So with the release of C&C4 about 36 days away I thought I would take a little time to post what I think about the game. Now as you all know this game has been in development for some time and all the while has caused a giant trear in the C&C fanbase.
On the one hand you have the "Loyalists" as I like to call them that think this game is the nail in the coffin for C&C because of the extreme gameplay changes and the fact that the game has shifted from an RTS to what I like to call an SBS, or Squad Based strategy. For those of you who dont know the major changes are quite plentiful;
-The Crawler System replaces the MCV, offering Offense, Defense, and Support clases. Each Different in gameplay.
-Large extensive bases are no longer built, only the defense class crawler can build anything sizeable.
-Because of the lack of bases and the current changes to C&C lore, tiberum harvesting is no longer done via harvesters, instead a sort of "capture the flag" mechanic has been installed
-A population cap has been imposed
-Because of the population cap, units now gain experience and "level up" over many battles
-Graphics have taken on a lighter...friendy look. Although still visually pleasing in cases.
-The game now greatly depends on a constant connection with EA servers to get full game value.
-The bottombar
As you can see those are some big changes, changes that have upset many old C&C fans to the point of near riot. To add salt to the would their cries fall upon deaf ears, with most of the posts and polls in the C&C forums either being locked or wiped out. This has left many fans to feel left in the dark.
On the other hand you have those who embrace the new style and pace of the game, citing only minor annoying online issues as the game's biggest letdown explaing that C&C4 is the next evolutionary step, one that takes the games focus away from spamming units to more of a Dawn of War 2 feel.
Now when I look at this game I tend to get a mixed feeling of disgust, sadness, and that feeling that can only be described with the word, facepalm. Yes I know that C&C4 is a completely different game, but I cant help but feel they really ripped off Dawn of War 2 and Halo Wars. The gameplay might be fun, but I worry about mod support with this being a mainly online game. A large amount of the C&C community is centered around modding and when you have a game that requires online players will find that only other players that have the mod installed as well can play, if the server even lets you on the realm.
Now I wont lie when I say that the lack of base building and tiberium harvesting with a population cap is a really big slap in the face. To me population caps are a way for companies that dont give a damn about balancing enough to not have the need for one. The current state of C&C4 should have been a game mode off the typical style of gameplay for players who wanted to skip all the build up and get their hands drity quick.
EA stands to suffer a major sales drop when this game hits stores and forever mar and hurt the community beyond repair and if they want any hope of their game standing up to something like Starcraft 2 they need to listen to what their fans want, what fans of other popular RTS want and take it the next step.
To me this is not an improvement on C&C, it almost feels like C&C Sole Survivor was brought back to life in this game, an old long dead C&C failure. I mean crawlers are a cool idea and all, but it doesn't feel like C&C, the graphics while they have their stunning moments, look childish.
I really hope in the next 36 days or so, they start listening or they're going to find out that while their inital sales might be O.K. many people just bought the game for the campaign and not the online play, which is going to suffer terribly.
