[review]
The lowest spec PC we've been able to get to work at the office to play Generals has a 1.4gig AMD processor, 256MB memory and a Geforce 2 MX. The game has very rich graphics and some of the effects caused by the superweapons are amazing (I deliberately build around 5 nuke lanuchers just to watch the mushroom cloud and radiation spread out across the blast radius)
The game is exceedingly fun on a network and on the net, but its single player capabilities are rather lacking, in my opinion, compared to the canonical C&C series.
There are only 3 sides, very conveniently chosen in my opinion. The USA's special unit is a Vin Diesel style commando: camouflaged and able to place timed and remote charges.
The Chinese' special unit is "Black Lotus", a camouflaged female computer hacker who can capture buildings at amazing speeds (the amount of times I've had her in someone elses base and suddenly captured their nuke launcher before they launch is hilarious) as well as being able to steal money from enemy supply depots and sabotage enemy vehicles.
The GLA, who are basically the equivalant of the Arab States (not naming any countries in particular), have the Jeman-Kell, a camouflaged sniper who is able to take out drivers in enemy vehicles (which you can then send people in to capture and use yourself).
The USA's special weapon is your typical Ion Canon (although dubbed "Particle Canon", its effictively the same thing), but with an added twist, you can now control the beam to take out several buildings, not just one.
The Chinese have the typical Nuclear bomb, with an absolutely huge blast radius and radiation that remains in the blast area for over 30 seconds after detonation.
The GLA have the scud launcher (its as if Westwood had a crystal ball, able to see what was going to happen). This weapon shoots 8 nukes at the selected area with a blast radius similar to the nuke's. The weapons is also packed with chemicals able to kill the units that servive the blast.
Needless to say, the effects on these weapons are some of the best I've ever seen in an RTS. Unfortunately, the amount of damage these weapons do is awful, and the fact that you can build as many as you want (i.e. you can have 5 Nukes) just adds to the devastation. The Nuke lanucher takes 6 minutes to get ready, I spend 3 minutes rebuilding my base after an attack...5 nukes would destroy pretty much annyone's base.
In terms of weaponary, its your typical armourment. Americans technologically advanced with Apaches and Tanks fitted with lasers (not your typical obelisk lasers, but lasers capable of taking out cruise missiles etc.). The Chinese are your hulks, the people with the power but not really any technology that the US have. The GLA are the guerillas, biological weaponary and general sneakiness.
Money is no longer produced from ore fields or tiberium, but by stockpiles and supply areas. These are only your real source of money for the first 15 minutes, after which they run out. Each country has their own way of making up the bucks in the middle and end game; the USA have a supply drop-zone, where UN aircraft drop money every 2 minutes (you normally need about 10-15 of these scattered in groups around your base). The Chinese have the hacker, an infantry unit capabale of "hacking" the internet, stealing small amounts of money every few seconds from the internet (you normally need about 20-30 of these scattered around your base) and the GLA have the Black Market, producing $20 of money every few seconds or so.
Power-wise, the US and Chinese need to build power stations in order to have production speeds at full and make sure the base defence is operational at all times. The GLA require no power.
Much like the money supplies, if you group the power into one area, a well placed Nuke or Scud attacked will down your power and make you highly vunerable to attack.
The scenary in the game is amazing, swaying trees, smoking chimneys etc. and if your tanks bump into civilian cars you'll also hear the car alarm go off (which I normally silence with a few placed shots). If you play a nice, lush, fertile level (with lots of green) then you'll also be able to see the slow movements of the clouds on the ground.
If any of you have played Emperor:Battle for Dune, its much like that, but about 10x better graphically and gameplay-wise. Unfortunately, the game still has the same basis as other recent RTS's and isn't exactly ground-breaking. Your tactics remain the same; tank rush (an early attack), power force (i.e. build as many tanks as possible and charge headlong into the enemy base) or very rarely, you can do sneak attacks and often disable the enemies power (unless they are the GLA) or super weapon before sending in your strike force.
So, in conclusion, the game is really for the RTS players who like to be wowed, but its not for the people searching for an exciting advancement in the RTS genre.
