• 4Mar 08

  Are EA overworking a Franchise?

  So - with me being a die-hard fan of Command & Conquer, you might expect me to be completely pumped up with excitement over the fact that there are 3 C&C games in development for release within the next year right now. But then again, maybe you've already realised what this blog's about and think the exact opposite.

  I dunno, I just can't help wondering if EA are perhaps overworking the C&C franchise a little. Okay - with Tiberium Wars the fans were clammering for a continuation to the Tiberium Universe, and they got it - kinda. Sure it wasn't what some of us were expecting ... but the basics were there at least. It ended up being a sort of average - but admittedly brave - stab at reinvigorating the series ... which was nice to be sure. But then - the inevitable expansion was announced ... AND a new game in the FPS section of the series ... AND a new continuation to the second universe of the franchise. Am I the only one who thinks that EA are very soon going to run out of ideas and the series will become stale?

  Don't get me wrong - this could be just what the series needs - giving ALL the fans something to cheer about ... those of us who wanted to see where the Tiberium plague goes from here ... those of us with the tongue-in-cheek Red Alert series as our favourites, and those of us who want a different take on the whole thing. But then again - I get the feeling that EA are still working for the money, and not for the fans as much. There are still problems with Tiberium Wars - problems that the community are trying desperately to sort out, with very little help from EA. The 1.10 patch has taken many months to sort out, and though it isn't as important as some of the earlier, quicker patches, the fact that we know there IS a patch around waiting to come means that, I'm sure, many people aren't comfortable settling down into a particular strategy, for fear of having to change it once the patch eventually comes through.

  Now, I myself never really thought that a Red Alert 3 would work, considering the whole point of it would be that the Allies and Soviets fought a world war ... AGAIN. That story just gets old after two times, ya know? Fortunately, EA seems to have some brains behind them, and have made a spectacularly brave attempt to take us back there anyway - however, some of the community seem to have misinterpreted it still. As far as I can tell, EA's story for RA3 means that RA2 never takes place - not, as some people think, that RA1 never happens. But then again, the way it looks, it seems that RA3 is going to be just as out-there as RA2, which I personally never cared much for myself. Could it just be a nicely-wrapped up way of making us play the same game just with better graphics ...

  As for "Tiberium" ... well I'm sorry but I refuse to play a game with such a crap title to it. It sounds interesting story-wise ... it appears to open up the next chapter in the C&C universe - the Scrin Invasion. But since there is little info on this at the moment, we'll have to wait and see.

  I just hope EA aren't expending all their energy and ideas right now, in order to win the fans back in the short-term, only to run completely dry in a couple of years time - thus losing all those fans all over again. I do agree - the series needed a shot in the arm to reintroduce it back to the gaming community, but hopefully that shot won't kill it all over again.

  • Posted Mar 4, 2008 4:09 am GMT
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• 17Nov 07

  Universe at War - Earth Assault (DEMO)

  Well, I had some time to play this demo this week - it's the only game I've played in the last 7 weeks (!!) and I have to say, it fulfilled all my pent-up gaming needs!

  First of all, the first thing that I noticed that it actually ran completely fine on my not-built-for-gaming laptop - the graphics at "low" setting were still sharp and crisp (can't wait to see it on max settings on my PC!), and apart from some slightly choppy frames in the large battles (most certainly due to my poor processing power rather than the demo build itself), the game performed perfectly. So well done there - some demos I've played come out and feel like they're alpha builds - but this one seems to give a nice indication of the final product.

  Next, wellI'll go through it point by point. The graphics are great - okay so it's not a Supreme Commander or a World in Conflict, but considering the type of game this is, I'd have to say the graphics are top-notch. Now I'm not one for supremely advanced graphics anyway, but sure I have standards still - and they were completely fulfilled. The environments on the map were nice - very natural where it was needed, and equally "urban" as required. The only problem I found was some of the background stuff - like cliffs, electricity pylons - were a bit lost and bland ... they were REALLY background, they were lost in the map. The models, however, were certainly not - conveying the scale of the Hierarchy Habitat Walkers is done really well, and aside from some slightly similar models (I kept on getting confused between the Reaper drones and the radar ones), the Hierarchy side seems very well done. Of course, there were only 2 levels and hardly any of the options available, but they were enough to convey the way that side plays.

  (As it happens, the Hierarchy plays like I do - with the brute force approach!).

  The general gameplay is good - nice and familiar for RTS players, with some nice additions to the standards. I really loved the hardpoint systems in Petroglyph's previous game Empire at War, and it was good to see a whole side dedicated to this form of play in the new game ... it was really good to be able to equip different walkers with different hardpoints so they served different functions on the field. Obviously having only played one side, I can't compare the Hierarchy to the others, but from what I've read, Petro have done a superb job balancing the differences to create unique sides in the same game.

  Now, I come to the greatest part of the game for me - the sound and the music. I'm just going to say two words to sum up my feelings for this, so you can just stop reading after them ... FRANK KLEPACKI!!! Okay, now to elaborate - Frank Klepacki is the greatest game soundtrack composer ever!! Okay, now to elaborate further ... the music fits so perfectly it's unbelievable. Okay, so it may be music that changes depending on the situation (or it may not be, I didn't really experiment too much), but the tracks themselves are absolutely fantastic! Hard-rock and techno were the mainstay of the old Command & Conquer games by Westwood, and it's great to hear the same kind of stuff all over again in a new setting.

  Overall, I honestly can say that I haven't been so content with a single game since I played Rise of Nations for the first time years ago ... and that ended up winning the hearts of many RTS gamersacross the world. I can easily see Universe at War doing same, and in the hands of the veterans of the RTS industry - Petroglyph - I reckon it'll be the first step to one of greatest franchises in the genre. All this, based on just the demo ...

  • Posted Nov 17, 2007 11:22 am GMT
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• 28Sep 07

  Leaving for a While

  Well, the time has come- I'm all grown up and I'm going to Uni tomorrow! Not that I'm leaving GS, no - certainly not! Nope, this is just a TEMPORARY leave of absence ... just for a couple of weeks max, until I get my life organised, and more importantly, get my internet connection all set up!

  So, at the union - I leave it in the very capable hands of the officers and the recruits - a nice lot of people, all of them! And I trust that any news I'm unfortunate enough to miss will be posted as quickly as possible by one of the officers. Hopefully by the time I get back things will have picked up again there!

  See you all in 2 weeks!

  • Posted Sep 28, 2007 10:45 am GMT
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