Command and Conquer 4 Review

…and so Tiberian Twilight is now officially launched. Ascension is real as said by the Messiah, Kane. Did EA make this series as epic as it is ? Lets us take a look

“this is the end game…the final chapter”  – KANE

Story: 7/10
Multiplayer Gameplay: 8.5/10
Characters: 6.5/10
Music: 9/10
Visuals: 8/10
Seiyuu: 8/10
Re-playability: 8/10

Story

Command and Conquer 4 brings the player into year 2077 after a quick look at the events of 2062 in a video, where Kane makes an appearance himself before the GDI council, showing the tacitus, offering an alliance to resolve the tiberium problem once and for all and hence the development of the Tiberium Control Network (TCN). With such a restructuring event, many NOD followers were led confused. One guy by the name Gideon took this opportunity and led those people to oppose Kane, calling him a false prophet.

I shall not spoil too much on the story but having completed both campaigns already, it is good but not impressive. Perhaps the word “shallow” is good to describe it and somehow it feels rushed Perhaps a future expansion set might reveal more things in detail and possibly a hint of the next series.

“pew pew” – Scorpion

Multiplayer Gameplay

The entire overhaul in the gameplay system have raised arguments between traditionalists and those who accepts new gameplay. Gone are the days of traditional base building, bringing up an army and steamrolling your enemy. What takes place now is a “capture the point” and holding it which gains your points while having the flexibility to deploy 3 types of crawlers (mobile MCVs) and choose your units carefully. Unit cap is present in Command and Conquer 4 so do not think about steamrolling.

While I do miss the old gameplay style, the new system is fun as it brings you to the action much faster and you really have to work closely with your allies to win. The game allows up to 5 v 5 in multiplayer/skirmish. Co-op brings you the fun where you add someone and play the missions together, completing the objective.

Some have asked me if the impressive eye candy such ion cannon and nuclear missile is present. They are there but eye candy is much reduced.

Along with these gameplay elements, there is a level system standardized across campaign and multiplayer. Your kills, actions and achievements grants you experience where you level up, unlocking higher tier units and abilities. The level cap is currently at 20.

Units in Command and Conquer 4 will have various strengths and weakness towards the units. A player is able to know by clicking on the enemy unit and it will show what units it is vulnerable to.

EA sits down with Joe “KANE” Kucan, The Messiah of Command & Conquer 4 for yet another candid eye opening interview.

Characters

In my opinion, the characters somehow doesn’t really impress me, presence of emotional extremists are found in the game. Kane remains charismatic while the others were meh. Cnc3 was much better. As why this section is so short ? because there is nothing much to say about it apart from Kane.

Music

An epic conclusion needs an epic soundtrack, for this, it holds true in Command and Conquer 4. From the menu screen to the gameplay,  music has been orchestral and for the NOD faction, the music is even at epic heights. Here is an example found on youtube.

The music does get you into excitement during heated fights on multiplayer ^^

Visuals

Visuals of the game are pretty impressive with all the “pew pew” laser beams flashing everywhere and colored bullets raining everywhere. It is pretty massive and extreme. Setting my visuals to the max with in-game Level 1 anti-aliasing, I was still able to game with framerates smooth in multiplayer. Specs are at Core 2 Duo e6600, 4GB DDR2-800 and a Radeon 4870 on Windows 7.

I miss the impressive eye candy of the superweapons in C&C3, I am not sure about you though.

Seiyuu

This section is a lil invalid since the cinematics are done with real people but touching on the unit voiceovers and EVA voice, they are amusing at least. I love it when the scorpion voice over goes “pew pew”

Replayability

The fun of having co-op in campaign does add a certain value to it but not much and also you can replay again this time with higher tier units since after completing it once, you should be at higher level. That said though, the ending is fixed. Ascension is real, you cant escape from the fate.

Konata is planning to ascend with Kane as well ^^

Command and Conquer 4 is out now on retail shelves. Fight for KANE or GDI, your choice, your destiny to fulfill the inevitable ascension.

The game has been good, not as bad as what others have mentioned but definitely not impressive story-wise.

Click here to check out my pre-impressions or here for the beta multiplayer impressions