Realism in a box. What the other games just fall short of - this one delivers that.
The plot is basically about oil companies inciting war to make financial gains. The scenario is played out between the US and these malefactors. The good and bad guys play out the scenario in the US, Egypt and the Russian Republic. On that thought, the one thing I would have liked is if the campaign was split into one side and then the next instead of just one long campaign of the good guys. Kind of gets to you playing the same side in each mission as I'm sure you know what I mean. The saving grace is of course the new technologies revealed over time and that the good guys have unique buildings being split into two different factions. The third faction is of course the bad guys and you don't get to play this in campaign mode.
The major thing about this game which I haven't noticed in other games that I have played is that the effects of units are much more realistic. For instance, a soldier with a missile launcher can do more damage to a vehicle than infantry with rifles but a tank firing a shell will still kill infantry right away instead of in some other games where you have artillery firing 5~6 shots just to kill a lone infantryman. Now thats ridiculous - a shell should tear a footsoldier to pieces right away. Thats what I like about this game - realism. Other features in the gameplay include things such as being able to buy on credit - while drilling an oil patch (oil is the only resource here but you have to build power plants for some factions) you can still buy based on credit as you will be getting $ from the oil-drilling over time. This adds to the gameplay a lot instead of you twiddling your thumbs while staring at the resources sloooooowly ramp up.
The graphics are awesome - everything from the structure damage to the firing effects to the death of units. The sound effects also add to the experience in a great way.
While it took me a while to get this game at least it was better late than never. Definitely worth it and while I used to accept the gameplay shortcomings from other titles, this one makes me realize that I shouldn't have to.