EA seems to be the only publisher who cares about bringing real time strategy games to consoles, or console I should say, since only the 360 has gotten ports. As an RTS fan, and someone who played the hell out of Command and Conquer Generals, I applaud this.
Their first venture on the 360 was Battle for Middle Earth 2 (BFME2). I played the demo because my ears perk up anytime someone mentions RTS on a console. For a first attempt on this platform it was not bad. The controls got a little confusing, especially because they kept calling the ‘menu’ the ‘palentier,’ referencing the orbs in Lord of the Rings.
The second crack at it was far better than BFME2. Command and Conquer 3 (C&C3) owned my life for about two weeks. The team learned a lot from the previous game, making the controls far more intuitive than before. You were still stuck with a menu system, but it was clear that a lot of time and effort was devoted to making the most out of it. The use of real words helped as well.
Now EA is gearing up for the launch of Kane’s Wrath, an expansion to C&C3. They claim their new interface is even tighter and even though I didn’t finish C&C3 I will probably rent this new chapter. I’m saving my pennies for Red Alert 3, coming to consoles and the PC next year. Fingers crossed that it can improve even more.
"What our team has done with the new radial interface in C&C3 Kane’s Wrath is leaps and bounds beyond [the previous game]. It’s still not close to a PC, but it shows we can keep improving and that’s something our team is dedicated to continue to strive towards." Says Chris Corry Red Alert 3 producer.
Each game gets better and better on the consoles and I am all for the progress. I love the way a controller fits in my hand and I will continue to support the genre on my system of choice. Go EA. You make your leaps, and your bounds.
[via EuroGamer]
