"Harvesters! Mammoths! I'm back home!"

This is a game I've been looking forward to for a very, very long time. Command & Conquer (C&C) was the first real-time strategy (RTS) game I ever played, and I still consider it among the best. The only RTS that comes close, in my eyes, is Starcraft; C&C Red Alert doesn't even fit in the list.

So imagine my delight when, a year or two ago, the first teaser screenshots of this game started appearing. We can play the Commando! We can infiltrate the Temple of Nod, sabotage an Obelisk of Light, and drive a Mammoth Tank into glorious battle! And it seems that all these notions have been fulfilled completely.

The basic premise of the game is that you're actually a single unit in an RTS mission, playing on the GDI side. In fact, the first mission confirms this - It's originally shown overhead in a map from the original C&C. Through a mission, you will kill other infantry, drive and destroy vehicles, and destroy buildings. Missions are a bit linear, but then again, so were the Commando-only missions in the original C&C - Sometimes you're required to destroy SAM sites, or a large turret, before you can advance. The game maintains a great feel of being part of something larger through all of this; you get radio calls from Orcas (helicopters) asking you to take down some SAMs on the east ridge; if you do, they take out a tank or two, and a transport helicopter drops you an ammo refill and some backup. A major problem with some of this, though, is that sometimes, if you do objectives out of order, the scripting for the entire level screws up, and some things may not happen. The only remedy is to restart the level. Fortunately, the robust save system makes a save game at the beginning of each level and maintains TWO quicksaves.

The game contains twelve single player missions, ranging from base assault to stealth infiltration. However, it seems the engine was not designed for stealth at all. Walking is unacceptably slow, and although you do have a weapon that's suppressed, most of the first enemies you encounter in stealth missions are flamethrowers - which explode when killed anyway. So if it's possible to go through an entire level stealthily, I haven't seen it. And these levels tend to be more difficult, to the point of frustration. My favorite missions are the few where I'm given a tank and can go blow stuff up.

The graphics engine is a mixed bag. The texture quality and resolution seems very good, as do the vehicle and character models. However, the world and buildings are a little deficient. Simple cliffs, roads and rooms make up most of the levels. An interesting feature is the depth of the buildings; some, like a Hand of Nod, or Power Plant, can be several floors deep. This can make them feel a bit like a maze, but it does add some substance to these buildings we've only previously seen from the outside. The only complaint I could really have is that every building seems cut from a prefab - All Hands look the same, all Obelisks, etc.

The shadowing is very well done, possibly the best I've ever seen. Each character projects a shadow in the appropriate direction, and it even rides up buildings and walls at the appropriate place. The resolution on shadows seems to vary between very fine, to rather blocky, but it's always quickly updated and there's no overlaying of shadows upon each other. In fact, when you enter a part of the world that's shadowed by a cliff, your shadow fades out, as it would in real life. There is no dynamic lighting, though, nor is there dynamic shadowing. The only change in lighting occurs when you destroy a building or its power plant; the lights go from regular to emergency red. The draw distance seems very long in some multiplayer levels, but in single levels it's usually confined by cliffs and such, and when it's not, you can sometimes see the edge of the view distance. However, this is very rare.

Each side is given several land vehicles to drive, but all air or sea units are computer controlled. They all FEEL right, compared with C&C, and they all have their original weaponry. A Mammoth Tank is sluggish but tough, and has both dual cannons and dual rocket launchers, (Though both can't be fired at the same time.. was this the case in C&?) the Stealth Tank is quick and almost invisible, and APCs are appropriately quick. The only difference from the original game that I can see is that GDI Advanced Guard Towers have gone from being mere missile towers to having 4 miniguns or lasers as well.

