Right off the bat, you’ll notice how fast the game plays. Even at the default setting, there is little time for planning what you will build next or in which direction you will expand. Get a build order memorized and go, go, go; this is one of the most frantic real time-strategies in recent years.
This is good, in a way, since it means you’ll get to the action quickly. The three factions (terroristic NOD, vanilla GDI and extra-planetary Scrin) are similar enough to make it easy to move from playing one to the next, but different enough to offer something new. The units and buildings on each side serve similar functions, but every now and then one will have a special power that’ll make you stop and go, “Huh. So that’s what that guy does.” Hang-gliding stealth commandos, mind controlling alien beasties, giant cannons on legs; each of these units has a counter and a counterpart in the enemy camp.
