izigame.me

Saying C&C 4 is subpar is not news to longtime C&C fans, but after over a decade of pretending this game did not exist, I finally tried it. Why did I do it? A mix of nostalgia, completionism and a dose of curiosity.
I can now honestly say this game deserves every part of its awful reputation.
Even getting the game running is tricky and I will link a guide in this review if by any chance you want to try it for yourself.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3198390063
Once you actually get it working you will be forced to log in not once but twice every time you launch the game, which will always be connected to the internet. I guess EA was worried that some people would pirate this masterpiece.
When you actually start playing you will see that the gameplay does not resemble a C&C game whatsoever. No real base building or resource gathering. What do you think this is a C&C game or something? Well, it really does not feel like one at all. When I found out that this was originally an online only game made for the Asian market, which had a story attached to it to sell more copies during production. It all made more sense.
This brings me to the next point.
But Vogel, besides the gameplay C&C always had a fun story, Full motion video cutscenes, are those any good? The answer to that question my friends is a solid negative. The story feels like some lazy fanfiction that you would find on the internet. The cutscenes obviously have much lower production values compared to Tiberian Sun and C&C 3. Here is a good visual example of what I mean when I speak of lower production values.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=522954423
As I was watching these cutscenes I was wondering if Joseph Kucan (Kane) was thinking about the good old days when this franchise would feature Hollywood actors like Michael Ironside, J.K. Simmons, James Earl Jones, Billy Dee Williams and Ray Wise. I can't say I have heard of any of the actors who were cast for C&C 4 and frankly besides Joe Kucan, most of them were not very memorable in this game.
I like Joseph Kucan as an actor and I was always surprised that he did not have more roles in Hollywood movies, he would have been great as a villain in a James Bond movie during the Pierce Brosnan era, but I digress. It is just a shame that C&C 4 was the sendoff that a character as iconic in PC gaming as Kane and the C&C franchise got.
Some people would bring up the music as an example of something good about this game but honestly, I thought it was trying too hard to sound "epic" and after a few hours of play I just wanted to turn it off. Especially the Nod soundtrack. Give me Frank Klepacki’s soundtrack for C&C 95 over this games soundtrack any day. Tracks like “Act on Instinct”, Remember the track that kicked off the whole C&C series? :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4AUY-v1nsE

Seriously unless you are a completionist like me and feel the need to play every C&C game, just avoid C&C 4 like a blue Tiberian field during an ion storm.