Vehicles

One of the things that decidely sets Renengades apart from the vast majority of other shooters (With the notable exception of Operation Flashpoint) is the number of vehicles you can purchase and use. Again you have to have the money to do it, but once you build up enough cash you can buy (and pilot!) many different sorts of vehicles. Stealth tanks, flame tanks, mobile artillery, medium (Love those guys from the GDI, they're an Abrams. Very shweet.) tanks, hummers and more. You can have a gunner and a driver from the looks of things, altho that's a server side option. On every server I've played on so far if you enter the vehicle as the driver, you are the gunner as well. It's not too hard to control, but I REALLY wish that the default was that the point of view followed the turret, not the vehicle's hull. Would make fighting the vehicle easier, but I REALLY want to try this bad boy out with a team of my buddies at a LAN. An attack by the proper combination of vehicles and infantry is a bitch to stop, even with your base turrets and defensive weapons doing their share.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Renegade aren't exactly what I'd consider to be major eye candy, but they definately get the point across. Buildings look just like what you'd imagine they should look like, vehicles look awesome, and models on players are decent. The terrain is lacking in a lot of detail, but there's some cover for infantry including rocks, and a handy dandy ridge in the middle of the map overlooking the Tiberium field. I usually sit and pick off the idiot snipers who insist on standing on top of this terrain feature, attempting to shoot enemies. :) Explosions and other weapon effects look good.

So far the most impressive special effects I've seen so far are the Uberweapons. Just before the Ion Canon strikes it starts raining, and then... Whamo....A bolt from the skies destroys the enemies base. Nukes are also quite pretty, in an "Ummmm. I think we're about to die." sort of way. I've been informed that the graphics in the single player component are quite a bit better.. I certainly hope they spiff up the MP component before it ships as well.. but I can live with it, as long as the gameplay kicks ass.

Sound in the game is well done, explosions boom and bullets hitting around you ting. Shoot metal, glass or the ground and you get different sounds. Getting into a tank battle is quite impressive both visually and audibly. Explosions going off all around you, infantry rounds hitting your hull, frantically trying to hit multiple targets at once. Very cool.

More on Weapons

As mentioned before, the weapons in this game kick some serious ass. Even the basic infantry assault rifle can lay a serious beat down on an unsuspecting enemy. It's a full auto, very accurate 100 round capacity firearm. The only problem with it is the upgraded enemies. they have enough health that it'll take you forever to kill one with the basic gun. Same deal with your pistol. It's a last ditch weapon, as it should be. The nice thing about your side arm is that is that it's almost silent. I'm a little disapointed in the flame thower/chemical troops. I mean, after you've used a flamer in Return to Castle Wolfenstien it's just never the same again. The nice thing about Flame troops is the damage they do, especially against other infantry. For vehicle support though, you've just got to have some ambushers with rocket launchers ready to deal with them. Grenade launchers allow you to reach out around corners and smite your enemies with explosives. And then of course... Snipey snipey! There's some massive sniper rifles in this game. Upgrade your character, find a nice spot and pick yourself off some enemy troopers.