Command & Conquer: Generals is the first C&C game released under the new EA brand name. Previous C&C games were done by Westwood Studios, who was bought out by EA a short while ago. EA decided to branch out the C&C name and develop Generals all on its own.
| Generals step towards modern-warfare C&C is quite intriguing. Now you can command many units similar to, or actually used by militaries in the world today. For this reason, it is obvious that Tiberium is not in the game, nor is this related to the Tiberian or Red Alert series of C&C's. Again, this is a brand new branch of gaming for C&C gamers. |  |
I will be honest, 
my first impression of Generals was that it was EA's attempt to capitalize on a game that reflects the public's interest in the recent terrorist occurrences. But, I was given a spot in the beta test, and I must say it lived up to every C&C I have ever played and added a feeling of awe on me 10-fold times that of any of the other C&C's (past Tiberian Dawn). This in turn proved to me that EA had simply developed the next-generation C&C, rather than being "gold-diggers" as I had originally suspected.
| What is the most amazing about Generals is its appearance. The new top-of-the-line Sage 3D engine is amazing. Smoke and sparks from the other games don't even compare to what we have in Generals. From buggies flipping up, exploding and their wheels flying everywhich way in the explosion to the Nuclear Missile that is so powerful you can feel your desk shake when it hits. |  |
PC Gamer released its February 2003 edition which had 5 pages regarding Generals. Some were ads, some were informational, all of them were awesome. Click below to view the screens in high-res format.
So, this game was released February 11th, 2003 worldwide. Those devoted C&C fans that preordered received the Official Officer's Pack CD that included the following:
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Da Sgt's Review:
I'll address each of these and much more in this review. Let's just start, first of all, by saying that the price of this game was at least fitting at the time at which I purchased it. My concern was the EA was going to blow the cost out of proportion to what the gamer is willing to spend for an expansion. To my delight, Best Buy had a deal at which Zero Hour was available for $20 for a little while. I am now sure that price is up a few dollars, but still, not a bad deal for what you get.
You may be wondering, WHAT is it that you actually GET? You get extended play for one of the coolest looking games to come out as of late. Yeah, I can't count the times someone has walked by my room and asked me what game I was playing because they thought it looked so awesome. The problem is, Generals DOES get boring, and we all needed some new missions, maps, units, etc to keep our interest. Well, if you thought units like the aurora, overlord, and Bomb Truck were vicious units, all I can say is: SIT DOWN and get ready for this. The Aurora Alpha, the next generation bomber, carries a small fuel air bomb onboard as its payload. The Emperor Overlord, now comes standard with dual, front and side-impact airbags, as well as a propaganda tower on top, for all of your unit healing needs Enough hub-bub, on to the meat. Included in this expansion, is the ability to pick a specific General to play under. Each faction has 3 Generals, each specializing in a different type of warfare. This play-style was planned to have been a part of the original 'Generals' game, but time constraints caused it to fall absent. This is a definite improvement on the game. It allows skilled players to pick their strategies, while also allowing less-experienced players to choose a General that best fits the way that they know how to play. For instance, if all you know how to do is tank rush, you would of course choose the China Tank General, because this General will allow you to do what you're best at, with special advantages given towards that strategy, such as: Your tanks are built with veteran status already, you can upgrade not only to 'Nationalism', but also to a 'Improved Rate of Fire' that makes your units shoot faster.
In turn, giving such an advantage to a tank rusher means you have to take something away. Each General has his/her advantages and disadvantages. For instance, the USA Air Force General cannot build tanks. So, you can be sure that your opponent will attack by air, and not by land, or even if he/she does, it will not be a large or powerful force. This helps to create a balance in the game like never before. Personally, I felt that Generals was very balanced, many would disagree. Nonetheless, even those people cannot complain now, because no matter what General you are playing against, you always know of at least 1 obvious weak-spot.
Alrighty, so upon playing the missions, you will notice that you get FMV!!!!! It comes in the form of News Reports telling you of the ongoing action you are about to become a part of. Then, it is on to the battlefield for yet, MORE scripted actions to sit through.
