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Command & Conquer Renegade Preview
Chris Leyton
00/12/0000
Command & Conquer: Renegade is a FPS with a very familiar setting.
The Command & Conquer franchise has to be one of the most lucrative in the industry. Whilst the series lost some of itâs impact with mediocre releases after Red Alert, the truth is that a new Command & Conquer title will sell by the bucket load especially one that dares to be a bit different from what weâve come to expect.
For those living under a rock for the last year, Command & Conquer: Renegade isnât an RTS but in fact marks Westwoodâs first foray into the realms of FPS. Being in development for a lengthy period, the game was originally going to be Westwoodâs first 3D game, but changing from a third-person game to a first-person shooter saw this honour bestowed to Emperor: Battle for Dune. We recently met up with Westwood co-founder, Louis Castle, as he gave us the low-down of what to expect.
Command & Conquer: Renegade has two very different and distinct gaming modes, the single player missions sees the player taking the role of Nick âHavocâ Parker, a character based on the charismatic Commando from the original Command & Conquer game. As youâd expect from taking on this responsibility, the emphasis is placed on intense action, gruelling combat and lots of explosions, itâs up to you to topple the powers of NOD, illustrated superbly in the games prologue mission.
After a brief mission briefing youâre dropped from a helicopter and straight into the action. The first thing youâll notice is the amount of action occurring onscreen, and that youâre not the focal point. Youâll often see little battles occurring between the enemy and your GDI cohorts; itâs all very fast, very frantic and very confusing, superbly capturing the essence of war. As you progress through the story youâll remain in contact with General Adam Locke, who updates your objectives and provides aerial support by dropping in troops and vehicles. From our short time with Command & Conquer: Renegade, you could tell that Westwood have striked up a nice balance between scripted and non-linear events. Missions start with between 2-4 primary objectives, but as the play unfolds certain events trigger different objectives, helping to eliminate the shallow feel of most FPS.
The hardened C&C fan will probably spend the first few hours running around trying to recognise all of the units in glorious 3D. Westwood have spent their time ensuring that the C&C universe is faithfully portrayed in Renegade; Harvesters will collect Tiberium, engineers take over enemy units and repair them. As youâd expect the odds are stacked against you, a commando wouldnât have it any other way. So to help Havoc has an arsenal of weapons that are made up of 23 different weapons! The standard pistol, shotgun, sniper rifle and flamethrowers are all here, joined by classic C&C weapons such as the personal ION Cannon - a portable version of the devastating satellite-based system that the GDI employs to pound Nod structures from the sky, and the commandoâs favourite C4â¦
Havoc can also jump in the many different vehicles that populate the land. Mammoth Tanks, Hum-Veeâs, NOD Flame Tanks are all there to assist are eager hero, and thanks to an intuitive mouse/keyboard control system are a joy to run around causing as much carnage as possible.
Whilst Command & Conquer: Renegade is one of the most refreshing FPS weâve seen in awhile, itâs the multiplayer aspects that really get our juices going. The standard CTF, DM, and Team Deathmatch modes are all there, however itâs the tasty Command & Conquer mode that will please all of the fans and those wanting something new and original. As you might suspect this game mode plays very much like the original RTS games, you have a base from which to run your operations, a harvester collects Tiberium; your primary source of income to buy new units. Another source of credits is from fragging enemy soldiers and destroying enemy units. The objective is to destroy the enemyâs base, whilst theyâre trying to do the same to you. There are three ways in which you can do this; brute force will see you reduce their dwellings to a smouldering rubble. Secondly you can sneak in and place C4 charges to take it down from the inside. Alternatively you can place a beacon, signalling a Nuke or Ion cannon strike. If neither fortress is breached within the time limit, the team with the most points wins the game.
Starting off as a basic soldier, youâll need to amount enough points to purchase a beefier weapon. Everything is brought at the various Purchase Terminals that are situated throughout the base. Itâs not only weapons you can buy; you also have the ability to change your character class if you have a barracks built. There are four different character levels, each more powerful and expensive then the last. Starting off with basic infantry, youâll have access to the standard trooper, shotgun trooper, the grenadier and the engineer. The next level has more specialized units, comprising of the likes of rocket troopers. The third tier sees the introduction of Sniper Troopers and units that can use more advanced weaponry such as the laser rifles. Whilst the last, and most expensive tier allows you to pick characters such as Havoc the hero from the main game.
Of course it wouldnât be a Command & Conquer game without vehicles, as long as you have either a weapons factory or airstrip youâll be able to produce a wide variety of familiar vehicles.
The GDI has five different vehicles to produce the Hummer, the APC, the mobile rocket launcher, the medium tank, and, of course, the massive mammoth tank. Facing this are six Nod vehicles: the buggy, the APC, the light tank, mobile artillery, the flame tank, and the stealth tank. One player, or a combination of driver and gunners can control each of these.
The Command & Conquer mode is one of the most refreshing ideas to hit the FPS genre in a long time, adding a sense of strategy and tactics to the usual action and carnage. Taking everything thatâs good about multiplayer and putting a C&C spin, this should help it sell to C&C fans as well as FPS fanatics. The mode will offer a variety of maps to cater for different numbers of players, as well as the option to include bots for those with slow Internet connections and the ability to design your own maps, Westwood have though about everythingâ¦
