Command and Conquer

[Mendon]

I decided to take a break from playing Fallout: New Vegas and have been enjoying the hell out of Civilization: Revolution. While playing, I got to wondering about the Command and Conquer series.

 

Questions:

 

Has anyone here played any of the Xbox360 C&C games?

Are they similar in gameplay to Halo Wars (which I really enjoyed)?

Is the C&C series worth giving a try?

And finally, which C&C game title would you recommend a first-timer start with?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Mendon

[moycon]

I've played Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 for the 360.

It was considerably more difficult than Civilization: Revolution from what I recall.

It looked fantastic, but you really had to be familiar with the controls and the game play mechanics to past some of the tougher levels.

It wasn't that it controlled poorly, you just had to really know what did what, especially under pressure.

I remember I didn't like it as well as Civ : Rev but probably mainly because I would often get my ass handed to me.

I also like Halo Wars better, again because I think it was easier to grasp, and I really liked the story in Halo Wars. C&C is a lot more cartoony and tongue in cheek.

I would recommend at least trying Red Alert 3, it can be bought new for under $20 and used for around $10. Well worth it at that price.

[Mendon]

Thanks for the info, Moycon! Not sure why but I'm on a RTS kick at the moment and will probably order Red Alert 3 from Amazon. Funny you should mention C&C being a bit cartoony...... wasn't wrestling great Ric Flair in one of the C&C games?

 

Have you tried the C&C games Tiberium Wars or Kanes Wrath? Or have you tried Supreme Commander 2? All of these also sound interesting.

 

 

Mendon

Edited May 5, 2011 by Mendon

[moycon]

I haven't tried any of the others.

I really need to get back to the Red, it's one of those games I want to go back and finish, but can't seem to find the time.

I got pretty far into it, but I remember there was one level that kept kicking my ass I think.

I should have kept at it, but another game probably stole it's thunder.

[Mendon]

I went ahead and ordered Red Alert 3 from Amazon; I had a credit sitting there and the game will end up costing me about $7 so I'm happy.

 

 

I'm still playing Civ Rev at the moment but have run into a wall and have to do some studying to figure out whats going on. I can handle the difficulty level after the tutorial fine (Chieftain, I believe) and just battled twice in the next difficulty (Warlord, I believe) and had my rear handed to me.

 

Last game.... I built 3 cities to start and have them producing and adding culture while I build a few buildings, put archers and legion troop's in my cities as guards etc. Suddenly I have 5 nations declare war on me at the same time and all of them start flooding my cities area with armies. I continue working away on some defense & production & culture & technologies, and as I'm building Pikeman and catapult's the enemy is sending riflemen and cannon's to my cities! What the... how did they get that advanced so fast?????

 

I manage to survive and get to the point where I'm building riflemen, cannon's, and cruisers and suddenly planes and tanks are hitting me. Not too long after that the Chinese won a Technological Victory by building a space ship and traveling to Alpha Centauri while I'm just starting to build battleships and howitzers!

 

I have to figure out what I'm doing wrong and how the AI gets so advanced so fast at this difficulty. I'm sure I'm not developing the right resources or technology or leaving my cities at "balanced" rather than have them focus on science or gold... I'm doing something wrong. I mean, when it takes me 11 turns to research gunpowder and while I'm doing so the other nations are hitting me with planes & tanks, I'm not going to win the game

 

Still a fun game!!

 

 

Mendon

Edited May 6, 2011 by Mendon

[cybercylon]

Thanks for the info, Moycon! Not sure why but I'm on a RTS kick at the moment and will probably order Red Alert 3 from Amazon. Funny you should mention C&C being a bit cartoony...... wasn't wrestling great Ric Flair in one of the C&C games?

 

Have you tried the C&C games Tiberium Wars or Kanes Wrath? Or have you tried Supreme Commander 2? All of these also sound interesting.

 

 

Mendon

 

I enjoyed Tiberium wars back when it came out. I was one of the first games I got for my 360.

[HuckleCat]

I've tried one of the C&C games on the 360, and I just wasn't feeling it. Probably because I'm so used to the PC controls for RTS games. Same thing went for Supreme Commander 2.

 

I used to love C&C games, the first one was great, and Red Alert good too. My favorite one was probably Generals.

 

RTS games just don't cut it for me anymore, consoles or otherwise. I just kinda got sick of them.

 

 

Civ Revolutions was great, I wish that it had more customization options like the PC version. I wish they'd make a second one.

[bloodreptile]

I went ahead and ordered Red Alert 3 from Amazon; I had a credit sitting there and the game will end up costing me about $7 so I'm happy.

 

 

I'm still playing Civ Rev at the moment but have run into a wall and have to do some studying to figure out whats going on. I can handle the difficulty level after the tutorial fine (Chieftain, I believe) and just battled twice in the next difficulty (Warlord, I believe) and had my rear handed to me.

