Command & Conquer: Generals

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Command & Conquer: Generals
Cncgen-win-cover.jpg
Command & Conquer Generals cover art
Developer(s) EA Pacific
i5works (OS X) [1]
Publisher(s) EA Games (Windows)
Aspyr Media (Mac OS X)
Designer(s) Dustin Browder
Programmer(s) Jeffrey Lee Brown
Artist(s) Richard Kriegler
Writer(s) Danny Bilson
Paul DeMeo
Composer(s) Bill Brown
Mikael Sandgren
Series Command & Conquer
Engine SAGE
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Mac OS X
ReleaseMicrosoft Windows
Mac OS X
Genre(s) Real-time strategy
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Command & Conquer: Generals is a real-time strategy video game and the seventh installment in the Command & Conquer series. [5] It was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X in 2003 and 2004. The Windows version of Generals was developed by EA Pacific and published by EA Games, the Mac OS X version was developed by i5works and published by Aspyr Media. The Mac OS X version was released by Aspyr on April 12, 2004. In the game, the player can choose from three different factions: the United States, China and the Global Liberation Army (GLA).

Contents

Generals utilizes SAGE (Strategy Action Game Engine), an extended version of the Command & Conquer: Renegade 's 3D engine. An expansion pack, entitled Command & Conquer: Generals – Zero Hour , was additionally released for PC in 2003, and for Mac OS in 2004. Both Generals and Zero Hour were met with highly positive reviews. A sequel, Command & Conquer: Generals 2, [6] was in development, until it was repurposed to a free-to-play game known as Command & Conquer . The new game was part of the Generals franchise and was cancelled on October 29, 2013 by EA after negative feedback during the closed alpha test. [7]

Gameplay

Command & Conquer Generals operates in a similar manner to that of other titles in the series - players construct bases and train units from these, acquiring resources on one of the game's maps to fund this, and then defeat their opponents by eliminating their bases and armies. [8] Various units types are available for training, ranging from infantry to ground vehicles and aircraft, each focuses on specific roles (e.g. anti-vehicle), while base structures are divided between unit production, support facilities, and defensive counter-measures. Success in the game relies upon making the most out of mixing units, utilising their advantages while countering their disadvantages with other units, in order to win against opponents - for example, rifle infantry are useful for countering anti-vehicle infantry, but need to rely on tanks to counter anti-infantry vehicles. Units that survive and manage to kill other units gain "veterancy" points, earning chevrons when they level up, effectively improve their abilities and making them more powerful; at the highest level, it also grants the ability to repair any damage when out of combat.

Training can be queued at production structures and units sent to rally points designated by the player, with the ability to research upgrades to improve certain units. In addition, players can also deploy superweapons which can decimate an opponent's forces, though must wait for a cooldown period to end before they can use it again. Factions in the game function similar in how they operate, but maintain differences in units and strategies:

Generals functions differently to other titles in the series, in that base construction relies on dedicated builder units rather than a central construction building, but with the added ability of being able to construct buildings anywhere on the map. Resources are restricted to supply docks that have a limited amount for collection, with each faction able to construct units or buildings that provide continual resources as long as they are not destroyed. In addition, players can also make use of "Generals Abilities" - a unique set of bonuses that can be purchased upon earning experience points during the game, which can confer additional abilities such as support powers (e.g. airstrikes), improvements to certain units, or access to additional units for construction.

Single-player

In a single-player mode, players can tackle one of three campaigns, each dedicated to a faction and consisting of seven missions. [9] While a training mission is provided to allow new players to become accustomed to the game, players can freely choose which campaign to tackle and at what difficulty, with each mission becoming moderately more difficult and featuring different scenarios to tackle.

Multiplayer

Games can be played both over the Internet or a local area network (LAN). [10] It adopts a similar format to skirmish mode whereby the goal is to eliminate the other team. Games over the Internet can be completely random, in the form of a Quick Match. Players can also play in Custom Matches where the number of players, the map and rules are decided upon by the host.

