OK, raise your hands if
you’ve been here before … start a level in an RTS game with a few characters,
build buildings, mine resources, and then make a bunch of new characters to try
and overrun an enemy encampment or collect an item. Yep, I see quite a few of
you have done this before, and many times RTS gamers have been subjected to
playing these same kinds of scenarios over and over again. WHERE DOES THE
MADNESS END?!?!?! Fortunately, Vivendi Universal has decided to grace us with
it’s new PC release Ground Control II, and I’m happy to say that it definitely
takes a turn from a lot of similar games in the genre, and all for the good.
Not having played Ground
Control before, I really wasn’t sure to expect from GCII. The story is pretty
neat, and goes through a timeline of events touching on mankind’s near
extinction, then to the colonization of other worlds by the humans, then the
forming of the Trade Federations and, of course, tyrannical colonies (to add in
the chaos factor) and all the way up to the game itself, which takes place
during a time when the NSA (Northern Star Alliance … aka “the good guys”) are
backed into a corner and are fighting off the destructive war horde of the evil
Imperor Vlaana as she quests to destroy the remnants of peaceful civilization
and take control of the solar system. If you want to play the game the way it
was intended, you go through a brief tutorial and then to the NSA scenarios,
then you get to go to the Terra (bad guys) scenario. You honestly don’t have to
play them in that order, but the game does mention that it helps to preserve the
story line.
Fortunately, the overall mechanics of the
game are similar to other RTS games out there, so there won’t be much of a
learning curve involved for those of you who are into playing these kinds of
titles. Everything is a simple left click to select, right click to move to the
spot, left click and drag to select multiple troops to move at once. As the
tutorial shows, however, there is more to it than that, but thankfully it’s
extremely simple to operate. Performing actions – like changing infantry weapons
from standard rifles to heavier cannons – is a simple button click, as are
things like calling in an air strike, loading or unloading infantry into a
carrier vehicle, or calling for a dropship to bring in reinforcements.
Everything was placed well within reach for use when ready, and it was amazingly
easy to just do what was needed while still being able to move troops where you
want them to go.
Hows the gameplay you ask? Two words …
action packed. I really got into this game quickly after starting it due to the
fact that it reminded me a lot (for some reason) of my college days sitting in
the dorm and playing Warhammer 40,000 Epic with frat brothers. The CG to the
scenarios were really cool, and I even jumped unexpectedly at one of the opening
shots as a ship exploded through a store window and took out a military-looking
guy who was just standing there (credit to the sound department, which I’ll get
into shortly). As the game unfolded, I started finding myself doing things like
sending emergency repair units into the midst of battle to try and heal injured
troops or setting up ambush points inside of buildings or in heavy-forested
areas to pounce on unsuspecting enemy troops who happened to venture by. In
addition, there was a good balance maintained in foot soldiers vs. mobile
weaponry, so just because your troops go up against a hovership doesn’t mean
you’re going to suffer huge losses … but make dumb offensive or defensive
decisions and it’s lights out. There are also three difficulty settings to play
with based on how comfortable you are with the game, but it does have a nice
curve to it to keep the action hot and heavy without the frustration of having
to start over again a lot.
Another neat addition in the game is the
ability to upgrade dropships or have troops get more effective in combat just by
keeping them alive (which helps to make sure you don’t jump the gun on a
decision). Since dropships can be told to stick around during combat, it gets
important to spend those AP’s that you collect from capturing and holding
waypoints and landing zones (versus going out and mining for resources) to get
better armor or increase cargo space to make them more effective. This way, you
may not have to make as many runs to keep bringing troops out, especially if
they get good at what they do, and instead can focus on getting vehicles or more
mobile forces into the field (like troop carriers).
Want multiplayer? You’ve got that here too.
Rather than logging into the single-player game sessions to play a skirmish or a
campaign, you can select to log into Massgate to get into an Internet game. Once
there you can chat, track friends, or get into ladder competitions, play a co-op
game, or skirmish against some buddies. The action stayed good while online, and
like many multiplayer experiences just added to the fun and replayability of the
game, so this will give you enough enjoyment to make sure that you get your
$49.99 out of it.