Well, I guess all I can say, is that "You asked for it, and you got it." We gave EA so much crap about the lack of FMV, that they put it in. Well, in my grade book, it gets a big fat F-- for Failure to give us what we wanted. We didn't want to simply see real people in a short video. We wanted a storyline to get INTO. All these news reports do, is let OLD farts feel at home like they are watching the news, and make all of the younger players feel lost because all of what is being said is not the reason they are playing. Who cares if GLA has weapons of mass destruction? We want to see soldiers in battle, shooting, blowing stuff up, and get a report of what we are supposed to be doing. Or, once we blow something up, we want to see 'Colonel Burton' in person, go into that base, and rig some C4 on the building we just blew up. We want ACTION. So, unless you are easily pleased with a simple video clip, you will be more than disappointed in this move by EA.
Let's see, that starts for another poor rendition of missions. I am going to have to say that the new missions at least posed a little more difficulty than that of Generals', but still, I think the thought of such RIGGED Videos and Scripted movies that suck still bring down the potential greatness of the game's missions. On this subject, YOU CAN'T EXIT THE VIDEOS OR SCRIPTS. I can understand the scripts being important because the actual units are used to set the stage which we start to play with, but you can't exit the frickin FMV's. EVERY time you play a mission, you have to watch it. They aren't good to begin with, so why would I want to watch it 10 times? It is reasons like this that make me NOT want to play the missions. Bad move EA.
On a lighter note, you'll see right off the bat in the startup screen, that naval units are present!!!!! Whoohoooooo!!!!!!! Settle down, you can't build them. You can't even use them in multiplayer. All you get to do is use a few abilities they provide in missions. They are more for looks and modding than anything else. The cruiser, aircraft carrier, and destroyer-type vessels all look amazing, but what is the point of showing them to use if we can't build 50 of them? I mean, I love launching 20 raptors to go blow some inland stuff up with, but I wanna use 140 raptors from 7 carriers. I want something that I can take a screen shot of and brag about to my friends. But, all you can do is use them in missions. Never fear, the modding community will take these gracious gifts from EA, and make them into workable units, no doubt. Unfortunately, I can only speak for that of the USA side as usual, China and GLA are still suck outta luck.
Looking next at multiplayer, and giving one word to describe it: WORSE. Now, instead of having firewall problems, etc, you now get 'player mismatch errors' that give both of you disconnects. This is the least of the problems though. I mean, ALT+F4'ers may not be able to do that now, but who cares. The best player in the world can't keep under a 10% disconnect percentage cuz 4/5 games foul up connection-wise somehow. I won't even say anything more on this, because I am sure that EA will put out 72 patches that will help this game get better, online, by next year.
Well, I may sound entirely ticked off and disappointed with Zero Hour. In a way, I am. But, if you simply ask me about the game, I will tell you it is awesome. Because, truthfully, it is. It requires true strategy to play now, with a specific general to choose from and a different game plan with each is needed. Small effects have been added here and there, such as fire looking slightly different, bunker buster bombs that send units flying in the air (see picture of supply truck hehe), and a brand new sidebar that gives easy access to all of those hard-to find and switch between abilities.
Now, instead of clicking on your particle cannon, in order to select the 'fire' option, you can have all 15 of your particle cannons 1 click away, with this new wonderful sidebar. I love this. It makes mass destruction and cleverly designed plans easier to execute because navigation is much better.
Next, you will also notice I have not yet talked about the new units. That is because they are not bad at all. They are in fact the best part of this game (as should be the case). New units are what expansions are all about. We want new toys, they gave us new toys. China now has a radar unit!!! It shows uncloaked units. Whew....finally. I mean, GLA had the radar van, and each USA unit can get a scout drone. Now, China has such a unit. Again, the GLA Combat Cycle is awesome. Try putting a Jarmen Kell on there and let him wreak some havoc. Plus, he just looks like a big pimp, chillin on his Harley Another big PLUS for Zero Hour, is the number of upgrades available. The USA strategy center alone now has too many to choose from. Of course I buy them all, but still....hehe. For instance, upgrading your supply reviews/lines/ is an option that gains you more bang for your buck each time a Chinook brings a payload. Also available is the Chem-suit upgrade, which gives you infantry added resistance to radiation and toxin damage. A must, when playing against the China Nuke General or the GLA Toxin General.
