For the life of me, I don’t know why EA decided to call this a Command and Conquer game. It has nothing to do with Tiberium, the conflict between GDI and NOD, Kane, or even the alternate universe of the Red Alert games. Heck, it doesn’t even have C&C’s trademark cheeseball live action FMV cutscenes. It shares more in common with Blizzard RTS games such as Starcraft and Warcraft than any previous C&C game. It’s pretty much as if EA wanted to show off its new Strategy Action Game Engine (SAGE), and couldn’t think of a better name for the game than its classic RTS franchise. This game is more like what would have happened if Blizzard made a Starcraft game and set it in the modern era. HOWEVER (and this is a big however), if you’re a fan of RTS games, then you should not ignore this title. It’s the first C&C (after the FPS Renegade) to be fully 3-d, and it adds several twists to the gameplay to set itself apart from other RTS titles. It might not be a ‘true’ C&C game, but it’s worthy enough to stand alongside the rest of the series.

As stated before, this isn’t your older brother’s C&C game. Instead of telling the next chapter of the GDI-Nod conflict, or expanding upon the alternate reality Allies vs Soviets war from Red Alert, Generals tells the tale of a fictional (yet real-world inspired and sure to be controversial) 3-way conflict between the Unites States, China, and the Global Liberation Army, which is a middle eastern terrorist group. As you can see, Generals has three fully fleshed out factions, each having their own mechanics and storyline. Although Red Alert 2: Yuri’s Revenge had a third faction (Yuri’s faction), it was horribly overbalanced and only playable in multiplayer and skirmish matches. Instead of each faction sharing a few common structures and and units like in past C&C games, each playable faction has its own units, structures, and abilities.

The Chinese, though their units move slowly, rely upon sheer numbers of tanks and brute force to overwhelm their opponents. They can also utilize hackers to disable buildings or hack into the internet to generate cash. The GLA (my personal favorite) relies on unorthodox units such as suicide bombers, rioting crowds (which can be armed with AK-47s and grow in size), and hijackers. Their buildings can rebuild themselves over time if destroyed (unless taken out completely), and their structures require no power. However, they have no aircraft, and their units are weaker compared to the China and the US. Speaking of the US, even though their units are the most expensive and their unit gatherers are the slowest of the sides, they also have the most technologically advanced units in the game. Their infantry can be armed with laser-guided weaponry, their strategy center can employ one of three enhancements at a time, their vehicles can construct unmanned drones to repair their vehicles, and their ambulance units can do the same for infantry. They also have the largest fleet of aircraft, making them the preferable choice for players who like to win by making groups with a diverse selection of units (i.e. the Protoss in Starcraft).

As I stated before, Generals borrows more pages out of Warcraft’s playbook than it’s own. The campaign, instead of you simply taking a side to victory as in past C&C games, is now one interlocking storyline in three parts, each part giving you control of a different faction. The C&C fog-of-war (where unexplored areas of the map are pitch black until you explore them, then they are revealed permanently) has been replaced with the Blizzard fog of war (in which unexplored areas of the map were pitch black until you explored them, then they are revealed until you no longer have units or structures in the area, then it turns gray, reflecting the area as you last left it), and there is a greater emphasis on upgrades and abilities. The gameplay still contains unique twists of its own, as your troops can still rank. This time you can even earn a ‘generals rank’ throughout the course of a campaign. Increasing your generals rank earns you points towards unlocking new abilities. These abilities range from emergency repairs, new units, and veteran status for certain units.

An expansion pack, Zero Hour was released shortly after Generals. It adds new units, a new campaign, and the generals challenge mode. The generals challenge mode is a one-on-one battle in which players take control of one of 9 generals (three for each faction) and defeat the rest. Each general has their own modifications to the standard arsenal, based on their focus. The campaign mode features a return (of sorts) of the live action cutscenes, in the form of news reports between the levels. Beside C&C 3, Generals is one of the most easily modable C&C games. A worldbuilder is included with the PC version of the game, and an SDK (which is cross compatible with Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth I and II) is downloadable from EA’s website. Several mods have already been created, many of which having gained critical acclaim. Among them are C&C Allstars (a Zero multiplayer only Mod which allows players to play as one of three factions containing units from all over the C&C universe), Shockwave (a Zero Hour mod which adds new units for each faction and new generals to the General’s Challenge mode), and Cold War Crisis (a Zero Hour mod which replaces all the units with NATO and Soviet forces to depict an imaginary conflict between the two). Both game contain skirmish and online play modes.

While hardcore C&C fans may not regard Generals as a ‘true’ C&C game, fans who are a bit more open minded as well as RTS gamers in general will want to check this game out. It can usually be found packaged with the Zero Hour expansion. It’s also packaged along with a few other games as part of EA’s Strategy disc. If you don’t mind spending a little extra, you can get it, as well as every other C&C game before it (except Sole Survivor) as part of the Command and Conquer: The First Decade compilation pack. It’s rather unlikely, but with EA making a new Red Alert game, hopefully they will begin work on a new Generals game after it is finished. Until then, if you’re an RTS fan, you’ll enjoy this game as another fine addition to your collection.

PC Requirements:
OS: Windows 98 and higher (including Vista)
Processor: Intel Pentium 3/AMD Athlon 800 MHz equivalent or higher
Internal Memory: 128 MB Ram
Graphics: 32 MG AGP DirectX 8.1 or higher
Graphics Card: NIVIDIA Geforce 2/ATI Raedon 7500 equivalentor higher
Sound: DirectX 8.1 or higher sound card
Storage: 1.8 GB Hard Drive Space
Keyboard and Mouse
8x CD or DVD Rom

Mac Requirements
OS: Mac OSX 10.2.6
Processor: 1GHz PowerPC G4
Internal Memory: 256 MB Ram
Video Card: 32 MB Video Card
DVD Rom Drive
Keyboard and Mouse

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