Just making a new topic so that my extensive review of the demo doesn't get buried in a topic... sue me
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Yes yes yes, the demo has been released and damn was I looking forward to it
. This game has been on the top of my gonna get list from late August and now it's here! Well, the demo anyway. Previews all looked very promising. But can the real experience of a C&C game really survive 8 years of technological updating and not be 'to modern' for it's kind?
I had a chance to play it and I have to say that it's pretty cool once again. Like every new game it has that certain element of 'Damn I need to get used to this' to it, but that will pass with time. The graphics are pretty cool, sounds are cool (a lot of them also taken from the original C&C, dunno if thats cool or cheap to be quite honest) but the music could have been better IMO. Don't really have the feeling it's part of a C&C game.
WARNING! GAMEPLAY SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
The game starts out with the latest trailer that has been released to the public and is meant as general advertisement to the public. The demo contains 1 tutorial mission, 1 campaign mission and 1 skirmish map.
The tutorial is pretty straightforward, move the camera, move units, build base, yadayada. Nothing wrong with it would it not be for the huge gaps of time you lose while the game tries to figure out whether or not you did your objective and then takes 5 minutes to provide you with the next one.
After the tutorial you start the single player campaign. Thumbs up for EA on this one because it looks to me like they made not only a mission for the demo, but also an entire cut scene. We'll see about that in the final version of the game though. You are briefed by a 3 star general about what Nod is up to after which you are sent into the field. This mission is still mainly tutorial on a larger scale. This also introduces the new principle of a log in which you can find information on units, structures and faction backgrounds. This feature was already kind off available in C&C Renegade and apparently they decided to keep it.
The remainder of the mission is rather easy. You get some Orca's and after bombing the crap out a few buildings with the biggest ease ever, your commander is afraid you won't be able to handle it (seriously, you'll laugh when you hear her) and give you control over the Ion Cannon, the GDI weapon we have all come to love. Before I used it I thought it would be a nice addition to my Orca's to whipe out all the base structures one by one, just like in all previous C&C games, including Generals. However, to my extreme surprise they either overpowered the Ion Cannon completely or just did so for the purpose of that mission but when I used it it caused such destruction and hell that it wiped out the entire Nod base from the face of the map in a single strike. And this was no small base, this thing took in at least 1/4 of the map and had at least 16 structures in it. I hope the Ion Cannon in the real game is not this powerfull because that would just be... lame...
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After the refreshing experience of kicking some Nod butt, we see what is likely the true intro of the game. Nod has overrun Norrad and ASAT, rendering America's anti missile deployments completely useless. Leaving the GDI space station The Philidelphia vulnarable to missle attack from Nod. The station is destroyed, killing most of the world's leaders in one big blow and starting the third tiberium war.
SPOILERS END HERE
From time to time two real life reporters (one from CNN and one from a Las Vegas news station) take care of the news reports involving the war. While the cutscenes I have seen could have been better in certain areas, music and acting wise, it sets a great mood for the game.
So far Command & Conquer 3 is nearly everything I had hoped it to be. EA managed to stay true to the original C&C concept while also putting in a lot of new features and ideas. It could very well be the first game EA bought over but didn't f*ck up. However, time will tell, since it is only a demo after all.
Downloads:
The demo can - for now - only be downloaded from EA Link, the download program for EA Games. However in the course of this week it will become available in more and more places, including Gamespy and Filefront.
Havoc