Reviews for the C&C franchise

[Saracen 16]

**I'm putting this here instead of the C&C 10 forum since it'll get answered more**

 

As part of the C&C 10 celebrations, I'd like everybody to give a quick review of each of the games in the franchise.. simple :wink:

[Saracen 16]

I'll start...

 

C&C: Tiberian Dawn

 

What can't be said that hasn't already, the game which still kicks ass of many RTS games out there. The game that defined everything out there today. Perfectly balanced, well constructed, excellent music score, great storyline, really immersive. Probably still the one of the most solid AI's in an RTS game.. The finest C&C to ever be created. - Score - 96%

 

C&C: Red Alert

 

Builds upon the classic, although really, not as good as Tib Dawn in my opinion. The storyline was alot more loose, the balance was strong, but flawed in a few areas. Music score was not as memorable, but still classic. Internet multiplay was a blast for those who had it. Map editor rocked! Skirmish mode introduced, hell yes!! - Score - 93%

 

C&C: Tiberian Sun

 

Strange Isometric view took some getting used to at the start. Movies were of superior quality and drove the storyline well. Futuristic units and structures were not OTT, but the game at version 1.08 was seriously bugged and did not gain any proper stability until version 2.0.... AI was terrible, even on hard. Missions although good, lack any major replay value in comparison to previous C&C titles... but overall, Innovative and interesting while it lasted, if you could complete the game without it crashing out to windows every 10 minutes. - Score - 87%

 

C&C: Red Alert 2

 

Only real good point for this game was the multiplayer and Skirmish games. They rocked, and still continues to rock on today. Perfectly balanced gaming in the multiplayer region, perfect!!

 

Single player was a good promise from the intro, but once in-game I struggled to keep up with my units running across the screen. They could make it across any map in under 60 seconds and gameplay for me was unbearable... No real time element, it was purely Double Speed arcade Strategy. I took the bull by the horns, just to get the story and see why everybody liked the campaigns, but I failed to see what the fuss was about. I hated everything within it, the game speed, the cheesy acting, poor storyline, the works... Only compensation was seeing EVA and Tanya in a sexy dress, and Zofia in that catsuit... shake it baby!! - Score - 60%

 

C&C: Renegade

 

Without a doubt, this was not too well recieved by gaming magazines and many FPS fans alike, but this game spawned so much. Single player and Multiplayer modes were fast, fun, and nothing short of brilliant! Alot of my time was spent on this game especially in multiplayer which i ruled the roost on, and proved to be a contending force in playing... While the game was poor in comparison to other First Person Shooters, it had a magic which was beyond anything ever experienced... Probably the nostalga created was the making of this game. - Score - 88%

 

C&C: Generals

 

No storyline, no sidebar, no MCV's, no movies and no Frank Klepacki Music... Worse than Red Alert 2 for features, but the general gameplay could not be faulted. AI was rediculously Easy, but I completed the USA campaign and gave up... Zero Hour proved the biggest disappointment in campaign modes also, didn't do more than 3 missions before giving up on the whole lot... Multiplayer was good to begin with. But with the ability to build more than a single superweapon, it was an arms race which led to Multiplayer becoming a boring and stale element... A massively dissapointing game. I only really ever played skirmishes and used the game for the playing of mods. The Westwood team are sorely missed here, this had all the potential of being a classic. - Score - 42%

[Koen 2]

Dune 2

A classic, but hard to play because you could only select one unit at a time. Only with trainers was it possible to beat it for me. Score - 80%

 

C&C: Tiberian Dawn

The ultimate classic . That was left-handed. Especially level 6 where the target of the commando wasn't mentioned (*** out) and you didn't know what to blow up. Cool! It was the airstrip, BTW. The Obelisk of Light (or Laser, as I called it) was the ultimate turtler defense. So, me. Mentioning the Stealth and Mammoth tanks is also important, plain and simple names for tactics: stealth or pure force. Score - 90%

 

Red Alert 1

This one is a little bit better than the original C&C, because of technologies as the Spy Satellite, Gap Generator, MIGs, Chronosphere and Iron Curtain. Gameplay-wise the addition of a skirmish mode was brilliant, I've lost many hours there. The cutscenes are very entertaining (and long!) and this is the last time they are this good. Later FMVs are just too cheesy for my taste. Did I mention my turtler favourite, the Tesla Coil? Or inside levels? Or dogs? Or moddability? I can go on! Score - 99%

 

Tiberian Sun

The predicate for this RTS would be "least-played C&C RTS" for me (haven't played Sole Survivor). Everything was just too brown, and the Obelisk of Light was just plain weak. Beat most levels by using Artillery to smoke the enemy out. Only made an editor for it over 6 months after release because I was not very interested. Only the Vein Monster and the Tiberian Veins were cool. Firestorm made it better but not by much. Score - 60%

 

Red Alert 2

The game is much more cheesy than RA1 and takes itself less seriously. But gameplay makes it all right. It just works, although the Tesla Coil is pretty weak, making me less like the Soviets. Score - 85%

The Yuri's Revenge expansion is a nice gimmick, but does not lead to balanced gameplay. Score - 75%

 

Dune 2000

Played this one after RA2, and loved it. It has the nice simplicity of Tiberian Dawn and RA1 again. Worms eating your troops are definitely cool!