The online feature originally worked via GameSpy servers. After the shutdown of GameSpy in 2014, these were no longer available.

The macOS version of the gamedoes not support multiplayer. Apple discontinued Game Center for online play with the release of macOS Sierra. [11]

Soundtrack

Generals presents players with a separate musical score for each faction. [12] The United States' theme music consists of grand, militaristic scores composed by Bill Brown and Mikael Sandgren. China's musical themes feature apocalyptic, orchestral scores combined with East Asian instrumentation. The GLA faction's theme soundtrack can be described as a combination of Middle Eastern and few South Asian sounds coupled with heavy metal music.[ citation needed ]

World Builder

Generals includes a map editor named World Builder for the PC edition only. [13] The World Builder includes features such as:

Plot

Setting

Generals takes place in the near future where the United States and China co-operate to fight against the Global Liberation Army (GLA), a terrorist organisation based in Central Asia. In chronological order, the campaign is played through the Chinese, GLA and then the United States perspectives respectively.

China

A military parade in Beijing is attacked by GLA forces, culminating in the detonation of a stolen Chinese nuclear warhead and the beginning of the GLA's incursion inside China's borders. The Chinese mobilise to stall and contain the GLA, but in the process lose the Three Gorges Dam and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. Now on the offensive, the Chinese attack GLA strongholds, arriving at the terror cell's main headquarters in Dushanbe. Utilising nuclear weapons, the Chinese put an end to the GLA's offensive.

GLA

Despite losses to China, the GLA maintains its presence across Central Asia and the Middle East. In efforts to revive itself, the GLA raid UN convoys and incite riots in Astana. However, the United States enters the war and a GLA renegade sides with the Chinese with the intention to destroy the organisation. The GLA retaliate by attacking the Baikonur Cosmodrome, and uses the platform to launch devastating toxin attacks at highly populated cities.

USA

The United States sends its forces to the Middle East, Hindu Kush and then Kazakhstan to finally put an end to the GLA. Despite losses incurred from GLA attacks and ambushes, the USA are able to push the GLA back to their final stronghold in Akmola Region. With Chinese support, the USA destroys the last GLA stronghold, ending the GLA's reign of tyranny.

Reception

After its release, Generals received mostly positive reviews. Based on 34 reviews, Metacritic gives it a score of 84/100, [14] which includes a score of 9.3/10 from IGN . [15] Generals has received the E3 2002 Game Critics Awards Best Strategy Game award. [16] GameSpot named Generals the best computer game of February 2003. [17] During the 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awarded Generals with "Computer Strategy Game of the Year"; it also received nominations for "Computer Game of the Year" and "Game of the Year". [18]

In the United Kingdom, it sold over 100,000 units during the first half of 2003. This made it the United Kingdom's second-best-selling computer game for the period, or seventh across all platforms. At the time, Kristan Reed of GamesIndustry.biz wrote that its performance proved "you can still have big hits on PC". [19] Generals received a "Silver" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), [20] indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom. [21] The game's Deluxe release received another "Silver" award from ELSPA. [20]

Ban in Germany

Initially, the game was released in Germany under its international title Command & Conquer: Generals. However, the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien (Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young People) placed the game onto the "List of Media Harmful to Young People" two months after the initial release, which, by law, forbids further public advertising and any sale for people under 18 years of age. The BPjM stated that the game would give underage people the ability to play the war in the game. [22] Additionally, the player would be able to kill civilians. Based on these two points the BPjM put the game on the Index, because they believed it glorified war. Therefore, sale to minors and marketing the original version of the game were prohibited throughout the Federal Republic of Germany.

