In 2003, CNCNZ.com asked the fans to send in their feedback about C&C Generals, here is the best of it.
“After completing the single player missions and played a bunch of multiplayer matches in C&C Generals, my reaction is rather mixed.
Single player – Quite frankly, the single player campaigns were very disappointing. There’s absolutely no plot to speak of, which is quite a shame and a disgrace for a C&C RTS title. It was also very short and easy. Not only was there no plot, the single player also suffers greatly from the complete lack of any FMV/CG cutscenes. Sometimes the in game engine cutscene works ok, but some other times it’s just flat out ugly. With no story/FMV/CG in place, it just felt like I played a bunch of random generated missions that have no relations to each other. Again, very disappointing.
Multiplayer/Skirmish – Classic C&C gameplay never fails. Multiplayer matches are great fun when there’s no slow down or lag.
Other annoyances – Path-finding can get real HORRID sometimes; also the game seems to have some sort of memory leak issues – especially in the single player missions. Quite a few times, when I play more than an hour the game would slow down significantly. Something that should not occur on a system that’s twice the minimum spec.
Overall – Again, it’s mixed. I’d say it’s solid and well designed for the most part, but the single player missions are very disappointing. Now I’m truly worried about the next Tiberian game – I’m afraid that it’s going to be made by EAP. Please, I don’t want them to ruin the true C&C storyline as well.”
– Dave S.
“This game is well designed, and contains many well designed units. I cannot find anything wrong with the gameplay. In fact, the only complaints I have are towards the world builder, and the internet multiplayer. The world builder is in a beta stage, which inherently means it is incomplete, and is not as straight forward as some other map editors that I have come across before. The internet multiplayer games also tend to have a noticeable amount of lag, sort of like Yuri’s Revenge, but the game does not slow down. As a final note, I recommend that the people that buy this game have at least my system specs., so that they can play it smoothly, DO NOT buy this game if your computer JUST meets the minimum requirements, a friend of mine did this and it was a waste of money for him because the game was slow and unplayable, your safe if you meet the recommended requirements.”
– Pascal314
“This is a benchmark for all C&C games. The modern battlefield has never looked or sounded so good… Generals is hands down one of the greatest RTS games ever!
You can play as one of three sides, which all have their share of unique units and strategies. The all mighty America rules the air and utilizes the latest technology to defeat their opponent. China is all about numbers and brute force. A group of Overlord tanks is your worst nightmare. Lastly, there is the GLA or AKA terrorists. Can you say hit-and-run tactics? Or maybe chemical/biological weapons? As you already know, the graphics are top-notch. The sound quality is just as good. While the chants/character sayings can get a little annoying, the explosions and gun shots make up for it. Sound is 10/10, graphics 10/10, gameplay 9/10 and online games are a blast!
The only flaw is that the game chews up and spits out low end systems. Anything lower than a GeForce 2 and your gone. Anything lower than a 1.4-1.6 GHz CPU and your history. Lower than 256 of RAM and your done for. See what I mean? Any ways I would highly recommend this game to any C&C or RTS Fans.”
– Ross
“I thought the game explains itself which is a good thing for those new gamers out there just coming into the RTS world, though I think that there are still balance issues that need to be addressed in the game (a group of rocket buggies and quad cannons can dominate the game).
Some bad points on the game that i’ve noticed is the speed at which supplies run out and the speed of which resources are gathered. The computer opponents also need to be redone so they are more intelligent to play against (most of the time they don’t even get an expansion.
Overall I think this game is better then Red Alert 2 and will probably rank #1 in the C&C series and nobody will regret buying this game unless all they want is mindless shootem’up games like Quake 3, etc.”
– Andrew Perry
“This game is the ULTIMATE of all the C&C games ever created. Air to Air combat is now allowed, and I’ve only played 1 side so far, and I love it to death. Each side really does have an advantage AND disadvantage over the others, but that’s what makes it so fun.”
– Inf1d3l
“Wednesday February 12th 2003, today was an exciting for I found out that C&C Generals was released one day earlier then the actual release date, so I hopped on my bike and went to get C&C Generals. When I came I quickly inserted the game, and pressed install, when it was installed I rebooted the PC and got ready to play C&C Generals. I clicked the icon for C&C Generals quickly twice, and then the game began. The EA Games and the intro for C&C Generals was running crappy so I was afraid C&C Generals was gonna run choppy too, as soon as I entered the Main Menu I took my time to watch the battle, everything ran smoothly, no choppy gameplay, no framerate decrease nothing. After a couple of minutes watching the battle, I started up the training, and began playing, I was overwhelmed with joy, I knew right away that C&C Generals is gonna be the mother for upcoming RTS games.”
– DPredator
“The game looks great, but I have a problem with the speed. In the game it runs very very slow, I have put everything on low graphics and custom to nothing on, Plus i also turned off all the sound in the game from the option screen. When i did the system feed back from the game, it said that the speed was running at Pentium 2 – 427mhz but everything else was up to what it should be. My room mate has a p3 450, 256 mb ram, 32 mb gforce, desktop and his version runs very smooth. Oh plus a note the game is very cool. He let me play on his system time to time, and I love it :)”
– Allen Reid
“First impression is, its not ready for release, still needs some work. The maps are sketchy, the explosions you can see lines. Its similar to Dune in construction, also similar to “Real War”, I am a huge fan of Red Alert and Yuri. Kind of disappointed. Only played training and skirmish levels so hopefully it will get better. Was expecting more.”
– Mike
“The game looks really good but the game play i was really upset with. On top of that there is no Tiberium. Every CnC so far has Tiberium! Generals doesn’t! Now for the game play, its far off the original (maybe because its 3d). The traditional side bar is out so you cant build unit when attacking your enemy, makes the game like Age of Empires.
NOW for the big part that doesn’t seem right. I have played all 3 sides and what amazes me is that Generals doesn’t have a cool EVIL side. The GLA (the first missions I played) didn’t impress me like NOD/SOVIET in the previous CnC games did. GLA starts out killing civilians, stealing money from them, basically like real scavengers, while in the old days you had NOD/SOVIETS witch had a master plan and were highly organized, and the characters were something to get into. While now in Generals we have some Afghanis who don’t know what d @#$% they are doing wanting to kill everyone!??!?
“..keep the old CnC alive..”
– Mario G
“The first sight is great. It’s background music, explosive effects and NPCs are perfect. Especially when you move your troopers into a city, the residents there scream & roll out everywhere…
But it has a lack of depth in the story line. Thus, it’s hard to control your troopers movement. It becomes worst when you force your units to counter your opponent. And how’s about the cinematic movie? I’d say…SORRY! Nevertheless, some of the hot keys and control features found in other RTS games have been presented here, as well.
“Overall, it makes you feel that this game is not complete yet! EA Pacific can do better but they don’t.”
– Claude Chan
“Overall graphics and gameplay are very good. The only disadvantages are a lack of individual unit information of defence, damage, life. I want it to be like Warcraft 3.”
– David Wang
Thanks to everyone who took the time to send in their feedback about Generals.