Command & Conquer: Generals

Overview

Command and Conquer: Generals is a real-time strategy game developed by EA Los Angeles and published by EA. It was originally released for PC in February 2003 with a Mac port, developed by Aspyr Media and published by MacSoft, following in April 2004.

Set in an entirely new universe to the original Command & Conquer and Command & Conquer: Red Alert games, Generals takes place in the near future where the United States, China and a multinational terrorist organization known as the Global Liberation Army (GLA) vie for world domination.

Development

After series creators Westwood Studios closed in 2003, development of the Command & Conquer series shifted to EA Los Angeles. Some Westwood veterans moved to LA to work on Generals, while others left EA entirely to form Petroglyph Games.

Command & Conquer: Generals is the first 3D strategy game in the series and was built using the SAGE engine, which was developed internally by Westwood Studios for Command & Conquer: Renegade and Emperor: Battle for Dune.

Gameplay

As the first Command & Conquer game not developed by Westwood Studios, Generals introduces a number of dramatic gameplay changes to the franchise. It is the first strategy game in the series to use a 3D engine, and as such allows the player the rotate and zoom the camera at will. There are three playable factions, each with dramatically different play-styles. Before starting a game, the player can choose a "General", who confers unique bonuses, abilities, units and a distinct upgrade tree.

Command & Conquer General's UI is dramatically different to previous games in the series, with the iconic sidebar being replaced with a more traditional command bar. The new UI is in service of the unit-centric control scheme, where the current selection determines the contents of the command bar, whereas the traditional Command & Conquer sidebar always displayed the player's build options, regardless of selection.

Factions

USA

The USA is the most technologically advanced of the three factions, but its units are also the most expensive as the result. Their resource gatherers are Chinook helicopters that can also airlift troops to distant locations. The USA can easily dominate the air, because of their many unique aerial options that include stealth fighters, F22 raptors, Comanche choppers, and supersonic bombers. Another standout feature of the USA is their ground vehicles ability to create drones that can do helpful things like adding an extra machine gun or missile, or even allow the vehicle to automatically repair itself. The USA's superweapon is a particle beam cannon that fires a persistent, concentrated beam of energy. Its controller can guide the path of this laser around the battlefield, sweeping it across tank columns or structures. The USA strikes a middle ground between the hardheaded approach of the Chinese and the shadowy wiles of the GLA in C&CG.

China

The Chinese are the war mongers of C&C Generals, with their devastating nuclear weapons, cheap tanks that can easily swarm enemies, and napalm that burns enemy infantry to ashes. Besides their cheap and efficient Battlemaster tank and their infantry burning dragon tank, the Chinese can also build a huge hulking tank called the Overlord that features 2 main turrets, and can be outfitted with a gatling cannon, a bunker for troops to shoot out of, or a propaganda spewing speaker tower that increases the attacking speed of allied troops in the vicinity. The Chinese can also build a mobile artillery unit called the inferno cannon that, when grouped with 2 other inferno cannons can light enemy buildings on fire. The Chinese superweapon is a nuclear missile that will annihilate anything in a large radius and spread deadly radiation into the area for a long period of time afterward.

GLA

The GLA is the most resourceful and tactically intensive of the three factions. They very much favor speed over power and are given many options for pursuing a sneakier and more nimble approach. The perfect example of this would be the Technical, a pickup truck with a mounted LMG in the back that can also carry troops, which makes it very efficient for small raids. Unlike the other two factions, the GLA does not require power, making them insusceptible to power grid sabotage. Most of the GLA's vehicles are salvaged Soviet-era tech and, as a result, are not exactly the most powerful pieces of metal on the battlefield. However, the GLA more than makes up for this with unique infantry units, like the Terrorist (a foot soldier with a bomb strapped to him) and the Hijacker (a lightly armored soldier that can capture enemy vehicles). Another example of their eccentric strategies is the angry mob. It is a mass of angry citizens armed with whatever they could find that steamroll most anything that is not explicitly anti-infantry. When combined with the tech upgrade "Arm the Mob," the angry mob becomes an AK-47 wielding horde, a devastating force that tears through infantry and building alike using Molotov cocktails and machine gun fire. Many of the GLA's lighter vehicles center around the use of anthrax, which can be very useful for instantly clearing out building filled with enemy infantry. The poison is also used in the GLA's super weapon, the Scud Storm, a missile barrage loaded with toxic canister that quickly levels all entities that are unfortunate enough to stand beneath it when the bombs fall.

Expansions & DLC

Command & Conquer: Generals — Zero Hour

Command & Conquer: Generals — Zero Hour is an expansion pack for Command & Conquer: Generals originally released in September 2003. Zero Hour adds new missions, units, upgrades and Generals.

Operation: Black Sheep

Operation: Black Sheep is a single mission was released for free to mark the game's sixth anniversary. This content was cut from the original game, where it was to the third mission in the GLA campaign.

System Requirements