Review by LuxDraconis

The Command and Conquer games have always been some of the best real time strategy games for the Xbox 360 console. The new Commanders Challenge on XBLA is like a walk with a familiar friend if you played any of the Command and Conquer games. It is a new way to play an old favorite it doesn’t have any new gameplay systems to figure out and that means it is easy to learn for a beginner and more importantly it is still challenging for a veteran of the game.

Gameplay

If you have never played a real time strategy (RTS) game the Command and Conquer series is a good start. You command one of three factions: Allied (American and British), Soviets (Russia if you do not know your recent history), or the Rising Sun (Imperialistic Japan) across several missions. The Commander’s Challenge is just that: build and command your units to solve problem or problems. This means you may not have time to build a huge force to roll over the enemy but you may also have to build a specialized army to beat a specific army. I also found that the faction you are using completely changes the way you must play and how strategic your tactics must be.

This XBLA version is just like the Red Alert 3 standard game you would buy at your local store, even your tutorials are the same as Red Alert 3. These tutorials will walk you through moving, base building, and how to use your command wheel which essentially controls everything in the game. Each faction has new units to offer like the Soviets’ Grinder, the Allies’ Future Tank X1, or the Rising Suns’ Archer Maidens. All of these are great new units that of course are balanced. You do have to earn each new unit by beating the certain challenges. The mission you pick will affect your next mission and what faction you use.

The sad thing is this Arcade version of the game has no co-op or online versus mode, although it does have leader boards. The game does play as smoothly as any other Command and Conquer title, and the Red Alert power up is still there along with the special support powers. Again, I was hoping to see something new but the story is missing and they only have a thin premise to hold together the individual mission stories. This is too bad this could have introduced the great stories to people that have never played any of the Command and Conquer RTS games or any of the other RTS games on the gaming market. Had it been cheaper that would have helped as well.

Graphics

The Graphics are good for many reasons. During the fast and hectic gameplay you can tell which units you have on the screen and the differences apart at a glance (assuming you don’t group them on top of each other). Nothing reminds more of C&C then the full length story live cut scenes. You still get these but these are short in length, but they are very good in quality. All the in game animations for the characters is crisp and clean, there is no blurring at all even if you have a fast unit flying across your screen.

Sound

The sound of the game has always fit well in this particular game series. I always find the gunshots, explosions, and grunts of dying units to be amusing and fit well with this type of game. (Yes, I have issues.) I don’t think they changed any background or menu music between the full game and this downloadable XBLA game but it still sounds very good. At times (for some reason) I did find that it got on my nerves and that could be because I probably heard it before, much like a song they play on the radio over and over again. Seeing as how they didn’t upgrade much throughout the rest of the game, I’m willing to bet they left this alone too. Again, it’s too bad as this seems like a cheap way to make it seem different from the first Red Alert. Still, it has overall good audio that fits the game during game play.

Value

If you’re a Command and Conquer fan and need a new challenge, this is a great way to get it. If you’re new to the RTS genre or new to the series you might want to pass or give the trial a good play through. But for the price and the limited new units, it feels like I’m paying to see Ric Flair.

Conclusion

I will be the first to say that an RTS game on a console is not the best platform for this genre. But the Command and Conquer series has been one of the best for the console thus far. Real time strategy games are some of my favorite type of games to play but sadly this version feels more like an add-on. Not that that’s all bad, but I was expecting more for the 800 MS points