The sound is a mixed bag. The actual sounds and music are very good, often using samples directly from C&C and music heavily inspired by C&C. (You can hear the tones of ''Mechanical Man'' in the title screen) You can often identify a weapon simply from its sound, and this is a good thing. However, there seems to be soem issues with distance and stereo separation; I can shoot an automatic rifle at a wall, and instead of both ears hearing the sound at the same time, sometimes my right speaker will play it, then left, and oddly, sometimes neither. Unfortunately, very few of the phrases from the Commando in C&C are spoken in game, and what phrases are said tends to be drowned out.

The controls are all modifiable, including if you control the turret or driving of your vehicle with your mouse. The last patch also added the ability to let one person drive a vehicle, and another man the gun, though the only time I can see this useful is where the driver of an APC needs complete concentration to navigate a gauntlet of troops. In multiplayer, there's 30 voice macros you can use, from ''I need repairs!'' to ''Defend the Harvester!'' They're easily sent in-game by hitting Ctrl, Alt or both, plus a number. And a list is available by holding the Ctrl and/or Alt keys for a few seconds.

The interface is pure C&C - They even brought back EVA, the installation and interface from the original. The installation program, while I think I might prefer a standard InstallShield installation, is in the EVA tradition, as is a good portion of the interface. The in-game interface gives you all the relevant information you need - Direction and identification of objective, small radar, health and armor, and ammo - in a very small footprint, each aspect taking up a small corner of the screen. The health and armor system seems very fair, and much more useful than some other games, though I can't really put my finger on why. But, typically, you won't take health damage until you lose half of your armor, so armor becomes very important.

Due to the redundancy and frustration of some missions (Sometimes 10 soldiers will appear out of nowhere because you entered another door again, though usually soldiers are airdropped - further enhancing the 'part of something bigger' feel) I'm forced to give the single player game a 6/10. Where the game really shines is multiplayer.

After signing up with Westwood Online (If you want, but it's the only way to get on the ladder rankings) you can use the in-game browser or GameSpy, though the in-game browser is very good. It's reminiscent of Half-Life's. When you enter a server, it actually brings up the current scoring chart, if you can choose your side or not, and then lets you decide to join or not. Great idea.

In game, you spawn inside one of your buildings, at a purchase terminal. At these terminals, you can switch to another infantry type, an engineer, or a special character with a special weapon, or purchase a vehicle. The status of your base comes into play here, because to become anything but a grunt, shotgunner/flamer or engineer, you need to have intact barracks, and to build a vehicle, you need a functional factory or airstrip. If your Power Plant is destroyed, all prices double, and if your Tiberium Refinery is taken out, you cease making money from harvesting. (though you can still make income by destroying enemies and repairing units and buildings)

With a good team, you can easily hold your own and take down the enemy. With a mediocre team, you're going to fight to stalemate at best, and it's easy to fail quickly. Base assaults are as chaotic as they were in the original C&C; sometimes you can be firing at the enemy's Obelisk of Light, when you're informed that nuclear strikes took out both your Weapons Factory and Power Plant. With the right thrust, team and tactics, a good team can recover from crippling blows and take out the enemy. But, most matches end due to time, not to victory. In this case, the total score of each side is used to figure out the victor. You gain points by doing something that actually helps the team. Launching a barrage against the enemy power plant, or repairing your own give a lot more points than killing infantry, because a single grunt is no threat to your base under most circumstances. Thus, the game really rewards those who have done the best for the team as a whole, rather than ramping up their own Kill/Death ratio.

The multiplayer game is incredibly fun, tends to give different results every time, and the variety of maps is good enough to require slightly different tactics each time. I have yet to play a multiplayer map that I dislike,
and in several weeks, Westwood is releasing a patch modifying two maps to allow players to control flying units - I can't wait.

While I would only rank the single player 6/10, I give multiplayer a 9/10, due to giving a different perspective on the classic C&C battle. Since the multiplayer is actually the more important component, and will be more of a selling point, I weigh it more, and give this game an 8/10. I would definitely recommend this game for any fans of team-based online games, for any fans of C&C, and probably anyone who enjoys first-person shooters with the option to drive around large, yellow tanks.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/04/02, Updated 03/04/02