Seeing the Tiberium universe is a welcome reunion. GDI and Nod are still battling it out but this time they have to contend with a new alien Scrin faction. These guys have a large presence in the game though their personality isn't as strongly developed as the GDI or Nod. Along with the large campaigns for Nod and GDI, you'll get the chance to play a bonus four mission Scrin campaign after completing the other two.
Also back are the famous live-action cutscenes that fans love so much. EA stayed true to the original series with a campy, cheesy, silly sci-fi plot and we're plenty happy about it. There are a surprising number of TV and movie actors playing roles here and while their acting talent isn't exactly put to the test, they're still pretty fun to see in roles like this. Who doesn't want to see Billy Dee Williams and Michael Ironside on screen together? It's like a B-movie bonanza. The Scrin campaign cutscenes had to take a different tack since I don't think anyone wanted to see a guy in a foam rubber suit gurgling like an alien. Thankfully it's awesome and effective in its simplicity fitting perfectly into the overall cutscene structure while maintaining a definitive alien perspective.
The campaign structure progresses well. Locations range across globe on three different types of terrain. Missions themselves usually involve either base defense or destruction of one kind or another. While most missions were fairly predictable, creativity wasn't totally absent, especially in the Nod campaign where missions were designed to highlight their stealth capabilities. There's also a good variety of secondary missions on every map granting plenty of gameplay objectives. The campaign AI rarely forces your hand, allowing players to sit back and relax aside from some ramped up and difficult later missions.
Once done with the campaigns, you'll be able to sink into skirmish and multiplayer. Each of the factions has enough differences in the way they behave to keep gameplay interesting. The Scrin, for instance, are better at harvesting tiberium and aren't affected by its radiation. GDI can't send infantry across tiberium, but have some of the strongest armored units and have mobile repair bases. Nod, on the other hand, employs greater use of cloaking technology making them better at quick strikes. Each faction has a distinct feel through form and function that players will appreciate.
Whichever side you choose, gameplay can be furious. While some players might want to sit back and enjoy the relative safety of a fortified base, giving an enemy time to expand and tech up can have disastrous consequences. The design here doesn't force players into the battlefield as a game like Company of Heroes does, but it also becomes pretty apparent, especially when fighting against hard or better AI, that turtling is a poor choice if you want to win. Late game units are so powerful that letting any enemy get the drop on you is practically suicide. Pushing the action and taking over new resource points is really the only way to counteract the mad amounts of units a fully funded army can pump out.
The thing to remember is that teching up goes quick, which means that somebody is going to get a leg up pretty quickly depending on the strategies taken. As a result, those of you looking for a game you can get in and out of relatively quickly should be very happy with C&C 3. The average time for skirmish or multiplayer maps is between 15-30 minutes.
While we've found the game to be fairly well balanced in the case of most units and abilities, there are balance issues that eventually can create problems, most notably the cost vs. reward of Nod's Avatar Warmech, which basically dooms Nod in late game battles. It also seems a little odd that Mammoth Tanks can't be captured by the enemy when Tripods and Warmechs can. The GDI Juggernauts can be captured, but are barely worth the effort when the game has gotten that far. Nod gets EMP upgrades for their buggies and other nice abilities, but compared to the brutal strength of the all-purpose Mammoth Tanks and combined assault of Carriers and Tripods, Nod has nothing we've found that can stand up to a proper direct assault. That Raider Buggy EMP ability should have been the ultimate equalizer, but the EMP range is so small that it can only take out units in a short distance which makes them almost completely ineffective against a cadre of upgraded Mammoth Tanks that can destroy them before they ever get close enough to set off the device. EA has already told us that they've got balancing changes, including some to Nod's Warmech coming down the line in the 1.2 patch, but we can't comment on how much those changes will affect Nod's late game viability.
It's also a little sad that once the largest units on each side come out, earlier types of units are basically made obsolete. Once you have the money for Mammoth Tanks, there's no reason to create any other ground units. Keeping an air force in reserve is good, but Mammoth's basically account for all your needs aside from stealth scan, which doesn't matter when you blow everything up immediately anyway. It's not like this is an aberration in the RTS genre, but with a series like this, it's easy to expect more. I want all of my units to be useful throughout the match. The saving grace is that games are quick enough that issues like this often don't even arise. More than half of the games I've played never saw one of the high end units created because of the brutal push for new resources.
It's also worth noting some of the extra features EA is providing along with the game. They'll be updating www.commandandconquer.com with all of the stats from online games. You will be able to schedule matches and download replays of great matches as well. It's also notable that you'll be able to check out live matches using the Battlecast system. Some of these will undoubtedly have commentators that can use the easy telestration options to point out specific events during their live commentary. We're pretty damn curious how widely this feature set gets used. The "RTS as a Sport" mantra is appealing one some level, but even video game junkies in our office aren't really sure they'd ever want to watch other people play aside from the chance to learn new tactics.
If you're more about skirmish minus the human opponents or want to play cooperatively with a friend, you'll have an aggressive AI to battle against. The hard level AI is beatable, but provides a solid challenge. AI can be set to various types of strategy for fun or practice before heading into the sometimes wicked world of online multiplay. For those sadistic folks out there that need an extra challenge, there's a brutal AI difficulty setting that gives the computer money advantages though the AI will always use the same tactics routines and units remain the default strength.
We've had very few problems with any part of the game. In fact, our only real issue has come with a Vista machine dumping that player out of the game after multiplayer matches. C&C 3 is compatible with Vista and basically works, but we're not exactly surprised to find issues. We're basically assuming at this point there'll be issues for most Vista games close to release. On XP we've encountered no problems with crashing or performance. In fact, it's impressive that the game runs as well as it does when there are so many effects and units moving around the detailed terrain. That said, we have had small amounts of slowdown on a machine with a P4 3.2GHz, 2GB RAM, and GeForce 7800 in intense moments with many units on screen with all details as high as they go. Our Core2 Duo 2.6GHz, 2GB RAM, GeForce 8800 card system has had no such issue.
The performance is notable for while the move forward in gameplay isn't huge, the move forward in technology is pretty impressive. Command & Conquer 3 is an amazingly rich visual experience. Each of the different zones of conflict have distinct details to create the illusion of a world slowly being torn asunder by Tiberium. The battles that happen within those zones are even more thrilling. Lasers and lightning crack across the battlefield and warp the air around them, flame tanks spew hot death with similar warping effects, and buildings collapse in amazing explosions. All in all, these are some of the most impressive special effects we've seen in any RTS game.
Add models that are clean and crisp, even at an infantry level (not something they got right in 2003's Generals), and you've got a beautiful game. When two large armies come crashing together in the middle of a battlefield, it's pretty hard not to be transfixed by the incredible fireworks display. These visuals many not make a difference to the hardcore that only care about unit stat differentials and build times, but the general public will find that this is one of those titles that becomes more fun because of the quality of the visuals working together perfectly. Considering all of the graphical oomph, the fast load times are particularly remarkable for both single and multiplayer games. If you have to wait more than 15 seconds for a game to load, I'd be surprised.
As with visuals, sound work is done quite well. All of the unit acknowledgements are good and the sounds of battle are very sci-fi and powerful. C&C 3 really got the full presentation package work over here that really does help create a great cohesive entertainment experience from all perspectives.