Introduction

It was a standard killdrill for veteran GDI commando Captain Nick "Havoc" Parker: infiltrate the Nod base, take out the power with some C-4, grab some intel, and call in the Orca bombers to level whatever was left.

The mission went off without a snag, except that Havoc got more intel than he bargained for. The files he downloaded from the Nod mainframe reveal an unsettling plan. Kane’s right-hand man, General Gideon Raveshaw, has kidnapped three key GDI research scientists and is using their knowledge of Tiberium for the mysterious Project: Re-Genesis.

Welcome to the gun-shooting, down, dirty, and gritty workings on Command & Conquer. Once again its time to save the world, this time as a grunt.

Presentation

The keys are setup pretty well. There are so many things that are able to be accessed with a single hand. With one hand on the arrows and one hand on the mouse I could change weapons, snipe, run, duck, and jump without moving. The keys are setup by default the way most PC games are (W,S, etc), but I customize. Either way the controls work great and do not inhibit the game in any way.

The menus are the ususal Command & Conquer menus, click and go, everything is easy to access from anywhere in the game.

Graphics & Sound

Well, one must take into account that this Command & Conquer is not played from above, but in the middle of the action.

With that in mind the graphics are pretty good. There is no slowdown anywhere in the game, even during videos (AMD Athalon 1ghz Voodoo 3, AMD Duran 850mhz TNT2, both 256mb RAM). The graphics are very cool looking including the 3D mountains and skyboxes. The vehicles are jagged and look good from all dimensions, even while turning.

In traditional Command & Conquer style, the sounds come from Command & Conquer, including the very cool scream when someone gets run over. The sound is well done even though i feel in certain parts some originality could be added.

Gameplay

Westwood did a superb job in taking the originality of the Command & Conquer games and incoporating it into the FPS that renegade is. Taking a strategy overhead game down the the first person level of a simple grunt isn’t the easiest thing, and Westwood accomplished it.

The 11 single player missions can be considered easy, or hard, it all depends on how good the player is. Those 11 missions involve everything from rescue, rescue, and rescue to demolition and just shooting everything that moves. The game works well on all levels including the use of vehicles. Yes, in Renegade you can drive, and must drive. Driving is a pretty new concept in FPS games, and Renegade uses it very effeciently and it works very well. With everything from NOD Buggies and Hummers to Mammoth tanks and Stealth tanks the commando has everything he needs. The vehicles do not disrupt gameplay, but rather make it stronger.

The only flaw in gameplay is the AI. The AI could be better. They are pretty good, but continue to do the same things over and over. It seems like the strategy of the AI is to just send everything they have at you over and over. Tens of people versus one commando, easy to beat because they all come, and just keep coming, they don’t use cover. The AI brings the game down from a perfect 10 to a 9 in the gameplay category.

Lasting Appeal

There are only 11 missions, and even thought the missions are quite long, it should only take a few days to beat. The only thing that really keeps the game alive for more than a few days is multiplayer. The multiplayer is played in traditional Command & Conquer style, destroy the other base any way possible, rockets, nukes, ion cannons, or tanks. When playing you can defend strike, use APCs and stuff of that sort. For that very reason this game is great both online and for LAN parties.

Conclusion

If you enjoy Command & Conquer at all, you will love Renegade. If you are looking for a FPS for the computer that is rather nice, easy to use, fun to play, and has great multiplayer this is the game. If you are looking for a game that will last a long time on single player, this is not that game. Save earth (again), be a commando, get down, get dirty, kick some major NOD butt.