It’s about time. After almost ten years, four games, and innumerable add-on packs, the Command & Conquer franchise is finally moving into 3D, rejuvenated by developer EA Pacific (a branch of Westwood), who brought us the excellent Red Alert 2 addon pack Yuri’s Revenge. But as you’re about to find out, that’s not the only change from this, the most famous RTS series. In fact, things couldn’t be more different, so forget everything you know about the previous games, lock it in a wooden casket and fire it into space, never to be seen again. It’s all change on planet C&C, and if you’re hankering for more of the same then don’t bother.

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Spot The Difference

Possibly the most striking difference (other than the aesthetic one, which I’ll come to later) is that C&C: Generals will not be based in the C&C world we're all familiar with, where NOD and GDI forces battled for world supremacy. Neither will it be based on a power struggle between Communist Russia and the Allies, as envisioned by the Red Alert games. No, in fact from what we’ve seen and heard so far, Generals couldn’t be further removed from the C&C universe if it tried. Really hard. Even if it cheated, in fact. Which means, no more bald-headed paedophile-looking terrorist leaders. No more smudged-looking 2D isometric graphics which patronise your $300 graphics card. No more Stalin or Einstein, no more mad scientists with names that sound like bowel movements, and no more buxom Tanya flashing her cleavage gratuitously at the camera in a vain attempt to cover up her lack of acting ability. No, forget all that and instead take my hand (nothing pervy you understand), and follow me into a new world - the world of C&C: Generals.

A General Gist

It’s 2020, or thereabouts, and a terrorist organisation called the Global Liberation Army is threatening world peace (whatever that is). By some unexplained means, the GLA have gained access to Chinese military hardware as well as devastating biochemical weapons, and is using these resources to power its numerous terrorist activities in and around the Chinese borders. In this futuristic world, the Chinese government is filled with young forward-thinking pinkos with capitalist intentions, who promptly realise that their ambitions to turn China into a major economic and military world power can only be realised once the terrorists have been dealt with. And as if you couldn't have guessed, it’s only a matter of time till the Americans stick their noses into the whole situation, by helping out the Chinese.

Three, Two, One...

Generals will be split up into three, ten-mission campaigns - one for each of the three sides - all of which will come with their own set of goals and unique selection of military hardware. However, you’ll also have to contend with the restrictions that each one throws up. The Americans, ever concerned with public opinion, will place more importance on troop preservation, generally making them more powerful, but conversely more expensive than those of the Chinese. The GLA on the other hand are fanatics that will stop at nothing to gain victory, even if it means the massacre of hundreds of their own troops.

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To aid you in your struggle for freedom, you’ll be provided with a selection of hi-tech, somewhat futuristic and at times ludicrous weaponry with which to annihilate the enemy. Team USA will be stocked up with cutting-edge technology, including a hovering tank called the Crusader, with a laser-firing sidekick drone. Hovering tanks? Who cares?. Where are the bloody double-turreted, rocket-launcher mounted Mammoth Tanks, that could bulldoze their way through walls? Now that was a tank. Still, could work I suppose. However, the Crusader sounds nothing less than inspired when compared to US Detention Camp, which comes fitted with a 'demoraliser’ ray gun which gathers the mood of your captives and fires it at enemy troops in order to reduce their morale. I shit you not. Apparently, this concentration camp is based on Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay (perhaps EA Pacific know something about it that we don't). It’s as yet unconfirmed whether you’ll be able to give your institutions equally ndiculous names (such as Camp Colonoscopy or Camp Echocardiograph), or whether you’ll get the option of stnnging up the inmates and beating the soles of their feet with cables wrapped in razor wire. We'll have to wait and see.

However, fear not, as there are plenty of exotic and exciting weapons of destruction which will have all you sadists bulging at the crotch. The Aurora strike fighter - a supersonic bomber - sounds particularly impressive, as it carries a devastating airburst bomb which will inflict massive area damage, while the B-52 bomber will give carpet-layers the world over endless satisfaction. What’s more, each airborne unit will come fitted with its very own pilot, who can eject, take over an enemy vehicle and find their way back to safety. How nice.

Like A Lead Balloon

The Chinese arsenal is an equally mixed bag. High points include the Seismic tank (an enormous double-turreted machine which fires concussion rounds) and the Inferno Cannon, a cumbersome firespitting metal beast. Unfortunately there are a couple of duds in here too. namely the Propaganda Blimp. If reports are to be believed this will fly above your troops in battle, and inspire them to greater feats by broadcasting propaganda messages through its speakers - which let’s face it, is verging on the ridiculous. You can just picture it can’t you? There you are in the midst of battle, your best friend wheezing his last in your arms when some jumped-up commie in a Zeppelin starts bellowing words of encouragement at you through a megaphone, urging you to shoot your People’s gun at the People’s enemy’s head. I don’t know about you, but I’d shoot the bastard myself and be done with it. Then again it’s early days yet, and with some luck this option will see some work before the final version ships.

