C&C Generals

General Logan Booker isn't a fan of cigars, but he sure likes blowing things up.

Shelling is fun. So is caustic smoke. Combined, they’re awesome, but coupled with a collapsing building full of troops, it’s worthy of a shrill, maniacal squeal. All these elements are present, abundantly, in C&C Generals, where you get to total your enemies in full 3D -– a first for the series. Generals also happens to be the last title that'll be produced by Westwood under its familiar moniker, with the studio adopting a name change to EA Pacific -– for various reasons.

And maybe this is why Generals has an entirely different feel to previous C&C games. The look is more pleasing and the smell of dust and diesel is unerringly powerful -- from the main menu, with its pseudo-battle waging in the background, to the untiring gameplay packed with exploding MiGs, tanks and bombs, Generals is a considerably meaty title.

Receiving first mention is the graphics and sound, which are top-notch for an RTS. Tanks, hummers and artillery are chunky, and rock when doing anything remotely vehicular.

Deeply satisfying are the sweet particle effects that animate combats, as are the booming sounds that erupt as units engage one another.

On the reject list is infantry however, who missed out at the ‘Texture and Detail’ party. Even on a bleary Sunday morning, troops are plain, with basic colours representing different body parts. Rifles and guns for instance, are simple grey oblongs. Yuk.

The game departs from other C&C titles like a flaming F-15 from skies dominated by Tiberian Sun and Red Alert. FMV briefings have been dropped, replaced by basic animations (such as those used to crudely describe which hellhole is your next destination) and bland-looking text for mission objectives and other miscellaneous information. It didn’t take a master thinker to realise that the focus of Generals is purely multiplayer. This view was quickly reinforced by the average voiceovers. To be fair though, the actors do a reasonable job, and they aren’t something you’d penalise the game for. As a result though, single-player comes off as being an item that was last on the to-do list during the game’s development. A consistent story is AWOL, and the generic theme of ‘The World vs. Terrorists’ is whacked into submission.

Also dropped is the deluge of sides. Well, not really sides, more like variations. Red Alert 2 had two main sides (three with the expansion). Special units and abilities were divided by country, but in every circumstances, you were a subset of US or Russia. Generals has refined the choice of disgruntled nations to three: the USA, China and the Global Liberation Army (GLA).

Each side caters to a certain play style. Sure, they can cater to other strategies, but the going gets tough if you don’t stick to the plan laid out by the developer. The USA, for instance, relies on its maneuverability and raw ability to get supplies during mid to end game, while China has the infantry rush and tank rush to procure a victory. These strategies are echoed in the single-player game, which is really just a long-winded tutorial for online play.

And to spruce up said online play, Westwood has implemented a ‘Generals’ system of advancement. The game knows when you’re attacking and defending, and rewards more experience to aggressors. Once enough is accumulated, you can spend a ‘star’ to get yourself an extra ability, one normally given via a building, such as an off-map artillery strike or fuel-air bomb. Each side has its ‘ultimate’ ability, with China, for example, getting an EMP blast the disables all buildings and vehicles in a massive area.

A welcome change from previous games is useful infantry. The choice is now limited to a rifleman, a rocket dude, and two special units. Rocket troops can now successfully fend off a tank rush, and the unique units are, gasp, actually purchased, and all combat units come together awesomely well.

In its grand wholeness, Generals is a very enjoyable RTS with a nice, familiar theme, and although it leans on the vanilla C&C formula, there’s enough newness to bring old players back who’ve been converted by recent titles. The only real downfalls of the game are its single-player, which frankly has no excuse being there, and the lack of ‘instant appeal’ -- it’s a game you’ve to work at for awhile to find total enjoyment.