Command and Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight: They couldn’t think of something to say the day you burst with all their lions, with all their might and all their thirst

From one longstanding series to another, Command and Conquer 4 from EA is said to be the last installment in the fifteen year running series.  Known for its live acting cutscenes from the era of Wing Commander, Hanging with Mr. Cooper, Hootie and the Blowfish and very difficult strategic gameplay, the C+C series always had a distinct personality compared to other strategy games.  Much of that was probably due to arch nemesis Kane’s bald head and snide quips while he lead the opposing force NOD or National Organization on Disability.  So does C+C go out like a lamb or a lion?

Well to start it off the live action cutscenes are again in full swing.  Kane is back and looks as good as he did when he first unveiled himself from under the hood, but the GDI forces look a little more unrecognizable and a mishmosh of who knows who.  The storyline picks up right where it left off in the last game with the alien forces defeated even though their pylons still remained on Earth.  Kane is revealed to have more to do with these aliens than previously thought and he attempts to ascend through the pylons.  Many of the same units are back in this installment including the classic mammoth tanks, as well as plenty of new additions, but units are now separated in an unexpected way. 

A new change in C+C4 is the ridding the previous required building creations for units and resource gathering of everyone’s favorite radioactive element Tiberium.  Now instead a flat cap on population totals is given with each unit needing different points to create them.  This in turn creates a micromanagement game of properly countering the enemy with units based on strengths and weaknesses such as rocket wielders versus air units, chocolate against peanut butter, etc.  A unique addition to this is the separation of types of units.  Since resource gathering has disappeared, building creation is also missing and is instead replaced mobile bases.  There are three types of mobile bases, offensive, defensive, and support, each with their own strategies.  While being placed in the fray of war, a new and different base can be called to the battlefield allowing you to mix and match types of units temporarily and also plays importantly in multiplay.

The offensive base contains heavy vehicular units more powerful than the other two bases, the defensive uses more smaller individual troops but can build structures like laser towers and bunkers, and the supportive base builds mainly air units and can also use added powers on your troops in the field such as quick repair.  With the base mobility and tight population caps, most of the game turns into utilization of the terrain while you micromanage individual battles.  Against the computer AI, the scale of difficultly is on par with predecessors by being having to go 1v3 or 1v2 against it.  A solid challenge for sure but an annoying one like attempting to rally your ant farm against alien ant farm.

Both factions have available single player missions to undertake if that is your forte.  What is somewhat surprising though is the total number of missions for both sides, numbering under ten, some of which can be conquered very quickly.  This makes for a lightning fast single player game leaving players to either dwell on past C+C memories, pondering why the title shares anything with vampires, or muster onward to multiplayer.  The graphics are way behind in this date and age even for a strategy game while the controls are quite simple to master.     

Quite simply and as writing this review has also reminded me of how unmotivated C+C4 made me feel, C+C4 only gives disappointment to a once great series as it would seem EA was just attempting to throw together a finale for the extra cash using the name to sell the game.  No huge improvements are made, the story ends expectedly but with a blandness that even live actors can’t save, and the gameplay is boring and lacking enough to shed tears over.  It would be best to visit the cemetery of games, pay your dues, and move on to new games.  So bring your best black attire, a single rose, and kiss Command and Conquer goodbye.

Rating = 1.0 {out of –10 to 10}    

Passion Pit – Sleepyhead

Plants Vs Zombies: Giant X's on your eyes, and with your half of the ransom you bought some sweet sweet sweet sunflowers

And again with the living dead, Plants Vs Zombies from PopCap Games isn't your usual change your pants scared-dy cat type of zombie killer thriller.  PvZ is another puzzle type game comically making light of flesh eating zombies much to the appreciation of Zombies Ate My Neighbors fans.

This fast, easy to learn game is another hard to shake addiction.  You know that darn PopCap company sitting on that dim light corner of the Internet is holding.  So if you have a tiny taste of brains, PopCap is ready for the sleight of hand exchange with a smile.

