Summary
Just clicking buttons like in Minesweeper
The Good
The graphics are simply awesome for an RTS.
This certainly isn't your mama's RTS (
Dune 2 or
Starcraft)...
It is great for plug-n-play noob style. If you have a lan party, this game would be great. No experience necessary to blow stuff up. No resource gathering... none of that. Even FPS guys would love this. Unfortunately I didn't get to play this game online or through a LAN... so I saw problems with its gameplay a lot more clearly.
The Bad
There isn't necessarily one big reason the game is over-rated, but a combination of many small idiosyncrasies. Just about everything could have been improved, everything except the cut-scenes.
In short:
Why do you have to repair by hand? Couldn't the repair truck just repair everything in the area? If you're in a war with the Soviets, a war that uses every modern piece of warfare at its disposal, you are going to take lots of damage! Isn't that common sense? This isn't Cossacks or Age of Empires where battles are slow and sparse, where armies slowly march into each other. If that were the case you could take the time to repair things by hand... but this is modern warfare, with all sorts of gunships, tanks, and infantry surrounding you from all sides, all continuously bombing the shit out of your men.
Where is the strategy in this strategy game? Just select which troops you want paratrooper-ed in, then move them towards an enemy and watch "the spectacle" as that drunk captain in "The Good The Bad The Ugly" once said.. just a big giant fireworks display courtesy the Hind D in the sky. It's something difficult for me to explain so I'll just say it like this...
...Do you know the game Minesweeper? Now imagine minesweeper, but instead of buttons to press on and mark with numbers, there are tanks that you mark [for death], and instead of mines that blow up in your face, there are casualties, and instead of a reset button (the smiley face) there is a troops-deployment menu. Now imagine Minesweeper with lots of glitzy explosions. Would you want to play Minesweeper with explosions? Well yes, so would I. But would that make it a solid all-around game worthy of such nominations as Game of the Year? Now you see what I mean..
The Bottom Line
Flash over substance. Hype at its finest.. just go look at official reviews and even "player reviews" at crap sites like Gamespot or IGN. It's ALMOST all 9's and 10's. Why? Either everyone is brainwashed by the media, or these massive companies hire and pay people to go onto those lame sites and write user reviews praising the products. That is why I am happy to have Mobygames! If you look closely at gamespot.com there are a few reader reviews that speak the truth.. their scores range anywhere from 1-6. If you have to have this game, download the demo before you buy! And please write a full review on here after you play.
