The greatest facet of Global Conquest, though, is the real-time use of different factions to pull off skill-based victories over grim odds. While auto resolving a battle against the Scrin with some rocket troops, an MCV and a lone mammoth tank would have leftus with a black eye and a bruised ego, our tactical genius led them to conquer a gigantic base with few casualties, wiping out the alien invaders’ European stronghold in the process.
The beauty of Global Conquest is this: while you can auto resolve a great deal of battles (you’ll have to, as even a single game can take up to 3-4 hours with a few RTS battles here and there) you can tactically deploy strike forces against bases and then deal with them in real time. You can choose to forge an especially micromanaged siege against a Nod fortress, or custom configure a strike force to fight a Ground Control-style baseless battle.
The tactical aides let you turn the tide of war in your favour with one deft stroke, and there’s an undeniable thrill of satisfaction when you succeed in pushing a faction out of a particular part of the world. With the ability to fight the battles personally, you feel a vice-like grip over your forces, and the new factions play into this by allowing you to construct particularly tailored forces for each situation. For example, a ZOCOM group with a MARV will be an easy way to auto resolve past any marauding forces, but a smaller scouting party with an MCV will be useful to take out an enemy base with a structured, resource-building campaign.
Kane’s Wrath is undeniably good value, but it is a bipolar expansion. While the campaign mode is at times unbalanced and blood-pissingly annoying, the Global Conquest mode is hours of the finest strategy action we’ve ever played. The game is addictive, rewarding and accessible while at the same time being complex enough to win RTS veterans to the cause.
There’s no doubt that the Nod campaign will frustrate all but the purest and most masochistic of C&C nuts, but Global Conquest manages to whip in and save the day. You can’t kill the Messiah.
Mar 25, 2008
