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32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nobody does it better, 1 April 2007
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
Having bought the C&C 10 year anniversary edition before Christmas and played that from end to end, plus having enjoyed a good smattering of other RTS's in the meantime such as Warhammer 40K, Company of Heroes, and Supreme Commander, I'm thrilled that C&C3 is right on target. First off let's just say a little bit about production values on this game; they've got it right. So many games recently have been rushed, buggy, and in need of a patch from day one. After a slightly lengthy install, I've had no problems whatsoever. For newbies to the genre the tutorial and early missions are an excellent introduction, and there's enough of a challenge here for veterans too.
Even better, this game has taken advantage of some of the gameplay developments identified in C&C's RTS stablemates. Infantry come out in squads now rather than individual troops, there's different amounts of armour on different parts of vehicles, the interface is more minimalist then previous installments, the map expands within missions like in Supreme Commander, and the new race is interesting and well designed.
Some bits from the Generals games have stuck around, noticably garrisoning buildings, unit veterancy, and an emphasis on urban warfare. Even better, the team has realised that some features had been dropped in previous installments; most notably the use of full motion video in addition to in-game briefings. Now being a Battlestar Galactica fan (and having a passing acquaintance with Lost and House), you do get a bit of a kick seeing some pretty big names of the moment (what PC Gamer called "Sci-fi royalty") getting into games. Unlike previous installments they've even gone and made some real sets and hired extras rather than just green-screening it.
A couple of bits are slightly less effective; I have not got much interest in collecting medals, clearly inspired by EA's OCD-causing Battlefield series ("must... get... veteran knife badge..."), and in early missions you've only got control for 30 second bursts which are frequently interrupted by briefings, video links, and intel updates, which slow the pace down a bit. However there are skippable and reduce in quantity as you progress.
So, what about the important stuff, how does it play? It's boomy. Grenade through a window, BOOM! Rocket troops versus tank, BOOM! Orca's vs power stations, BOOM BOOM BOOM! The explosion effects and animations are great, giving it a far more engaging feel than say Supreme Commander. The number of units and scale of the game also feels a little larger than C&C Generals, and there's a lot to keep you busy. Impassable terrain and choke points are deployed in the best fashion yet in a C&C game, causing greater reliance upon air transport and (perhaps inspired by Warhammer 40k), those trusty jump-packs. Three campaigns, by all accounts an addictive skirmish mode, and a really well put together package. What more could you ask for?
Lando Calrissian? You want Lando to be in this game? Heck, we'll throw him in too just for reading this far!
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good but not brilliant., 7 Jun 2007
Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars
I've just about finished this. It's not bad. Yes the video cutscenes do lag which means the audio is always ahead of what you actually see on screen.
Ingame graphics are quite good and it runs well enough on my system which is starting to show it's age ( AMD 2600 with nvidia 7800gs card and 2048RAM ).
Only thing is I've played this, Battle for Middle Eath, Heroes of WWII, Dawn of War etc... and they're all the same essentially. Gameplay and originality seem to be rapidly disappearing from PC games. I've noticed that PC games are suffering with the advent of new consoles. These games all follow similar courses. So this game is fun but ultimately easy to beat if you've played this genre before.
The same old missions pop up time and again in these types of games. You know: the ones where you build up resource, defend and counter attack. The mission where you use a commando/stealth character. The hold-out for relief mission... You've played them all before.
You get the feeling that EA especially could relese the same game a hundred times over with the only difference being the characters.
Battle for Middle Earth is the same game as Tiberium wars as is Heroes of World War II.
Worth a go but wait for it to be reduced in price!
Note to gamemakers! Better gameplay and more originality please!
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good but not great, 11 April 2007
Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars
Firstly, I have to agree with other reviewers in that the graphics are great. The cinematics were also superb. Also it was nice to see Joe Kucan again reprising his role as Kane. There was also a nice twist in the NOD campaign (which I won't spoil!!). I haven't started the SCRIN yet.
However, the game play was weak. It only took about 15 to 25 minutes to complete a round. The original game is still the best but the graphics are just OK. I still play it today but it's tough, even w/the patch on my E6600 & 7900gs. Tiberien Sun was just as good as the original but w/updated graphics. Tiberium Wars: if you are a fan of the series then get it because it is good fun but if you are new to the series then look elseware.
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