Due to the ban, EA released in the middle of 2003 a regular title-localized German version specifically for the German market called Command & Conquer: Generäle, which did not incorporate real world factions or any relation to terrorism. [22] For example, the "terrorist" bomber unit was transformed into a rolling bomb and all other infantry units were changed into "cyborgs" (e.g. Red Guard becomes Standard Cyborg) in order of appearance and unit responses similar to earlier releases of the Command & Conquer franchise. [22]

Sequel

In September 2003, an expansion pack called Generals – Zero Hour was released, which continues the story of Generals. In December 2011, a sequel, Command & Conquer: Generals 2, was announced, due to be released in 2013. [6] Generals 2 was repurposed to a free-to-play game known as simply Command & Conquer . [23] The new game would have started with the Generals franchise and may have expanded to the rest of the franchise post-release. The game's project was cancelled on October 29, 2013. [24] Later in November, EA said that the game will still be developed by a new game studio, [25] [26] [27] but no further news emerged and the project appears to be abandoned.

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References

  1. ↑ "Aspyr to publish Command & Conquer Generals for Mac". Macworld. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  2. ↑ Sulic, Ivan (February 11, 2003). "Command & Conquer, Now!". IGN. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  3. 1 2 "C&C: Generals goes gold". Eurogamer.net. January 22, 2003. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Aspyr offers Command & Conquer Generals Mac demo". Macworld. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Command and Conquer Generals PC". IGN. Archived from the original on April 8, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "EA Revives Command & Conquer". Yahoo! Finance. December 14, 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
  7. ↑ "A New Future for Command & Conquer". Victory Games. October 29, 2013. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  8. ↑ "C&C Generals: Walkthrough – C&C Labs". cncgeneralsworld.com. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  9. ↑ "'Command & Conquer' Details: Singleplayer Campaign, Shorter Matches, & More". Gamerant.com. August 29, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  10. ↑ Radcliffe, Doug (February 28, 2003). "Command & Conquer: Generals Walkthrough". GameSpot. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
  11. ↑ "FAQs: Command & Conquer: Generals Deluxe Edition (Mac App Store)". Aspyr. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  12. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Command & Conquer: Generals (EA™ Games Soundtrack) [EA™ Games Soundtrack] by EA Games Soundtrack, Bill Brown & Mikael Sandgren". Itunes.apple.com. November 8, 2005. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  13. ↑ "C&C Generals: World Builder – C&C Labs". Cnclabs.com. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  14. 1 2 "Command & Conquer: Generals for PC Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved June 15, 2010.
  15. ↑ Adams, Dan (February 7, 2003). "Command & Conquer Generals - PC Review". IGN. Retrieved June 15, 2010.
  16. ↑ "2002 Game Critics Awards". Game Critics Awards . Retrieved June 15, 2010.
  17. ↑ The Editors of GameSpot (March 8, 2003). "GameSpot's Month in Review: February 2003". GameSpot . Archived from the original on January 23, 2005.
  18. ↑ "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Details Command & Conquer: Generals". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  19. ↑ Reed, Kristan (June 11, 2003). "UK Charts 2003: Summer Report". GamesIndustry.biz . Archived from the original on August 12, 2003. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  20. 1 2 "ELSPA Sales Awards: Silver". Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association . Archived from the original on February 21, 2009.
  21. ↑ Caoili, Eric (November 26, 2008). "ELSPA: Wii Fit, Mario Kart Reach Diamond Status In UK". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on September 18, 2017.
  22. 1 2 3 "Command & Conquer: Generäle". schnittberichte.com. January 28, 2007.
  23. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (August 15, 2012). "Next Command & Conquer goes free-to-play". GameSpot . Retrieved August 18, 2012.
  24. ↑ "A New Future for Command & Conquer". Victory Games. October 29, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  25. ↑ Matulef, Jeffrey (November 19, 2013). "Command and Conquer will be resurrected after its untimely cancellation: C&C Ultimate Collection buyers will still get the beta - by a new studio". EuroGamer. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  26. ↑ Karmali, Luke (November 19, 2013). "EA Plans to Resurrect Command & Conquer at New Studio: At least according to a support listing". IGN. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
  27. ↑ Scammell, David (November 19, 2013). "Cancelled Command & Conquer to continue development at new studio: Free-to-play Command & Conquer brought back from the dead". VideoGamer. Pro-G Media Ltd. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
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