Played this more than TS. Score - 85%

 

Emperor: Battle for Dune

Okay... I just never got past level 6 in this game. All my units get into a long line because everything is so narrow, and are eaten by leeches. Never found a way to kill them. Good FMVs, nice 3D engine, but all units just look the same to me. It is not clear which unit can counter which other unit.Score - 40%

 

Renegade

Released 2 years too late. The graphics weren't good enough and the gimmicks FPS fans want not new enough. 2 years earlier it would have been very big. I don't like FPS games, so I won't score this one.

 

Generals

Definitely fun, but the game is radically different from other CNCs. I don't like the bottom bar or the fact that I now have Dozers/workers. It's no fun when your defense buildings won't finish because workers are killed. And the building is deconstructed. I'm doing this for fun, not realism! Sure it's nice to have construction animations for your artists, but not for me. An MCV is just cooler than a Bulldozer.

Upgrades are a nice touch, as are garrisoning everything. You can feel that the engine is much better at these things. Single-player mission has some gimmicks (breaking dam), but are way too easy. Score - 65%

 

Zero Hour

The game Generals should have been. Except introducing a new side for every general makes it too crowded and unbalanced. Besides that, it was released too soon after Generals, making people feel they need to buy it to get updates to the original Generals. Single player is too easy again. But the Generals Challenges are very hard. I like that! Only I'm unable to finish the last one or two of them, and since they are repeated all the time (same level) it gets stale after a while. Score - 70%

 

Battle for Middle Earth

This one is off-limits for the C&C: 10 Anniversary. I won't go there

 

Conclusion

KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid! I can't tell you a single standard tank unit name from Emperor: Battle for Dune, because it's not obvious what those units do. Making recognizable units is the #1 goal in RTS games. Leading to my seriously cool list:

- Dogs

- Commando, Tanya, Yuri

- Tesla Coil, Obelisk of Light

- Stealth Tank

- Mobile Construction Vehicle

- Chronosphere, Iron Curtain, Nuke

Seriously uncool:

- Bulldozers and Workers

- All units I can't remember the name of. You know which ones they are.

[Thierry 0]

Emperor: Battle for Dune

Okay... I just never got past level 6 in this game. All my units get into a long line because everything is so narrow, and are eaten by leeches. Never found a way to kill them. Good FMVs, nice 3D engine, but all units just look the same to me. It is not clear which unit can counter which other unit.Score - 40%

 

Not to be mean, but if you allow your units to all get in a line and allow them to be destroyed by leeches then you aren't really playing Emperor too well.

 

What works against leeches?

-Aircraft (they work best)

-Missile infantry

-Defenses!

-Sonic weapons (if your Atreides)

-Flames (if your Harkonnen)

-Heavy bullets (Sardaukar for example)

 

And of course, leeches can be removed by an engineer in a second, and it takes a while for a leech to kill a tank.

Also, retreat is also an option!

 

I give Emperor 80%

The story line is the best ever! Every mission is guided with movies, speech etc and its all very well done.

The whole terrain capturing map of Dune is awesome too.

One thing I'm not too happy about is that Emperor is a bit...chaotic, but beyond that great game.

 

Ok the other games

 

Tiberian Dawn:

 

Simply put, a classic, that was lefthanded Good gameplay, and ofcourse the all powerful Obelisk of Light. 85%

 

Red Alert 1:

 

Same as Tiberian Dawn, another classic, and it started the RA franchise, skirmish adding was great, good cutscenes and good gameplay. 85%

 

Tiberian Sun:

 

Sadly, not all its cracked up to be. It was expected be THE C&C game, but sadly, it was not. It featured a new Voxel Engine, which was a great improvement over RA1/TD.

And ofcourse, the indestructable and allkilling NOD artillery

The gameplay was good, but the overall game could have been better. 70%

 

Red Alert 2:

 

Great game, simple as that, it was more succesfull from RA1 then TS was from TD.

Of course the cutscenes were great, and had good gameplay, though it lacked a solid storyline. (The Soviets attack, ok what else?) 80%

Dune 2000:

 

Great game, used TD engine if I remember correctly, but was still an awesome game. It reminded me a lot of the days of Dune 2.

Its a Dune Classic, simple as that. 85%

 

Emperor can be found above.

