Command & Conquer: Generals Updated Preview

By Sam Parker, GameSpotPosted Jan 21, 2003 4:49 pm PT

The next Command & Conquer game is only a few weeks away. We take a good look at a near-final build of EA's real-time strategy game featuring convincing modern-day combat.

Perhaps no other PC game has spawned as many spin-off series as Command & Conquer, and interestingly, it's not the setting, but the gameplay style and mechanics, that successfully carries over from one C&C series to another. Renegade, Westwood's first shooter, was the last game set in the Tiberian universe, and it likely won't be the last to pit you against the forces of NOD. But EA's hopes for Command & Conquer's renewed success are riding on Generals, which not only adopts a new, near-future setting, but one with eerie echoes of the international conflicts filling today's newspapers. Generals is now nearing release, and as much as the 3D engine has impressed us from the game's unveiling, we've finally seen enough of it to say that, beneath all the flashy effects, there's plenty of depth to make it an outstanding game.

Generals' 3D engine is used to dramatic effect in many of the mission settings.

The day after Generals hit its final candidate milestone, we had an opportunity to visit EA Pacific's Irvine, California-studio and play a number of single-player missions as well as some multiplayer matches. The EA Pacific team, which previously created the Westwood-branded Red Alert 2, has been racing to finish Generals in time for the official February 11 release date. It's been a particularly long race to the finish line, since the game was originally scheduled to be out before the holidays, and meeting the new date has meant real crunch time--long seven-day work weeks. Late last year, the studio had even started preliminary work on a planned expansion pack for Generals, but in November, that effort was postponed to put all available resources into finishing the game. With so many people working on the game, a lot can happen in a week. And although last week's final candidate did have a few remaining bugs to squash, just today EA has confirmed that the game has indeed hit gold status--it's complete and ready for manufacturing.

As is the convention for real-time strategy games nowadays, EA released a 2898051multiplayer beta to a limited group of testers late last year. There have since been quite a few changes patched into the beta, and other feature additions were saved for the final game. Most of the tweaks involved unit balancing, and EA Pacific has run statistics during the beta that show that players are winning at even rates with the three factions--China, GLA, and USA. That's not to say that the testers don't have a statistical favorite of the three: The US forces are played the most.

Oil derricks are important strategic targets, as they can be captured by upgraded infantry to earn money.

Even before the beta was released, the powers for the generals that we saw in earlier versions of the game underwent a major revision, and instead of having three generals to pick from for each faction, earning specific powers is solely based on experience gained on the battlefield. With sufficient kills, you get points that you can apply toward earning special units and powers, like calling in air strikes or reinforcements or repairing vehicles. Most of the midtier powers can be upgraded through three levels, with each extra point buying increasing effectiveness. One thing that's new since the beta is the interface for the generals' powers. Instead of having to jump to the command center with a hotkey to unleash an A-10 strike, for example, the powers that you need to get to are always listed on the right side of the screen.

The powers quickbar isn't the only part of the interface that's been revised. As it turns out, parts of the team had a little extra time, so instead of one single interface design, there are now three interface skins, one for each faction. The layout of some interface elements is a bit different in the final game, mostly in that the amount of money you have in the bank has been moved to the middle of the interface, right above the energy bar. Also, the button that opens the generals upgrade screen will now blink when you get enough experience to earn a new point, which makes it easier to keep track of things and make the most of the powerful rewards the game gives to aggressive players. And when you're deploying an area-of-effect weapon or a generals power, there's a nice overlay graphic where you're aiming to show the range and the type of weapon being deployed.

prev next

1 Comments

Refresh comments

jakeboudville
Posted Sep 11, 2006 5:35 am PT

pretty impressive
- agree 0
- disagree 0
- = 0
- Sign in to rate this comment

Command & Conquer: Generals Quick Links

GameSpot Score8.9great
Critic Score8.554 reviews
User Score8.77,598 votes
Your Score N/A
hover & click to rate
- 1
- 1.5
- 2
- 2.5
- 3
- 3.5
- 4
- 4.5
- 5
- 5.5
- 6
- 6.5
- 7
- 7.5
- 8
- 8.5
- 9
- 9.5
- 10