Lastly, the added General's abilities are so cool. I won't spoil the fun, but China's 'Frenzy' ability is so awesome. Much like that of the Iron Curtain in the Red Alert series, you select a group of units you are going to attack with. These units then have an added rate of fire and pack a more powerful punch for a small amount of time, depending on how high up on the general’s ladder you have selected the ability from. My other personal favorite is called the 'Sneak Attack' for the GLA, which allows you to pretty much put up a tunnel network (only bigger) on any part of the map instantly. I won't say any more. Many of the other abilities are equally as cool, but again, I won't spoil it for you.
Missing portions of a true C&C game left a little to the gamer's imagination in terms of Generals. But after listening to the fans' requests, EA gives us 'Zero Hour', the expansion for C&C: Generals. Sporting many new abilities such as 'Picking your General', new units, new maps, and added playability, this is definitely going to be an expansion people everywhere will be talking about.
Alright C&C fans, let's look at some of the biggest wants/issues with Generals:
1.) Multiplayer Mayhem with Connectivity
2.) The missions sucked
3.) No FMV (Full Motion Video); the very essence of the CNC Genre
4.) Naval Units- not necessary, but you guys wanted 'em SOOO badly
And behind door number 3, is the GLA Combat Cycle, smooth & sleek looking, this bike will not only seat any infantry unit of your choice, but will also wheelie across hills with ease in order to give that intimidation factor to your enemy, showing them how 'skilled' you really are at what you do.
One of the cooler abilities by a new unit would have to be China's ECM tank. It scrambles enemy missiles, making them miss their targets. So, your opponent has 10 rocket infantry waiting for your tanks? Well, it'll take at least 3 minutes to finally kill them because they won't be able to hit the broad side of a barn with your ECM nearby.
| Don't let some of my rough comments get you down. Though many aspects will still let down long-time C&C fans, Zero Hour will definitely add-on to your General's experience. From awesome new units and structures, to the amazing new upgrades and General's abilities, you will find it very easy to get lost in Zero Hour. | ||
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JohnWE's Review
What happens when Electronic Arts listens to C&C fans around the globe and combines top of the line graphics with awesome gameplay? Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars! From the first time that you place in the disk and see Kane's face on the screen, 
you'll know that C&C has finally returned. But how do the gameplay, multiplay and storyline hold up to the prestigious Command & Conquer lineup? First on everybody's mind is of course the storyline. C&C3 is set ten years after Tiberian Sun Firestorm ended. From the start of the introduction videos, it is clear that they can both bring new players up to speed on
what has happened up to this point, and also introduce what has changed to the long time fans. One thing I would have liked to see them explain more is Kane's return. He has a much more grand entry in Tiberian Sun. In this one, he is simply back. Also, EA attempts to explain how some of the technology has changed like the Mammoth MKII mech not being used anymore and being replaced by the tank-like Mk.3. For this they 
just use ingame INTEL, a short description of what has happened. For many C&C fans this is not enough, and they'd like like to see a more direct connection and technological advance between Tiberian Sun and Tiberium Wars. On GDI, we still have the Ion Cannon, a Medium Tank, the Mammoth Tank, Juggernaut, Orca, Grenadiers and Commando
to play with. On Nod, we still have the fast stealthy units to use including the light, flame and stealth tanks. There's a semi-helicopter unit, the Venom, and of course the Obelisk of Light, Stealth Generator and Temple of Nod make their return. EA made a good balance between keeping classic units and bringing in new ones. Some people out there want 
carbon copies of every unit in Tiberian Sun, but I say, why do I just need to play the same game with improved graphics? I'd like something new to play with as well and C&C3 fulfills that need very well. Now it's time for my little concerns.