 

Generals:

 

Probably the most, spoken, bashed, talked about and whatnot game in the C&C franchise.

When first introduced, it had the awesome SAGE engine, which meant real 3D, WOOHOO!

But soon it became obvious that while it was not a bad game, it was not C&C.

EA made a big tank with 2 barrels and decided that that was the equivalent of the Mammoth and thus its C&C.

The game itself lacks a storyline and thats bad, but online its still good to play.

It has however, NOTHING to do with C&C except for the C&C sticker slapped on it by EA. 75%

 

Zero Hour:

 

Like EA said, its what Generals should have been.

The Generals were originally designed to be in the first Generals, but EA cut it.

They made a few new units, a few new missions, and added Challenges for the new generals and named it Zero Hour, the Generals Expansion.

This should have been in Generals, but still a good expansion for Generals. 75%

[Cygnus X-1 12]

Tiberian Dawn-Amazing. And all that has been said before. My only real issue with it was the lack of skirmish mode. Great music. 92%

 

Red Alert-My all tiem fav. C&C game. I loved the campaigns and the cutscene, the music was the best for the game I think. I just fell in love with that game after the 1st 2 min of the Soveit campaign (the first one I played) Skirmish mode !!!!! 97%

 

Tiberian Sun-My second fav game. Despite al lthe bugs and a few gameplay issues, it was my as far as storyline and general settin goes. I loved to appocalyptic setting the world is in durring tha game. FS made it all that much more fun. I especially liked how the Superweapons, while quite devastating, werent the base killers they are in later games.There were quite a few things I would have changed about that game, but overall, I loved it. 93%

 

Red Alert 2-campaign was ridiculously easy, same with YR. I hated the cutscenens, althouogh the intro was a good first impression. Multiplayer pwns all. Ai is too easy, but other than that, its pretty good. Think the game got a little too balanced in YR (BF rush anyone ??) 84%

 

Generals-no story, crappy missions, bad AI, decent multiplayer. I do like the fact that the US has an almost interesting airforce, and the Return of the A-10 and the Hum-vee. But a real disapointment. Music was almost ok, but nothing like Frank. 44%

[Guest MadBadger]

C&C: Generals

 

Multiplayer was good to begin with. But with the ability to build more than a single superweapon, it was an arms race which led to Multiplayer becoming a boring and stale element... A massively dissapointing game. I only really ever played skirmishes and used the game for the playing of mods. The Westwood team are sorely missed here, this had all the potential of being a classic. - Score - 42%

 

 

dude the scores like 20% less than it should be look at the grapics and the 3d element..... also planes that can shoot each other and other means of makin $ cant be sniffed at think you were a little harsh there..... snigle player stunk bad but as for multiplyer....... dude wtf you think standard/pro rules are for... to correct EAs crapyness.

[Luk3us 63]

Tiberian Dawn: 8/10 - Was pretty wicked when it first came out. Great game

 

Tiberian Sun: 9/10 - Although it was kidna slow at points I really loved that game.

 

Red Alert: 9.5/10 - Everything that made Tiberian Dawn good and more. This game was the best in my personal opinion out of all the games in the C&C series

 

Red Alert 2: 8/10 - Although multiplay was great fun. Single Player was a laughing matter. Nothing new or unique was really brought to this game.

 

Generals: 7/10 - Do I dear say this is a C&C game? I didn't like single player at all. I thought Zero Hour was a hell of a lot better. Though I never really got to involved in the game...

 

Renegade: 6/10 - This game like previous people said was released to late. Grahpics were ****e and gameplay was stale... Although still best RTS in the C&C series... lol...

 

Zee end of luk3us' reviews.

[Saracen 16]

dude the scores like 20% less than it should be look at the grapics and the 3d element..... also planes that can shoot each other and other means of makin $ cant be sniffed at think you were a little harsh there..... snigle player stunk bad but as for multiplyer....... dude wtf you think standard/pro rules are for... to correct EAs crapyness.

 

1) Graphics for any game do not make up for any of the score here. Graphics are important to a slight degree, but on this occassion, no.

 

2) So what if Aircraft could shoot at each other. This was possible in Red Alert, any aircraft that fired missiles could shoot down other aircraft.

 

3) Making money by other means is an old RTS concept that by the standards of Generals was an unoriginal and uninteresting concept, no score here for that either.

 

4) Multiplayer was always great, but as I said the arms races sucked and ruined the whole balance of the game.

 

My score for Generals stands... I'm suprised that you didn't criticise my score for RA2. The only reason that RA2 was better than Generals in my opinion was that the game still had C&C formula, and the multiplayer is perhaps the most balanced of all the games in the franchise..

 

Anyway.. on with the reviews...

[Cygnus X-1 12]

im surprised, not very many people put up reviews here