I’m a pretty big Command and Conquer fan. Or I was, until the last couple of games hit the PC. They’d devolved into something that was just plain…awful, and I wept manly tears of frustration at this. But with an upcoming F2P title on the horizon, we might finally get the old CnC back.
“The first thing we said was, we need to kind of wash the stain of C&C 4 away,” lead designer Samuel Bass said in a developer diary via Game Informer.
“To do that, you really have to get back to your roots, back to what it was made your fans your fans in the first place.”
So how does one go ahead and create a Command and Conquer game for today that still hits all the right nostalgia notes? According to Victory Games, it means going back to the roots of the franchise with “base building that doesn’t feel like a chore; harvesting that doesn’t require your full attention; and a focus on fast action and lots of viable strategies” as well as “upgrades that matter” and “player powers that feel visceral”.
Which is most likely why the upcoming free to play Command and Conquer game has a vibe very much line in with the Generals branch of that franchise. Still, it can’t hurt to go in that direction, as Command and Conquer 4 just didn’t fit in with what had come before in the series. Something that I’m aiming my stink-eye at Red Alert 3 for.
The Frostbite-powered game is currently going through a beta phase, with sign-ups still available to take part in it.
Last Updated: May 10, 2013
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 10, 2013 at 13:08
I have (read had) RA3 installed, did one mission, forgot about it…
I really hope its like Generals, because that was super fun!
Lardus
May 10, 2013 at 13:59
Installed Red Alert 3. 5 minutes in, I decided my PC needed a format. It got it the next day, and I never even looked at RA3 again! Generals, on the other hand, still gets a bit of LAN-love once in a while.
Lardus
May 10, 2013 at 13:59
Installed Red Alert 3. 5 minutes in, I decided my PC needed a format. It got it the next day, and I never even looked at RA3 again! Generals, on the other hand, still gets a bit of LAN-love once in a while.
Admiral Chief Combat Engineer
May 10, 2013 at 15:27
🙂 Good to hear!
Lardus
May 10, 2013 at 13:59
Installed Red Alert 3. 5 minutes in, I decided my PC needed a format. It got it the next day, and I never even looked at RA3 again! Generals, on the other hand, still gets a bit of LAN-love once in a while.
Gareth Lagesse
May 10, 2013 at 13:08
I’m not sold yet, not by a long way. Sam Bass was the lead designer for C&C4, why are we supposed to trust him now?
Steve
May 10, 2013 at 13:08
It’s almost certainly going to be pay to win, though.
OVG OfflineVideoGamer
May 10, 2013 at 13:08
I am not even going to bother reading the article or looking up the game.
MMORPG????? Or as us folk call it, DRM.
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 10, 2013 at 13:19
At least they have the presence of mind to say “we are developing it as a DRM”
Not like EA who said after launch that it’s an MMO but has 0 MMO qualities….
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 10, 2013 at 13:15
Anything is better than the mess that was C&C4. I couldn’t understand how that was ever a good idea. Really glad they are going back to basics with this 🙂 Let’s see if it works out good 🙂
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 10, 2013 at 13:15
Anything is better than the mess that was C&C4. I couldn’t understand how that was ever a good idea. Really glad they are going back to basics with this 🙂 Let’s see if it works out good 🙂
Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew
May 10, 2013 at 13:15
Anything is better than the mess that was C&C4. I couldn’t understand how that was ever a good idea. Really glad they are going back to basics with this 🙂 Let’s see if it works out good 🙂
Trevor Davies
May 10, 2013 at 13:29
That’s funny, I don’t remember C&C as having a focus on fast action. If you’re going back to your roots maybe continue past the spot where you cut the roots last time.
Gareth Lagesse
May 10, 2013 at 14:12
Very well put. The original titles – pre-RA2 – were slow-paced tactical games. Heck, it took about 5 minutes to build a refinery. Every unit that you built was important since it was costly to replace.
Now they practically give you 20 000 credits to start off with, and a refinery that builds within 20 seconds. Don’t get me started on what they did with the C&C-style of music. It’s all a generic “cinematic” style now, no longer a rock/electro C&C-trademark.
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
May 11, 2013 at 08:53
Exactly, I couldn’t have put it better.
Yannic Gallucci
May 10, 2013 at 13:47
They got a whole lot of convincing to do to make me trust the whole free to play thing
Hillbilly Gamer
May 10, 2013 at 13:57
Would like see it as the title would reawaken strategy genre. I am huge fan the C&C series and strategy genre but with EA’s DRM and pay to play scheme’s starting creep in all I see now is a loved franchise being use as platform to trying introduce there schemes as the future of gaming.
Hillbilly Gamer
May 10, 2013 at 13:57
Would like see it as the title would reawaken strategy genre. I am huge fan the C&C series and strategy genre but with EA’s DRM and pay to play scheme’s starting creep in all I see now is a loved franchise being use as platform to trying introduce there schemes as the future of gaming.
Hillbilly Gamer
May 10, 2013 at 13:57
Would like see it as the title would reawaken strategy genre. I am huge fan the C&C series and strategy genre but with EA’s DRM and pay to play scheme’s starting creep in all I see now is a loved franchise being use as platform to trying introduce there schemes as the future of gaming.
Dewald Batt
May 10, 2013 at 14:33
“To do that, you really have to get back to your roots, back to what it was made your fans your fans in the first place” So you’re making it F2P with micro-transactions!? lolwut?
Uberutang
May 13, 2013 at 11:08
This looks awesome. And being free I will give it a shot.