Command & Conquer 4 Looks Like A 1990’s No-Name RTS

OK, so that’s not Command & Conquer 4 pictured above, but it’s there to illustrate my point. If you have a look at the screenshots from C&C4 posted after the jump, you’ll note that, as much as the graphics look sexy, new and high resolution, the characters/units just look… bland.

The original C&C was simple in it’s design and straight to the point. A tank looked like a tank, yet even though there were 4 or 5 different kinds of tanks, you could at a glance know what they were. There weren’t four legged walkers, or guys in power armour, or giant mobile bases that look like a hand-held prop from Stargate. Now, I’m not saying designs and unit types shouldn’t change and become more modern, but some of these designs are just so stale and uninspired. Nod’s four legged spider looking guy looks like something out of doom or quake. And the single cannon GDI turret looks phallic and lame. Take Red Alert for example. There’s a game where an airship looks like an airship, but is also updated and unique looking within the entire roster of units.

Overall I’m looking forward to C&C4. With a new class-based gameplay and persistent player progression with experience points, the game should hopefully shuffle up the classic formula a bit and bring something new to the series. However with designs like these I just find myself browsing through the screenshots and not being all that impressed by what the game stylistically has to offer. I’m sure others will love the darker, more mechanical direction the series is taking, but so far it’s not impressing this guy. Of course there’s something to be said about screenshots versus a game in motion. Maybe my opinion will change once in-game videos start hitting the interwebs.

Via CVG