Command and Conquer 4 Preview

[Valigarmander]

Command and Conquer 4 Preview for the PC from 1UP.com

The next C&C installment adds so many new features that it almost looks like a different franchise.

I'm watching executive producer Mike Glosecki show off an early build of Command and Conquer 4, but if you didn't tell me that's the game he's showing, I wouldn't have guessed it. With Command and Conquer, I expect super-fast "action-RTS" mayhem; either with goofy units like in the Red Alert franchise, or not-as-goofy-but-still-trippy sci-fi units like in the main titles (the ones with the word "Tiberium" in the subhead). I also expect to see lots of harvesters scooping up crystals, and the reliable sidebar-centric menu that's been in most of the installments.

What I don't expect in a C&C title is a class system. I don't expect to see a harvester-less economy that's modeled after Battlefield's ticket system. Where's my pseudo-SimCity game where I figure out where to put structures down? Why do I have one giant Jawa crawler-type thing that builds stuff while it treads along? And why the heck can I respawn after I die -- whether in a campaign mission or an A.I. skirmish or in a multiplayer session? Suffice to say, Command and Conquer 4 goes kind of crazy in the "new ideas for the sequel" school of design.

Before diving into all of the crazy new mechanics, Glosecki shows off a PowerPoint about the story campaign. He tersely notes, "C&C4 is the epic conclusion to the Tiberium saga." If you've been following C&C lore, then this is the endgame for all the stuff that's been happening in the "serious" C&C franchise. GDI, Nod, Kane, the future of Earth, the role of Tiberium -- that's all wrapped up here. So I guess that means future C&C titles will either all be in the Red Alert franchise, or will be using a different subtitle without "Tiberium" in it.

Here's the Cliffs Notes of the story situation: around 2062, Earth is in a crapload of trouble. The Tiberium scattered around the planet will basically kill all life by the year 2068, and to prevent extinction-by-Tiberium, Kane (the leader of the Brotherhood of Nod, the super-terrorists who've served as the main villain of the series) proposes something crazy: an alliance with the Global Defense Initiative (the UN of the future). Fast-forward fifteen years, when the world is somewhat stabilized (via the Tiberium Control Network -- this is actually a gameplay element I'll touch on later), the old-school tensions between Nod and GDI turn into good old-fashioned fisticuffs that make up the single-player campaign.

So now that you know the story, here's the first crazy addition for C&C4: persistent experience. Everything you do, whether in skirmish or campaign or multiplayer, contributes to leveling you up. Glosecki notes, "[you might] get stuck in a campaign mission, go play some A.I. or other players, earn some experience points, buy some new units and upgrades, and go back into campaign." However, Glosecki also cites Bethesda's use of opponent leveling/scaling in Oblivion as a method of keeping the campaign somewhat challenging. So if you were planning to play a bunch of skirmish games and then roll through campaign, well, it won't be that easy.

Then there's the class system. Whenever you play a mission or match, you pick between Offense, Defense, and Support. Glosecki claims that these aren't mere palette swaps for avatars; the Offense class is focused on unit management, where you'll upgrade and manage your units the most. The Defense class, conversely, is more focused on structures; sure, you also have units, but most of your experience and funds will go towards buildings and turrets. Finally, the Support class focuses on three things: air power, de/buffs, and superpowers (like the ion cannon or a missile strike). "You can pound on an A.I. or an opponent with your buddies as all Offense, but we really encourage the synergy of playing all three classes together in multiplayer," quips Glosecki.

The final "huh, That's new for a C&C title!" type of addition: respawns. If you get ended by either A.I. or human, you can jump right back into the game. "Nobody likes being the guy who gets stomped by two other players at the same time, and then just sits out the rest of the match," notes Glosecki. The respawn penalty is pretty light; it's just time and place (you can only respawn every so often, and you start off at your old starting position, not where you died). But you can jump back in, regain control of your stranded units, and get back into the fight. To prevent spawn-camping, the respawn mechanic takes the form of a giant escape pod that drops from the sky and smashes whatever it lands on, so opponents who try to camp will instead watch their forces get flattened by above. Additionally, since there is respawn, victory isn't determined by crushing your opponent -- it's from controlling all of the Tiberium Control Network nodes (a la Battlefield's capture points) and having your opponent's power tick down to zero.

So while it's cool to see revamped versions of traditional C&C units (Nod flame tanks now deal annoying Damage-Over-Time pain, and the GDI Mammoth Mark II walker has evolved into the bigger-and-badder GDI Mastodon), I'm still spinning my head around the stuff like respawns, classes, and a harvester-less economy. Heck, even the cut-scenes and the interface look different. There's a long while before I'll actually play C&C4 (it's a 2010 title, and the gameplay looks solid, but rough/early), but I'm curious, if nothing else, to see how well all of this new-to-C&C stuff actually feels.

Interesting. I've never been able to play the C&C series before, but this one looks fairly interesting.

Check out the link for pics/video.

[Cosmonautical]

I actually haven't played Command & Conquer since the first game. Didn't it take them like 10 years to release the sequel? Is the same company even working on it now?