You've got to love Command & Conquer. From the first time I played the original on my.. Yesh... 386 I think? I've been impressed by the series, and I still think (right up untill Tiberium Sun and Sole Survivor... Yuck.) it was one of the finest series of RTS games to ever grace the world.

The graphics were great, the music ROCKED, and the gameplay and balancing of sides was excellent. It also reminds me so heavily of G.I. Joe that I don't think it's a co-incidence. You've got your two sides. Uber good, and nasty nasty evil, each led by a dynamic and dramatic character. You've got your standard cannon fodder grunts, and then your super hero, never ever die type special characters. I dunno about most people, but I always wondered what it would be like to be on the ground in the CnC universe. With Renengade, you're going to find out for yourself.

This review is just a real quick go-over of the recently release single map multiplayer demo of CnC-R. Of course the final release will be different, and likely improved in many ways, and we can't say anything about the single player. (We're not a l33t site, so we don't get invited to take looks at the games before release. We buy it just like the rest of you. :) Anyhows, lets get to it.

Gameplay

It's interesting... The game plays just like you imagine it would. You start out as a basic trooper for NOD (baddies) or GDI (good guys) with a basic loadout.... El pistola, assault rifle and timed C4. Buying terminals inside most buildings allow you to upgrade your character (if you have enough money. Money is gained by protecting your Tiberium harvesters and base, as well as destroying enemy vehicles, players and buildings.) Loose buildings in your base and your team will start to loose the ability to get new units, perform upgrades and such. In the case of the demo map there's only one Tiberium field, so you can guess where much of the combat takes place.

In order to win, on most servers your team must plant a Nuclear or Ion Cannon beacon (Which you must purchase) in the enemy's Headquarters building and nuke them back to the stone ages.

There are a few basic character types. The grunt you start as, flamethrower and shotgun infantry and engineers. Engineers are handy little fellas, (whose repair guns ironically look pretty much exactly like the repair pack for Tribes) as they can repair both damaged structures and vehicles. With a few of these fellas on your side and some good team work, the enemy is going to have one hell of a hard time getting anywhere...

For a little extra money you can become a more advanced grunt with special weapons and extra health. Rocket and grenade launchers, sniper rifles and more can be yours. If you're in a spending mood you can drop double the cash and purchase special characters. These guys have a wack of health and their weapons are just plain deadly. My personal favorite is the sniper specialist on each side, as one bullet is often enough. Rocket and Flame troopers are handy for taking out enemy vehicles, and there's nothing like a good old fashioned Grenade to take out those pesks around the corner, or the sniper on top of that hill. Some characters can also do nasty things like.. Uh, well, cloak. :)

Other than the vehicles (we'll get to those in a sec), character selection, and the guarding of resources this game is pretty much a conventional shooter. Kill your oponents. Break their stuff.