Command and Conquer 4, which concludes the Kane Saga, was released earlier in March for PC players. And as a RTS fan I was underwhelmed.

ESRB: T for Teen
Genre: Real-Time Strategy
Number of Players: 1-10
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: March 16, 2010

PASS

The game itself I hate to say is pretty lackluster. The graphics and soundtrack are nice and the gameplay itself is a bit better from the last game, but all in all I just wasn’t impressed. Considering this is supposed to be the finale for a storyline that’s been in the works for approximately 15 years I thought it would feel more epic.

Joe Kucan returns to play Kane, and does a good job of it. The cutscenes were pretty nice and the sets seemed better as well. The soundtrack also lent itself nicely to these scenes accentuating the mood of the game. However in the end these don’t help the campaign too much which leaves you feeling restricted. You begin with a few missions that start off as a tutorial and afterwords are given the choice to side with Kane and join Nod or to side with the Global Defense Initiative (GDI). But instead of playing a polished version of the mechanics in C&C3, we get to play a seemingly rushed mechanic based on capture points, fast unit production and mobile bases. The units are divided by classes: Offensive, Defensive and Support. The Offensive class gets ground units and upgrades, Defensive can build towers and garrisons, and Support can build aircraft and is the only class that can unleash powers on the battlefield.

To me I just don’t enjoy this type of fast gameplay. Granted the quick turn around with unit development was nice and never left me wanting a full squad, I just tend to prefer a non-mobile base. And weird as it sounds I missed the resource gathering mechanics. I also felt let down that the campaign was so short. Most of the focus seems to be on the online co-op play, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But when you want to wrap up a storyline and you don’t focus on the campaign? You’ve missed something big.

You will have to log onto the servers in order to play C&C4, even if you’re just doing a single player game. Not too big of a deal for me, but for some who don’t always have their computers hooked up to the net or who have spotty connections this may not be ideal. But in the end the focus on the online multiplayer shows. The fast and frenzied gameplay that comes with the new controls works better with the online matches where it fell flat in the campaign.

I have enjoyed previous C&C games in the past, but C&C4 really falls flat for me. I would have expected more from a game that’s supposed to be the finale for a series. I did enjoy the multiplayer and I do feel that this is where the meat of the game truely lies, but for fans who have been wanting to see what will happen to Kane I think that they will be disappointed. Honestly I’d pass on this game unless it’s in the bargain bin.

Review product was provided by EA, and does not affect the outcome of this review.