values of the game remain intact, with a typical game commencing the usual rush to gather resources (each side now has different resources to collect), and build structures to create units with varying capabilities. The first thing to note is that whilst the sides may vary hugely in their strengths and weaknesses, they are very well balanced overall, making for some interesting conflicts. Whilst battles can once again rely too heavily on tank-rushes and the like, it’s pleasing to note the variety and pace of battles, which places far more emphasis on frenetic fun than tactical realism. This does mean the game may prove a tad simplistic for some, but the variety of units available, especially the really evil ones, is interesting regardless.