The long-awaited sequel to the acclaimed Ground Control is here to challenge the military RTS (real time strategy) crown of Command & Conquer. GC2 puts you in the role of Northern Star Alliance Captain Jacob Angelus. The NSA is under constant attack from the Terran Empire and it’s up to you to save the planet. There are two campaigns and a few training missions, the training missions are very good and once you’ve completed them you’ll be in full control. Like most RTS (maybe all of them) the game is mainly controlled using the mouse but with GC2’s excellent camera system (that gives you free control) you’re constantly using the keyboard as well, and so you’re constantly active, which is nice for an RTS. The camera is easily controlled with the arrow keys moving the screen and using the mouse to rotate, zoom in and pitch up and down.
There are 24 missions split into the 2 campaigns. The NSA campaign is set mainly on the human colonized planet Morningstar, and features cities, islands and countryside environments. But there are also snowbound planets. The Viron campaign is mainly set in swamp and alien lands. The three factions have their own styles of units; the NSA’s are like real life tanks and soldiers, the Terran’s are hovertanks and mechs, and the Virons are alien-looking vehicles and weapons. All the units have secondary functions, which add even more strategy by making you try to figure out how to best both counter and use the secondary functions. The only bad thing about the units is the lack of unique ones. The missions are varied in objectives but revolve around capturing landing zones (LZ), and victory locations.
Unlike C&C GC2 doesn’t feature the resource management or unit building. Instead you call in units that are delivered by a dropship to a captured LZ of your choice, to ‘purchase’ the units you use AP (Acquisition Points) which are constantly supplied to you in an amount depending on the amount of units you have on the battlefield, destroying enemy units and completing objectives. There are also skirmishes for on and offline which let you choose between NSA and Viron to battle to the death (skirmish mode is a more immediate, instant action, hop in, all units available from the start), which is usually good fun, as long as you’re playing with someone of similar ability.
This is the best looking RTS around without a doubt, everything about GC2’s visuals are great. You can zoom right up close to your soldiers and see their faces, detailed armour and even the bullet casings flying out of their guns when they fight. All the units look spot on. The maps look lovely too, due to the fantastic water effect that reflects the environment. Look up and you’ll see moving clouds and even other planets, asteroid belts, suns and moons which are also reflected in the water – it all gives an amazing overall look. The maps are also dotted with little details that make the world look alive, like trash blowing in the wind and birds flying across the sky - even dead whale-like creatures beached on the coastal beaches look great! All the weapon effects are impressive as well, with the artillery standing out the most; you can watch the shells fly into the sky and loop back down to destroy their targets, and when there’s a full on artillery battle you’re in for an amazing treat. All units also leave footprints/tracks and clouds of dust around making an even more believable world.
GC2 also features some good music and voice acting, with believable voices given to the characters (for a change). The music adds atmosphere too, which while not exactly essential in a game of this type, certainly adds to the experience. All the units also have unique sound effects which all sound beefy and cool.
Overall while GC2 is a great game in its own right, I don’t think it’s quite as good as C&C. I thoroughly enjoyed GC2 though, so if you’re looking for a great-looking RTS you’ve come to the right place.
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