Roderick

Red Alert 3

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Perhaps...but the resource gathering model is still there - that's the crucial gameplay mechanic existant in CoH over C&C - you *have* to push forward to get res, and you gain res by holding territory - each section giving you res in one of three types of resource. The battles occur over the territories. There's no base building as such - the game is pretty much centered around attack. It is much, much faster. The maps are claustrophobic too.

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I don't know if Starcraft (2) fits that spammy rushy bill. Sure, there are some rush tactics (Zergling rush anyone?), but the units, especially in the upcoming sequel, appear to be much more specialised. Meaning they have one big strength, but also a few enormous drawbacks that you have to cover up with other units, causing the need to strategize and adapt.

I was going to post much the same last night, but spent the evening decorating so couldn't get to my PC. Yes, 'rushing' in Starcraft fundamentally doesn't work; unit balance has always been so good that it quickly turns into a massacre for even a moderately experienced player.

The fact unit balance is just so good in Starcraft is why it's still a top-tier tournament game around the world. And Blizzard will not be throwing that advantage and enthusiasm down the pan with Starcraft 2. I believe the game was effectively "finished" several months ago, but they've been tweaking and tweaking unit balance ever since.

And, to get back on-topic, I don't see any reason why a company with as much resource as EA won't do the same. If Red Alert 3 launches with tank rushing still as a fundamental short cut to winning, it'll be too much of a throwback in the wake of games like Supreme Commander and Dawn of War.

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I didn't think C&C3 relied too much on the tank rush mechanics, really. I thought it definitely went further than most C&C games in forcing you to adapt to enemy tactics quickly, making you rely on your own tactics rather than a great mass of tanks.

I also noticed turtling was significantly harder in C&C3, meaning you have to commit more resources to actually fighting enemies off if you do want to sit there turtling -- just building a load of turrets and expecting them to ward off enemies endlessly will invariably fail.

Lastly, resources were quite cleverly dotted around the map in such a way that you'd exhaust your closest tiberium stash quite quickly and have to make your harvesters go on long-range drives. Simply keeping this supply line going demanded quite a bit of attention and adaptation.

I think if they continue down the course they lit with C&C3 they've got a good chance of producing something great. I'd say C&C3 set the bar very high when it comes to revamping the formula without losing what the series is famous for, and anyone who's waiting for RA3 hoping that'll be the game to do it ought to grab C&C3 first. :tup:

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The Relic games seem more focussed on tactics rather than strategy i.e. not what you build but what you do with it. The C&C games (and starcraft) seem to be more about choosing the right units. This may well be set to change though.

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