Command and Conquer 4 Beta Review

Since my first Command & Conquer experience in 1995, I have been an avid CNC player and throughly enjoyed all iterations of the game to date. EA recently launched their open Beta of Command & Conquer 4 which you can learn more information about on their Command & Conquer web site.

I'll break my review down into various categories involving the game;

Graphics: A definite improvement over Command & Conquer 3. The fog of war is awesome, especially when you unveil new territory and a "haze" comes into play. I could equate it to you being in a desert and seeing a haze/mirage off in the distance. It's pretty neat. Past that there are some adjustments such as the unit/building highlighting feature which was taken from Red Alert 3. I for one am glad that's all they took for I think they found a good balance between RA3 stylized objects and CNC3 style realism. The explosions and other effects are pretty cool as well, especially the neat deterioration effect when units die. Overall the graphics are solid but the units could still use some polish.



Now onto the mostly negative aspects...

Game play: I don't know where to begin but this is NOT Command & Conquer. I literally had no clue as to what I was doing when I started and being there there's no documentation/manual to tell me what to do, I'm sure beginners will feel the same way, that is whoever plays the Beta and become disenfranchised which would lead to a loss in a sale of the game. Heck, even those who buy the game might feel the same way and not bother to look at the manual due to the sheer difference in game mechanics. The NODE's don't make any sense to me starting off and the lack of build options to start give me a head ache. Once you delve a little deeper you'll notice that tiberium in this game isn't there to make you money but to give you the ability to "tech up". Your sole objective in CNC4 is to capture control nodes and hold them.

You begin with the option to choose between an offensive, defensive or tech class which each has separate abilities, structures and units at your control. With this and the aforementioned items, there is a sharp learning curve involved. I've seen that the game play is very similar to Warhammer which some might see as an abomination to anything CNC related.

Music: Maybe it's due to the Beta but it sounds like everything is in MONO, especially the online lobby music. There's not much else to say about the music but the sounds can use some improvement as well for the voiceovers of some units sound extremely corny and childish.

Interface: Average, the in-game interface is very very average. I'm ok with them switching it to a Generals like interface (which they did, horizontal instead of vertical) but it needs some improvement, especially on the map portion which lacks a sense of realism. Don't even get me started on the online lobby interface, I felt like I took a step back to 1999 after seeing it. Although maybe it's a Beta thing?



Final Thoughts

I'm currently on the fence about Command & Conquer 4. I REALLY want the game to see the campaign and the end to an amazing story that has captivated me for the past 15 years but if the game play stays the same then I really don't see value of the multiplayer facet of the game and that's been the major billing of this game.

True fans will feel this is a rip off of another game or two that I've already mentioned or simply not be able to get past the RADICAL changes EA has made to the game. Maybe I'm just dumb, stubborn and like things that are easy to jump into and then figure out but at this point, that seems the opposite of what CNC4 really is. I invite anyone to post their thoughts on the Command & Conquer 4 Beta below.