Eurogamer's C&C 4 Preview & Screen Shots

[Sonic 296]

After yesterdays retrospective look at the Tiberian saga, Eurogamer have posted their large preview of Command & Conquer 4, which includes many of the screen shots we first got to see in the low-res magazine scans. Now you check them out in all their hi-res glory.

 

 

Here's a small sample from the preview.

 

... Glosecki occasionally zooming in to show us the procedural damage and deferred lighting model, allowing each splatter of gunfire to cast its own glow and shadows, it's worth mentioning something else that's new. That's our base itself, the Crawler, now mobile as the name suggests, and capable of building units while it's moving, and spitting them out when it sets itself down. It should be a handy tool for newcomers, as it allows players to focus their attention on one area of the map at a time, and it also - whisper it - respawns if destroyed, a new model dropping out of the sky afresh after the last one was blown to pieces. There are limitations, though: you can only respawn on your side of the map, and there's a minute cooldown between redeployment to stop you turning the whole thing into an impromptu meteor attack.

 

Some may be tempted to see the focus on accessibility as a form of dumbing down, but there's more than enough evidence that C&C4 is holding back treats for those that really know how to play. EA's been thinking about both ends of the spectrum: a respawning Crawler means you can fail a few times before succeeding, but it also allows canny commanders to lure enemies to a dead zone and then crush them from above, as the base does significant splash damage when it lands on top of you. Ideas like this should change the game on whatever level you're playing it at.

 

Respawning the Crawler (surely a NIN title?) also allows you to reselect your class as, yes, C&C4 is now a class-based game. There are three classes available - Offence, Defense, and Support - and they're there to allow you to tailor your approach to each situation. If you're a new player, choose the one that's easiest moment-to-moment; if you're an expert, force your way through the whole campaign using just the Support role - it will be possible.

Click here to read the full 3 page preview.

[Luk3us 63]

That snow screenshot looks horrible imo. The rest are better though.

 

If they have a demo to show to the press, then I imagine a gameplay trailer of some kind can't be that far away in the future too?

[Johnnyxp64 20]

i will wait for a hidef ingameplay video to judge it. still thanks for the update i can see some details i couldnt before.

 

UPDATE:

in this RetroVideo there is some CGI that i have neever seen before, they seem to be early CnC4 CGI.....

i am not talking about the Tiberium CGI in the beginning..

Edited August 10, 2009 by Johnnyxp64

[Silverthorn 0]

Speaking of snow, I also want to ask if EA is going to bring back the snow-covered structures like Westwood did with theirs. Moreover, we haven't been seeing any "Ask a Developer" threads for months now. We do ask the snow structure questions for so long, and yet EA never answers. They did read, but they never reply. How rude!

 

RA3 may had failed to have snow-covered structures, but I'm expecting, or most of us will be expecting realism and details when it comes to snowy environment.

[Existor 15]

With the arrival of some Nod Scorpion tanks, along with burrowing units returning after Tiberium Sun, it's straight into the action. The most immediate difference in C&C4, apart from the experience points now rising from every felled enemy, is the rate at which the mission flows from one objective to the next, orders quickly redirecting us from clearing the area of all Nod units - alongside the Scorpions they'd brought in some nasty Fire Tanks and Spider Tanks, all looking spectacularly villainous in black and red - and telling us to search the immediate surroundings for a TCN node to connect the transport to. Once that's done, things switch to a sweaty defence situation, as we protect the healing vessel from the big guns of the Nod arsenal, namely Centurions, massive shielded robot units that can inflict some serious damage. Luckily, we've brought along a Mastodon, an equally gigantic four-legged walker - "a mobile death factory," according to Bass.

 

What!?

[Crusader1 0]

From these screen shots it looks like they have copyed off DOW 2, by taking out base building and making it has one structure like in DOW 2.

Call me old school if you will but it will not be a C&C game with out is base building it. Untill in the up coming mouth when they do a ingame video I still don't know how it will all work out. I have been reading tho but like I said I wait untill a ingame video to come out in I don't say January 2010.

[Malevolence 6]

As usual, bottombar woes and the snow terrain looks not much significant improvement from Generals.

[Sonic 296]

Johnnyxp64 please stay on topic in news threads. Don't bring up new topics. See the Important Rule at the top of the page.

 

Also what you ere talking about is already being discussed here http://forums.cncnz.com/index.php?showtopic=12291

[Johnnyxp64 20]

Johnnyxp64 please stay on topic in news threads. Don't bring up new topics. See the Important Rule at the top of the page.

 

Also what you ere talking about is already being discussed here http://forums.cncnz.com/index.php?showtopic=12291

 

oh i dint see that in the forums i think it was on topic thought.

never mind.

i will post my thoughts there

Edited August 10, 2009 by Johnnyxp64

[Gben 20]

Exisitor that was mentioned by Sam Bass in the BCPT... from memory.

 

EDIT: Looking at the hi-res photos....

 

 

I notice two things here:-

1) Upper left scorpion tank appears to be de-cloaking. I assume there is a stealth generator nearby, and that the unit doesn't have an internal stealth generator based on other shots where it is visible in it's undeployed state.

2) The engineer unit is the vehicle build que, so maybe it's a version of the rig and not the engineer. But actually we haven't seen any infantry yet.

 

I appreciate looking at the detail in these photos, but it's not dramatically different from the magazine scans, and therefore my opinion of the graphics remains low.

Edited August 11, 2009 by Sonic

[TX1138 0]

RA3 may had failed to have snow-covered structures, but I'm expecting, or most of us will be expecting realism and details when it comes to snowy environment.

Well considering how structures are deployed instantly on the battlefield, realistically speaking the buildings shouldn't be covered in snow.

[ORCaLoVeR 0]

The unit designs just are looking to Cartoonish!I mean, the flame tanks, those missile tanks from Nod, the Chin turret of the Mastodon!

Common EA, this aint bloody Ra3!

[Sonic 296]

Added clean versions of these screen shots to the gallery. No ugly watermark/branding images.

[Mighty BOB! 5]

The unit designs just are looking to Cartoonish!I mean, the flame tanks, those missile tanks from Nod, the Chin turret of the Mastodon!

Common EA, this aint bloody Ra3!

Amen brother.

 

Ugh.. I should really just stop paying attention to C&C4 news. Nothing but disappointment on top of more disappointment. Argh, but I wanted so much to like it.

[hagren 0]

Not every unit looks bad, though.

[Malevolence 6]

Lol to the "cloaking" scorpion tank crazy discussions. Me thinks is some sort of a glitch or something.

[Nmenth 291]

Lol to the "cloaking" scorpion tank crazy discussions. Me thinks is some sort of a glitch or something.

I don't think they would show us a picture with a glitch in it. Then again, it looks really weird for a cloak. Could be something else, there have been other various unit enhancer/hindrances like EMPs, Limpet or Magnetic mines, Horde bonus, and Frenzy.

[Mighty BOB! 5]

I dunno, they showed those Mammoth Tanks "catching air time" over a hill in the Tiberium Wars gameplay preview and that was a terrain-following error. A rather serious error at that. I wouldn't rule out an error slipping into a screenshot.

 

 

(skip ahead to 1:50)

[Malevolence 6]

Lol, glitches, as usual.