Command & Conquer Renegade

"Is this the Cross Genre approach gamers have been waiting for"

Is this the Cross Genre revolution gamers have been waiting for?

Making a Cross Genre game that is fun seems to be a difficult task for game developers. Many attempts to make a good cross genre game have failed in the past. It seems as though sometimes these games are too heavy in one genre area and a little to light in the other, or just don’t mesh well together and end up making a confused and unmemorable experience. Now loved real time strategy game developer Westwood Studios has transformed its critically acclaimed Command and Conquer series into a First Person Shooter, Real Time Strategy cross genre game. Many years in the making Command and Conquer Renegade takes the action and variety that is loved about the C&C series and mixes it with the suspense and interaction that only a First Person Shooter can provide. C&C Renegade also hopes to make its name as a wonderful multiplayer title with a multiplayer C&C mode that gives players the chance to work on base management while fighting enemies on the front lines. Mix this with an interesting driving, shooter engine and you have a FPS and RTS gamers dream come true, but does C&C Renegade meet all its expectations or does it fall short as so many other cross genre approaches have in the past.

Graphics-

This year has seen the coming of many wonderfully realistic and artistic games. Games like Medal of Honor Allied Assault and Return to Castle Wolfienstien sported great graphics based on ID Software’s stunning Quake III engine. Trying to compare what was seen in these games to what you will find in Renegade is kind of a mixed bag. C&C Renegade has wonderful textures, and player models. The enemies are original and impressive, while the textures are crisp and clear. The vehicle models also are fairly impressive, with good explosions and driving effects. Weapons designs are lacking though. I really did not see anything done in Renegade that has not been done many times before. The chain gun is not nearly as realistic or fun to fire as the one seen in Unreal Tournament, the Remote C4 can be fun but repetitive, and the other weapons are just plain. Building models are very blocky, possibly due to their futuristic appeal, and the insides of buildings tend to be repetitive and boring. All together Renegade is visually stable, but not stunning.

Sound-

Renegade does seem to support better sound then it does graphics. Explosions are fairly realistic and vehicles have interesting sounds accompanying them. This is matched by Havoc’s Duke Nukem style humor and voice over. Although the environmental sounds are good, enemy sounds are utterly pathetic. The enemies often sound the exact same, no change in voice per enemy rank or position, and often times they mutter the same boring quotes throughout various levels of the game. This aside Renegade has a decent sound.

Multi player and stability-
Any good First Person Shooter needs a good multi player mode. Right now Renegade lacks it. The servers that support Renegade multi play are very laggy with slow frame rates and freezes. I tried many different servers in trying to get a good connection and could not find one. Although it seems as thought the multi play mode is very sound. If you try the practice mode that Westwood has included you will see that when a patch is released or servers are upgraded the multi play experience will be fun.

Single Player-
The next most important part of a First Person Shooter is its single player campaign. If you compare what Renegade offers in this department with what else was released this year you may find yourself a little disappointed. Renegade throws you into the boots of Havoc, a Renegade solider in the fight against Nod. You will play as Havoc through a series of ten missions, doing everything from blowing up Nod bases, to rescuing captured scientists. While this may all sound like a lot of fun, and I am not saying that it is not, the game gets very repetitive for the first few missions, with levels designed very much like the one before them and objectives that are a lot like the ones you had to complete in previous missions. During the end of the campaign though the game starts to pick up with fresh objectives and new missions. Renegade is a fun single player game, but does leave a lot to be desired.

Command and Conquer Renegade is best described as a mixed bag. You have fun, you have long boring tedious moments, you have what could be a great multi play mode but it is bogged down by laggy servers. If you are a Command and Conquer fan, give Renegade a try, if you are an RTS fane go play Kohan Immortal Sovereigns, and if you are an FPS fan try Renegade but don’t be surprised if you are not impressed.

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