Great solo gameplay but online it is truly horrific.
There are three campaigns each with 9 missions, the Soviets are the obvious starting choice and then you can follow on with the Allies and Empire of the Rising Sun. Also even if you're a C&C veteran it is worth playing the tutorial for a few laughs and to get the most out the game. The campaign missions themselves are pretty good although at some points it can be a little tedious when you hear the words 'battlefield expanded.' One new addition to the game is a co-commander who aids you and who you can give orders too. However, this is largely at the mercy of the A.I sometimes they don't listen to you or do random things.
EA have gone at great lengths to get known actors and the cut-scenes are largely well done to a high standard. My only concern was how they have 'over-sexualised' the game. They have hired very attractive female stars, with low cut tops and flirt throughout the game, you even get a poster with them on. All the hero units are female, I would of much preferred the return of 'Boris' from Yuri's Revenge, it could of even been played by Brian Blessed. It just seemed EA have taken what Westwood did with the Red Alert 2, which had a great Allied ending and turned up the sexual aspect of the game tenfold. It is not particularly a sticking point for the game but it seems to have leaped female wise from C&C Tiberian Wars.
Gameplay wise. Well the units are very well designed and each has a neat secondary ability. This can range from a V4 rocket switching from single missile to multi missile load, to an engineer having a temporary speed boost. There is much more emphasis this time around to naval units, you can basically builds on land or sea. This is a great addition however I do feel EA have taken it to the extreme. Nearly every mission has water and sometimes there feels too much emphasis on water based units. At times the gameplay can feel clunky and lacks fasted paced action, a more general war of attrition is fought. One major problem I have with gameplay is the way resources are collected. It back to the old Generals style of single node supplies. It is more of a personal preference rather than a critical game breaking one. Superweapons are a tad bit disappointing. They seem to lack that explosive factor like the nuclear bomb from Red Alert 2. However they are more technically appealing and this seems to be a general way units have developed. Both Allies and Rising Sun have these nice units that feel technical as opposed to the Soviets who focus on pure firepower.
Sound and Music. Frank Klepacki (who produced just about every other C&C soundtrack) has reprised his role in this one. Let's just say he has taken the Red Alert 2 music and cranked it up. Hell March 3 sounds great and overall his music makes the game feel that extra bit special and an extra bit C&C. Sound of units has also been partially lifted from Red Alert 2, so there is a curious mix of the old style sounds to new and better sound effects. This is really demonstrated with most of the Rising Sun units, they feel entirely new and blend in nicely
The great problem with this game is online. An easily corrected problem that hasn't been solved is lack of alphabetical names in the lobby. You have to spend a few minutes looking down the list for the person who wanted an invite to your game which is slightly annoying. Also, rankings and symbols for peoples names like the previous Red Alert are not there. However, online itself the game feels more streamline.
Pro's:
- Great single player
- Atmosphere of the games feels great
- Unit designs are great, each faction is very distinct.
Cons:
- Online is poor, and trying to find a co-op player is difficult in the non alphabetical list
- Some of the gameplay feels sluggish, increasing gamespeed helps a bit.
- Minimap is simply atrocious, flat, ugly and a step backwards.
Overall the pro's out weight the cons and I give it a score of 8.0.