Finally we have the GLA, whose selection is looking by far the most entertaining of the three. The Angry Mob sounds particularly amusing. Comprising around 20 angry proles, armed to the cavities with Molotov cocktails and rocks, they’ll throw their makeshift weapons at any nearby enemies. What’s more, you'll be able to link up several of these groups to form a fully fledged riot. This is much more like it. Technicals - trucks with mounted machine guns - are also a welcome and novel addition to the GLA set-up. Best of all though is the ability of the GLA to create a complex labyrinth of underground tunnels, enabling rapid troop movement in the safety of an underground confine. Work continues on multiple other weapons for the three sides, and we'll be bringing you more on them as and when the info oozes out of EA’s tightly sealed offices.

Commanding Respect

One thing that EA Pacific seems particularly proud of is its all-new command system. Unlike in past C&C games where you had to make do with whatever units you had at your disposal, you'll now be able to specialise in certain areas by selecting one of three 'Commands' before the inception of each mission - which will in turn provide you with a set of advantages and disadvantages. While the GLA and Chinese 'Commands' are still undecided, the US ones are all but finalised.

The first of these is the Nato Tank Command, whereby your land-based units ship with bonuses (20 per cent cheaper production costs and immediate veteran status), but all other units are 20 per cent more expensive. You’ll also be given access to a new unit, the Leopard Tank - versatile and built with a mounted anti-personnel machine gun. The US Air Force Command (which gives you a stealth bomber as your bonus weapon) works in much the same way, in that your production of aircraft is 20 per cent cheaper and all air units are immediately allotted veteran status. You’ll also be given the ability to steal enemy planes and make them your own. Finally, there's the Special Forces Command, whereby commandos will be 20 per cent cheaper and base defenses. 20 per cent dearer. A deadly army ranger, who can not only shut down the power to enemy bases, but can also be parachuted behind enemy lines, will be your specialist unit if you choose this path.

New Shoes, Same Socks?

But this is all very well and good. New graphics. Great. New units. Excellent. What about the gameplay? Ahhh, you see, I was just coming to that part. And rest assured, we're being promised plenty of nuances in this very department. First off is the new command interface, which has been completely revamped. The age-old vertical interface of games-gone-by is to be replaced by an intuitive horizontal one which will allow information to be gathered and orders dispatched far more rapidly. Clicking on a building will now reveal all the options available from that structure, considerably simplifying base and unit construction. And in an attempt to make units less one-dimensional, EA Pacific has decided to incorporate unit upgrades. AK-47s for the Angry Mob being just one such example.

Resource management and building construction have also received overhauls. Each side will start out with abulldozer, which acts as your construction vehicle (funny, but I've always been under the impression that bulldozers were meant for knocking things down). These can erect new buildings anywhere on the map, as opposed to just within your base.

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EA Pacific is hoping that this will open up a whole new array of tactical possibilities in Generals. Let’s hope it does. Resource collecting will revolve around pick up trucks and supply depots. As I said before, there’sno Tiberium here, only warehouses full of building materials which will be transported back to your base by convoys of lorries. While it’s hardly a gargantuan step from the method adopted by previous C&C games, at least it’s a stab at adding some variety.

Black Hole Supernova

Like a fading actress, once adored by fans, now laughed at in the streets for her succession of movie flops and unattractive folds, the C&C series has taken a few knocks over the last few years. Hopefully C&C: Generals will be the tonic, the elixir of youth to a fading gaming star, signalling a triumphant return to form and a beautiful 3D makeover for the world’s best known RTS series. From what we’ve seen and heard so far, it’s in with a chance, although the competition is set to get ever greater with the likes of Medieval: Total War and Warcraft III almost upon us. But the question remains: will C&C fans accept this strange new world, one bereft of Tiberium, or any connection to the previous titles? Will they fall to the floor and pound the earth with scab-covered fists and shout:.'It’s not C&C anymore.' Or will they rejoice in its new birth and angle, crying out: 'C&C in 3D.

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A Sage Move

EA Pacific has borrowed heavily from the Command & Conquer: Renegade engine, utilising its W3D-rendering technology to complement its very own 3D engine. The combination of the two is being called the Sage engine. The development team is extremely excited at the prospect of finally having a platform on which to show off their artistic ability, since many members of the team were restricted by the isometric nature of previous C&C games. We’ve also been promised panoramic replays when something notable happens on the battlefield, such as a massive explosion to heighten the mood. It’s still undecided though as to whether the game will feature rendered cut-scenes or acted FMV sequences. However, with the dynamic lighting, some superb shadow, smoke and reflective effects, as well as the new graphical dimension - for the first time in C&C history, you should truly feel involved in the action once it kicks off. At least that’s what we’ve been told anyway.

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