by Dave - July 5, 2003

I, by nature, am not a huge fan of the RTS genre. First person shooters and Third person action games like Tomb Raider and Max Payne are more to my liking. Still I remember losing entire weekends to the original Command and Conquer game. The last RTS game I bought was Warcraft III, mainly because I remembered how fun the original Warcraft was. That game left me slightly disappointed and I was hoping that it wasn�t going to be a repeat performance with C&C Generals. Let�s find out shall we?

Gameplay

The install was a painless affair and while it was doing its thing, I took the opportunity to make a fresh pot of coffee (sadly, I would probably build a toilet next to my desk if would give me some more gaming time). After I readied my first mug of joe, I dived into the game and didn�t surface for air until 4 hours later. The first thing you get is a nifty, but very short intro movie that showcases some of the game�s units. Although if you blink you will miss almost a third of the game, it is catchy and it does it�s job by putting you in the mood for some wholesale destruction.

Single player gaming in Generals consists of a training mode, skirmish mode and a campaign letting you play as one of three factions: The USA, China or the GLA (more on this in a bit). The skirmish mode lets you play as any of the factions and play with, or against, up to seven AI opponents. The difficulty level of each army can be scaled from �normal� to �brutal�. If you have never, ever played an RTS game before, take a few minutes and go through the training missions. I haven�t played a C&C game since the original and I managed to get by just fine without the tutorials.

The campaign is immersive with a variety of different missions playable with each faction. I�ll take a few words here to layout the three different armies you will be playing:
 

The GLA (Global Liberation Army) are a band of terrorists, or freedom fighters depending on your point of view, hell-bent on freeing the world from the clutches of the oppressors. The trickiest of the three factions to play (but the most fun in my opinion), you have little in the way of heavy armor and no air support. Your way is one of desperation and terrorist tactics. Suicide bombers, trucks laden with explosives and bio-chemical weapons are tools to be used against the global oppressors. The one thing the GLA does have, is the strongest infantry unit; a rioting mob upgradeable with AK47�s. These rag-tag mobs can destroy a vehicle or even a hardened building in seconds and are great when you have three or four of them grouped together. Your missions against the infidels are as varied as they are difficult, running the gambit from destroying and looting cities, battling the UN for food and equipment, even blowing up dams.

The Eastern Dragon. China has by far the most potent, if slow, ground forces. The mighty overlord tank, self-propelled nuclear cannons, imperialist propaganda and even nuclear missiles are at your disposal to make China the dominant world power. Although you have the ability to field MiG fighter/bombers, your strength is in heavy armor. Nothing the GLA or the USA can field has the brute power of the Overlord tank. Attacking with overwhelming numbers, you can crush any opponent under the tread of the great red war machine.

The American forces are fast and hard-hitting. Although unable to match the GLA in infantry strength or China�s armor, the USA units are fast and hard hitting. Where the USA shines is its use of air support. From parachuting rangers behind enemy lines to using an array of aircraft to blast holes in your enemy defenses, you have the ability to hit any target on the map. When combined with ground units, the USA is an almost unstoppable when attacking in force. Use your technological advantage over your enemies. Those commies and terrorists wont know what hit �em. The USA will lead the free world to victory.

The controls are very easy to figure out and in no time at all you will be dominating the computer during the single player missions. In most of the levels, the object is to destroy the enemy base while building your own. You will need to master the fine art of base building or the AI (or even more certainly, a human opponent) will make short work of you. Should you concentrate on building the super-weapons, you won�t have enough of the lesser units to effectively counter an attack on your base. It�s a tried, tested and true game genre and Generals doesn�t deviate from the path.

As you progress in rank you receive points to spend on special weapons and/or equipment. Artillery strikes, paratroopers, rebels, A-10 plane strikes, instant vehicle repairs, etc. are all yours to pick and choose from. But choose wisely, there is no going back if you make the wrong decision.

Graphics

The graphics in Generals is a huge leap forward from the previous C&C games. With the exception of the infantry (zoom in on them if you don�t believe me), the unit models are some pretty sweet eye candy. The cartoonish infantry models are only a minor issue and don�t detract from the games over-all graphical presentation. I loved watching my GLA Rocket Buggies racing over the terrain, almost tipping over from the ruts and bumps in the ground, as they gleefully closed in to strike at the American dogs. Explosions are some of the better that I have seen in an RTS game. After a brief fireball and pieces flying off to parts unknown, the vehicle will remain behind for a short time, a smoldering reminder of your superior firepower.

One of the coolest effects I have seen to date in a game resides within Generals. The first time I fired off a nuclear missile at an enemy base, my eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. There was a blinding flash and a huge mushroom cloud rose from the ground, while a shockwave destroyed enemy vehicles and buildings within the blast radius. Those infantry that didn�t die outright got hit with some nasty radiation and fell soon after. The nuke brought my GF3 equipped 2.4GB P4 to almost a slideshow as far as frame rates go, but I was slack jawed nonetheless. A big thumbs up for graphics from this reviewer.

Sound/Music

Although there is appropriate music for each faction, nothing really stands out as a mark of excellence. You won�t find any Hitman 2-like musical scores here. But the unit sounds are excellent and really bring the game to life. When you click on a unit you are treated to a unique quote. My favorite quote of the game goes to the Chinese Overlord tank with his totally obvious but stirring none the less: �I� Am� Big.� Followed closely by the GLA worker with the humorous �Can I have some shoes?� The weapon sounds are more then adequate, especially the special weapons such as artillery strikes, nuclear missiles, Ion cannons, etc. That said, the sound is the only weak link in this games otherwise solid armor.

Funfactor

As with past C&C games, the inclusion of a skirmish mode extends the single player replay value well past the usual expiry date. The multiplayer aspect of this game is much similar to the skirmish mode except against human players. You can also play co-op style with a friend, fighting off the hordes of computer-controlled enemy. This is a great feature for those not endowed with any resemblance of tactical sense (like myself). If you relish the chance to pit your strategic cunning against another human then you might want to give this game a shot. Although not on the same scale as Medieval Total War, it is a fun, visceral game of destruction. Be warned though, even if you regularly beat the computer on �brutal�, there are players out there who can hand you your ass quicker then Mike Tyson on a steroid rage. My brief foray into the world of adversarial multiplayer did not go over too well and I think it best that I stay in co-op mode for a few more games. The developers deliver in their attempt to make a fun, very playable game.

Plasmafactor and Closing Remarks

Well, I was pleasantly surprised by this game. It looked good, played great and was thoroughly fun to play. Although I cannot play a multiplayer game of Generals if my life depended on it, I will be keeping this game on my hard drive for quite some time. In fact, I am going to spend the next few hours downloading all of the player-made maps I can and giving them a try.

Electronic Arts Pacific did a great job of continuing the tradition that Westwood Studios started with the Command & Conquer series. Although I am still not a RTS convert. Generals has made me take a look at the bevy of RTS game out there that I have been ignoring until now. Until next time boys and girls