Why…why did this have to happen?

Today we were able to have a quick peek at the revival of the famous Command and Conquer franchise in EA’s latest attempt to squeeze nostalgia out of the millennial stone. Command and Conquer: Rivals is the first new title in the franchise in over eight years since the release of Command and Conquer4: Tiberium Twilight. A beloved franchise at the forefront of the strategy genre has now been reduced to a mobile game. Yes EA, this is exactly what we want.

*Now this beta is only available on Android, so if you have iOS you may have to wait.*

Since Redwood Studios is striving to introduce Command and Conquer to the mobile world, let’s figure out exactly where Rivals is going to fit in the timeline. Command and Conquer has multiple universes within the franchise which are Tiberium, Red Alert, and Generals. With the inclusion of the two main Command and Conquer factions, GDI and the Brotherhood of Nod, we can deduce that it will exist in some capacity within the original Tiberium world.  Rivals does a solid job at incorporating popular multiplayer elements from Generals but fails to have the right amount of quirky charm to fit into Red Alert. 

Since Rivals is a mobile game, it is no surprise that its bread and butter is relatively simple. The main purpose of each match is for a player to choose what army to command between the GDI and Brotherhood of Nod, where you will be matched with another player of the same army. After multiple hours of playing, I have yet to play GDI vs Nod, which better be a feature in the final product. Each commander is positioned on opposite ends of the battlefield, where they must send troops to capture points and fight for command. The idea is that once you have controlled a majority of the points for long enough, a nuclear missile will explode on the opponent’s base. Once a player has taken two missile strikes, that player loses. Sounds simple right?

In this attempt at making a Command & Conquer game, EA actually did something right and included decent renditions of the Global Defense Initiative (GDI or Allied forces) and the Brotherhood of Nod (NOD). This is where you can see that there is clear influence from Command & Conquer: Generals, as they allow the player to change their commander avatar to use different hero powers. While this adds another level of unpredictability to each match, it was very rare to fight someone who wasn’t controlling 1 or 2 generals for GDI and only 1 for NOD. Since they are at least giving each general their own separate power, it will be interesting to see what kind of commanders will be created or if any main characters will be added. Looking at you Tanya, if only you didn’t just exist in the Red Alert universe.

Once you are on the battlefield, it only takes mere seconds to for the action to start. After spawning your gatherer, your infantry or vehicles will be ready in a jiffy. However, it is often a decent idea to generate funds until your enemy places their first piece, so then you will be able to gauge what unit needs to be deployed. EA did incorporate a rock-paper-scissors system so that it is relatively easy to figure out who is going to completely obliterate who. It has become just another way to make Rivals as accessible for newcomers as it can be.

While this will hopefully be expanded more in the future, Rivals does give the player a decent amount of free will when it comes to what units will be enlisted in your army. While grinding through the first five or six levels of command for both the GDI and NOD, I have yet to see any players have anything more than base infantry, vehicles, artillery, and R&D types. However, there are options for at least an airfield, so maybe once the battlefield has been tweaked and modified with a bit of variation we will be able to see more than what is available now.

So let’s say you actually want to become the very best at Rivals, how do you go about doing that? Well, the leveling system is threefold:

1. You can level up each individual troop by spending your hard earned/purchased credits. However, you can only train them three times until it is time to move onto…
2. You can level up “fully-trained” units by using the specific unit card. These are found occasionally while completing bounties but mainly from our favorite thing in the world…LOOT CRATES.
3. Once you have stored up enough cards, there is a chance you will come across a new commander. Your commander levels in the same way as the individual squads, however each one has their own special “hero power.”

If you don’t want to put the time in for the grind, don’t fret! Feel free to purchase as many crates or individual cards in the store using your credit card.

When we talk about any EA project, we have to mention the ever-controversial topic of loot boxes. Since Rivals isn’t a traditional PC strategy title and exists in the world of mobile gaming, loot boxes are not surprising here. However, a major feature I would change and re-tweak immediately is how integral these loot crates are for gameplay. In order to achieve unit cards and larger amounts of coins to train your troops, you have to rely on these evil crates filled with doom. For example, many of my GDI troops can no longer be upgraded, despite having plenty of currency to do so. What am I missing? Oh yeah, basic GDI infantry cards!

You know how to move around that mere obstacle? Micro-transactions! Just like the majority of mobile games, there are plenty of micro-transactions available for you to purchase with your savings or credit card! While the cards and packages do change each day, which could throw off the pay-to-win system that EA has put in place, but there isn’t enough variety to tip the scales to the side of the grinding gamers. Essentially, you could spend plenty of money and have all of the cards that you need to overpower the rest of the players.

Overall, Command & Conquer: Rivals isn’t a bad mobile game. The gameplay is addictive and relatively quick, so it is definitely an app worth playing while waiting in line or just taking a few minutes for a break. The interface is clean and EA made sure that there is an actually useful tutorial so almost anyone can play. However…this is NOT a Command & Conquer game. This feels like EA tried to make a decent military strategy mobile game and just figured they could throw a Command & Conquer skin on it for nostalgia’s sake. NO EA! This is NOT OKAY!