 

Last game.... I built 3 cities to start and have them producing and adding culture while I build a few buildings, put archers and legion troop's in my cities as guards etc. Suddenly I have 5 nations declare war on me at the same time and all of them start flooding my cities area with armies. I continue working away on some defense & production & culture & technologies, and as I'm building Pikeman and catapult's the enemy is sending riflemen and cannon's to my cities! What the... how did they get that advanced so fast?????

 

I manage to survive and get to the point where I'm building riflemen, cannon's, and cruisers and suddenly planes and tanks are hitting me. Not too long after that the Chinese won a Technological Victory by building a space ship and traveling to Alpha Centauri while I'm just starting to build battleships and howitzers!

 

I have to figure out what I'm doing wrong and how the AI gets so advanced so fast at this difficulty. I'm sure I'm not developing the right resources or technology or leaving my cities at "balanced" rather than have them focus on science or gold... I'm doing something wrong. I mean, when it takes me 11 turns to research gunpowder and while I'm doing so the other nations are hitting me with planes & tanks, I'm not going to win the game

 

Still a fun game!!

 

 

Mendon

It gets easier but it just is not as good as Halo wars... I got it played it for a bit and discarded it....

[Cobra Kai]

I went ahead and ordered Red Alert 3 from Amazon; I had a credit sitting there and the game will end up costing me about $7 so I'm happy.

 

 

I'm still playing Civ Rev at the moment but have run into a wall and have to do some studying to figure out whats going on. I can handle the difficulty level after the tutorial fine (Chieftain, I believe) and just battled twice in the next difficulty (Warlord, I believe) and had my rear handed to me.

 

Last game.... I built 3 cities to start and have them producing and adding culture while I build a few buildings, put archers and legion troop's in my cities as guards etc. Suddenly I have 5 nations declare war on me at the same time and all of them start flooding my cities area with armies. I continue working away on some defense & production & culture & technologies, and as I'm building Pikeman and catapult's the enemy is sending riflemen and cannon's to my cities! What the... how did they get that advanced so fast?????

 

I manage to survive and get to the point where I'm building riflemen, cannon's, and cruisers and suddenly planes and tanks are hitting me. Not too long after that the Chinese won a Technological Victory by building a space ship and traveling to Alpha Centauri while I'm just starting to build battleships and howitzers!

 

I have to figure out what I'm doing wrong and how the AI gets so advanced so fast at this difficulty. I'm sure I'm not developing the right resources or technology or leaving my cities at "balanced" rather than have them focus on science or gold... I'm doing something wrong. I mean, when it takes me 11 turns to research gunpowder and while I'm doing so the other nations are hitting me with planes & tanks, I'm not going to win the game

 

Still a fun game!!

 

 

Mendon

For awhile it seems like the game is wildly varied and that you have all kinds of limitless possibilities open to you for figuring out a winning strategy. Then you'll eventually discover that micromanaging city production is the key to your early game, and you will want to do the exact same thing every game for the first 15-20 turns. (against AI opponents). First put both your workers on science until you tech Horsmanship. Then after that, move the workers to production and build one Horseman. This will be turn 10! After that, move the workers to Food to get to 3 population by turn 15. this is where the variables come in, while your exploring with your horse and defeating barbarians you may earn some money, so use all your money to build another horse. You want a horse ARMY ASAP. Once you have a horse army (around turn 20 or before), if you took out a few barbarian huts, they will be Veterans and possibly have an upgrade like Infiltration, take out an enemy capitol. It will only be defended by a single or two archer units and maybe a warrior unit, easy pickings. Then you control two capitols and one player out of the game already. This process can be somewhat sped up by choosing the Japanese or Egyptians due to their special production bonuses.

 

This will boost your science. Just keep your science ahead of everyone and keep reaping the benefits of discovering tech first. There is a specific tech line you want to follow for maximum benefit, but I can't think of it off the top of my head. But you actually want to avoid getting the military freebies, because teching Irrigation or Masonry first gives you much bigger bonuses than just a free military unit! I shouldn't say avoid the military tech, it just shouldn't be prioritized, remember you will have a Horseman Army with some kind of bonus on it already. Getting to Navigation first is probably the single most important tech achievement you can do, because it gives you a free Galleon, which you can go grab all the Wonders and Artifacts, and make sure to hunt down Atlantis quickly. Keep in mind you can't get this bonus if Spain is in the game. Likewise, you can't get the Irrigation bonus of +1 population to all your cities when Egypt is in the game etc...

 

A helpful tip: If you pop a Trade Caravan out of a barbarian hut, use it only to explore, be careful that it doesn't get captured. Although it's very useful to sell it when you are ready or need the money to finish your horseman army THAT YOU HAVE TO HAVE. But, discovering territory and naming natural landmarks earns you money, and since the Caravan travels at 3 spaces, it earns you money while it's just running around clearing the fog away. So these things pay off big time if you keep them awhile before cashing them in.

Edited July 22, 2011 by Gunstarhero