I am wondering why the color for GDI is suddenly blue in this game. Certainly it's a more military style color and emphasizes that GDI is trying to protect the non-Tiberium infested Blue Zones, but it's a very large change from the classic Gold. Next, Nod doesn't have an artillery unit per se. They have what is called the Beam Artillery which is a medium-long range laser unit, but when the long range projectile units from Tiberian Dawn and Tiberian Sun have been removed, it disappointed me. C&C3 does bring to the table some new to C&C things, first and foremost Squads of infantry. When I was discussing this with a bunch of C&C fans at EA, we came up with five solid reasons why squads wouldn't work. After we played with them the next day, nobody had any complaints. I was surprised that they work, but it is as if you are only controlling a single unit, and in most cases, they are easy to select, easy to order around. The view distance is increased, and the infantry are more realistically scaled, so it definitely helps to have a group of units to select.
Did I mention, there's a third faction which fits in nicely with GDI and Nod? The Scrin are aliens which have come to harvest the Tiberium of of Earth and return it to their home planet. Storyline is that they are awakened by a massive Tiberium explosion planned by the devious Kane and are surprised to find that there are indigenous civilizations capable of fending off their attacks. They truly play different than both GDI and Nod. And when you get to play the missions against the aliens, they really convey the sense of hopelessness against an unknown threat. 
When I first played C&C3 in December at EALA, the first thing that struck me is that the gameplay is very similar to Red Alert 2's. Fast, Fluid, Fun are the three terms that came nonstop out of the developers mouths. And that's exactly how C&C3 plays. There may be a small period of time in the start of the game until you build your first War Factory, which takes about 1:20, but after that, the action doesn't stop until the game is done. The units are high balanced, which means that there are some units that do massive damage to some (like the rocket soldiers are very good against tanks) but do almost nothing to others (against infantry they are useless). In fact, there are really no multipurpose units except the Mammoth Tank, which with its missiles is able to defend from air units in addition to crushing any ground opposition. 
What this means is that you had better build a balanced force or else your good opponent will take advantage of whatever your weakness is and you'll lose. Sure, you can send in a bunch of tanks, but if your enemy has a few rocket 
soldiers in buildings and a few air units, he can take out your rush with not too much difficulty. You can send in a bunch of artillery which will decimate buildings, but you'd better send in anti-air cover with them and also a few tanks to protect their flanks from quick enemy units. C&C3 is a very well balanced game and while it favors tanks and quick rushes, there is not one single strategy that can win, but multiple equal build orders which can bring you victory. Multiplay is surprisingly improved over previous games. Connectivity especially is almost perfect. I have had only about two can't connect issues in 100 games, and only one desync. There is now a way when inside the lobby it will make sure that you connect to every other player before the host is allowed to start the game. Huge improvement over Generals/Zero Hour for certain.
Now the graphics of C&C3 are quite something. While they aren't the top of the line graphics (see Company of Heroes), they certainly are very well crafted. You won't need a super computer to play this game, but you will really be missing out unless you do. 
Take a look at the awesome heat shimmers behind Orcas, and the water ripple as they fly over there. Chunks fly off tanks and they smoke with more heat distortion effects. All the way down to the basic rifle infantry, the graphics for them, the idle animations and explosion effects are simply superb. 
Now to close this review off, shall I say what all other review have said, namely "C&C3 doesn't bring anything new into gaming, but it sure is fun'? No, I'll go a bit further. I compliment Electronic Arts on really making this an enjoyable game. From listening to the fans, EA has brought us what we want. Certainly there aren't any massive, new, revolutionary gameplay elements, but EA has created a masterpiece which is fully deserving of the Command & Conquer name. 
If you like the serious storyline of Tiberian Sun combined with the fast paced gameplay of Red Alert 2, go get this game now!