Ultimately, the only real complaint that I
had with the game is some AI issues. Not enough to ruin it, but enough to make
it something that needs to be brought up. Many times in city areas, I would have
troops breaking out of formation to go around a building or something, and there
were a bunch of cases where enemies hiding in buildings or even in plain view
would just stand there and get shot without moving or returning fire, which made
it kind of simple to go in and pick them off. Again, this didn’t ruin the game
for me, but was something that could be an issue for some of you out there.
Graphically, GCII looked excellent in my
opinion. The camera can zoom all the way down to ground level, where troop
models stayed detailed and even had little additions to them like helmet lights
or a cannon recoil complete with smoke clouds that looked good. The water
effects looked absolutely fantastic, and environmental designs from burned-out
building shells to battle-scarred pavement and landscape were very good. As I
stated before, the CG stuff was also very impressive, and there was even one
scene that almost got my adrenaline going as I watched my troop transports
approaching a beachhead under heavy enemy fire similar to Saving Private Ryan,
complete with the commander’s faces popping up in the corner on the commlink and
yelling for all ground assault forces to get ready to take the area. Really good
stuff.
Also as stated before, the sound was also
great (like that one scene where an unexpected explosion thumped off my
subwoofer enough to shake my windows) which includes the action-styled music
score. The storyline was entertaining and made me want to keep playing, and the
voiceovers sounded very professional and just added to the story. Also, with
tons of action, destruction, and combat … you can imagine that the air was
filled with plenty of great explosions, cannon thumps, laser crackles, dropship
jets, and lots and lots of rapid fire machine gun effects. It was like World War
III in my computer room … and I loved every minute of it.
Overall, this is one of those RTS games that gives
you enough to be familiar with it, but leaves enough extras and surprises to
make it a unique and fantastic experience unlike other games in the same genre.
If you like action-packed RTS play, then this is one sci-fi RTS title that you
need to pick up. If you haven’t played RTS games much or aren’t familiar, the
various commands are easy to learn, as are the gameplay mechanics, so give this
one a run if you want to see what a good futuristic RTS shooter game is all
about. Two thumbs up to Vivendi Universal on a great title here.
Gameplay: 8.7
The controls are
easy to get into for your RTS fans, and utilizing troops commands or performing
other functions is as easy as clicking a button versus having to remember tons
of stuff. There were a couple of times that I had troops file off and out of
formation to go around building or something, or have enemies stay stationary in
a building without shooting back while they were being shelled by a recon
vehicle, but I really didn’t run into any issues with it from an AI perspective
since it helped me avoid getting overrun. Also, the upgrading of the dropship
was neat, as was the fact that your troops would get more proficient in battle
as they kept on fighting.
Graphics: 8.9
Man, they looked
nice. The environments looked great, and you could get detail all the way down
to seeing helmet lights or things like big, rotating sushi signs on the burned
out buildings that you are occupying for ambush points. The character models
that popped up in the corner as commands talked to each other were also done
well, and were animated nicely.
Sound: 8.8
The music was
good, which is something I haven’t said in a while about a game I’ve reviewed.
While it’s nothing that’s cutting edge, it sets the tone nicely. Also, the
voiceovers were done well, and the game sports tons of destructive firing and
explosions from a variety of weapons like cannons and machine guns.
Difficulty: Easy
I don’t mean easy
in the sense that you’ll run through it in a day or two, but I mean it in the
sense that the game is easy to pick up and play. Also, there are three
difficulty settings to choose from, which helps depending on your personal
ability.
Concept: 8.8
Great idea … take
an RTS game, and give players a great series of battles that really make them
feel like they are in the middle of a warzone fighting for planetary control.
Everything that was done added to the experience of the game overall, and I
really enjoy playing it.
Multiplayer: 8.9
Sure we’ve played
multiplayer games before, but this one also gives you the ability to team up
with friends in the co-op mode to try and conquer the worlds together. Also,
there is a ladder tournament option to join, and a friend tracker and chat room
to boot, and you can drop into matches at any time.
Overall: 8.8
It’s hard in this
day and age to make something new, or something really fun, but Vivendi did a
good job in making a title that gave you enough to make it unique but enough
similar genre style to make it easy to get into. If you enjoy sci-fi or action
RTS games, this is a good one to get … and you’re missing out if you don’t.