[/review]
Phew...reminds me of my game reviewing years
The lowest spec PC we've been able to get to work at the office to play Generals has a 1.4gig AMD processor, 256MB memory and a Geforce 2 MX. The game has very rich graphics and some of the effects caused by the superweapons are amazing (I deliberately build around 5 nuke lanuchers just to watch the mushroom cloud and radiation spread out across the blast radius)
The game is exceedingly fun on a network and on the net, but its single player capabilities are rather lacking, in my opinion, compared to the canonical C&C series.
There are only 3 sides, very conveniently chosen in my opinion. The USA's special unit is a Vin Diesel style commando: camouflaged and able to place timed and remote charges.
The Chinese' special unit is "Black Lotus", a camouflaged female computer hacker who can capture buildings at amazing speeds (the amount of times I've had her in someone elses base and suddenly captured their nuke launcher before they launch is hilarious) as well as being able to steal money from enemy supply depots and sabotage enemy vehicles.
The GLA, who are basically the equivalant of the Arab States (not naming any countries in particular), have the Jeman-Kell, a camouflaged sniper who is able to take out drivers in enemy vehicles (which you can then send people in to capture and use yourself).
The USA's special weapon is your typical Ion Canon (although dubbed "Particle Canon", its effictively the same thing), but with an added twist, you can now control the beam to take out several buildings, not just one.
The Chinese have the typical Nuclear bomb, with an absolutely huge blast radius and radiation that remains in the blast area for over 30 seconds after detonation.
The GLA have the scud launcher (its as if Westwood had a crystal ball, able to see what was going to happen
). This weapon shoots 8 nukes at the selected area with a blast radius similar to the nuke's. The weapons is also packed with chemicals able to kill the units that servive the blast.Needless to say, the effects on these weapons are some of the best I've ever seen in an RTS. Unfortunately, the amount of damage these weapons do is awful, and the fact that you can build as many as you want (i.e. you can have 5 Nukes) just adds to the devastation. The Nuke lanucher takes 6 minutes to get ready, I spend 3 minutes rebuilding my base after an attack...5 nukes would destroy pretty much annyone's base.
In terms of weaponary, its your typical armourment. Americans technologically advanced with Apaches and Tanks fitted with lasers (not your typical obelisk lasers, but lasers capable of taking out cruise missiles etc.). The Chinese are your hulks, the people with the power but not really any technology that the US have. The GLA are the guerillas, biological weaponary and general sneakiness.
Money is no longer produced from ore fields or tiberium, but by stockpiles and supply areas. These are only your real source of money for the first 15 minutes, after which they run out. Each country has their own way of making up the bucks in the middle and end game; the USA have a supply drop-zone, where UN aircraft drop money every 2 minutes (you normally need about 10-15 of these scattered in groups around your base). The Chinese have the hacker, an infantry unit capabale of "hacking" the internet, stealing small amounts of money every few seconds from the internet (you normally need about 20-30 of these scattered around your base) and the GLA have the Black Market, producing $20 of money every few seconds or so.
Power-wise, the US and Chinese need to build power stations in order to have production speeds at full and make sure the base defence is operational at all times. The GLA require no power.
Much like the money supplies, if you group the power into one area, a well placed Nuke or Scud attacked will down your power and make you highly vunerable to attack.
The scenary in the game is amazing, swaying trees, smoking chimneys etc. and if your tanks bump into civilian cars you'll also hear the car alarm go off (which I normally silence with a few placed shots
). If you play a nice, lush, fertile level (with lots of green) then you'll also be able to see the slow movements of the clouds on the ground. If any of you have played Emperor:Battle for Dune, its much like that, but about 10x better graphically and gameplay-wise. Unfortunately, the game still has the same basis as other recent RTS's and isn't exactly ground-breaking. Your tactics remain the same; tank rush (an early attack), power force (i.e. build as many tanks as possible and charge headlong into the enemy base) or very rarely, you can do sneak attacks and often disable the enemies power (unless they are the GLA) or super weapon before sending in your strike force.
So, in conclusion, the game is really for the RTS players who like to be wowed, but its not for the people searching for an exciting advancement in the RTS genre.
[/review]
Phew...reminds me of my game reviewing years