The point is quite simple.  Your job is to use garden friendly plants with various abilities to stop different types of zombies from getting into your house.  Battles are fought around your house with a 5 lane highway/lawn/grid.  Using the sun as a system of currency, you spend points placing various plants while collecting a constant stream of sunny income and waiting for cooldowns of your plants to be able to place them again.  If a zombie reaches a plant he will begin to devour it with the ultimate goal of making it across your lawn and into his newly acquired dining room.

The game plays out like other strategy type games where utilizing resources early on determines ease of success later.  It also becomes a very fast paced game as there are many things to keep your mouse clicking(sun chips, money, and plants).  This is probably where the "jonesing" for more comes into play as wave upon wave of zombies pour in and a constant tending of your garden needs to be maintained to stay alive.

Additional mini-games and game modes such as zombie bowling and survival become available as you chip away at the adventure mode.   There are also extra challenges as the adventure mode is finished such as replaying with random plant sets and purchasing speciality items with all your money earned.  

If you like the constant struggle of the living versus the living dead, fun puzzle/strategy games, or if you are just looking to find another game that anyone and everyone can play, Plants Vs Zombies is a sound choice.  So get planting.

Rating: 6.0 {on a scale of -10 to 10, 5 being a must play}

Low - Sunflower

Empire Total War: South of the river you stop and you hold everything, a band is blowing dixie double four time

Remember when you used to sit behind Heather L. in 6th grade History class and each day you took bets on whether the teacher would have sweaty armpit stains or not?  Unless your name was Ryan K. you probably weren't doing exactly that, but I'm guessing that you remember just as much similar nonsense from those days than actual history that was taught to you.  And now you wonder why you can't answer any trivia questions about who Saxony was aligned with during the 18th century.  Care for a refresher on history so you can start winning arguments at your local watering hole?  Better go out and grab the interactive teaching tool called Empire: Total War from Sega.  Ok it's not focused on teaching per-say, the teaching of the 18th century comes as a nice result if you pay attention to the details in this immense game.  

A gigantic turned based strategy game (real time during battles) for the PC, Empire is a great mashed potato mixture of older strategy games such as Risk and Civilization.  If you have sat at home and had a few bed days lazily watching the History Channel, you may recognize the older versions of Total War being utilized to reenact great historical battles of the world. 

As seen by this in-game screenshot, the game in motion is as beautiful as a new bride walking down the aisle minus the flowers and cottony whiteness.  The camera, while in battle, can be angled high in the sky to see formations and flanks shifting to zooming right down to the soldier's point of view to watch them load and blast grape shot at nearby sloops.  Naval battles in particular are quite impressive as ships broadside one another having sails, masts, planks, and sailors become part of the watery wreckage.  

Those eye catching things aside, the game plays out like you would expect any typical turned based strategy.  After picking your favorite allegiance, the primary campaign starts in the year 1700 with the territories your country of choice owned.  From there you begin to amass land and naval troops, pick new buildings for cities and capitals, research military, philosophical, or industrial upgrades, establish trade routes, adjust taxes, send spies on sabotage missions, rearrange heads of state, and conquer opposing faction territories to claim for your own.  After exhausting all possibilities, you end your turn and a 6 month time period passes as all other factions do the same repeating the cycle until you reach the end year of your campaign.  

One thing that's impressive is the AI's ability to do its best in replaying history out to how it truly happened.  The "what if" choices make interesting results as the AI adapts to your decisions while simultaneously keeping as historically close to reality as possible.  A separate campaign mode for the colonization of the US is also included called the Road to Independence for all those wishing to brush up on why Britain had such a hard time keeping tabs on those in the New Land.

The difficulty of the game seems much harder than previous Total War titles as the turtling and steamrolling is an almost non-existent strategy with high upkeep prices for each unit.  A lot of political micromanagement is needed after completing philosophical upgrades and the people clamor for reform.  Alliances and trade routes all come with their respective ex-girlfriend type baggage as the rest of the world is trying to accomplish the same thing as you.  

The learning curve is about 5 - 10 hours depending on your past history with turned based strategies not to be confused with your past history with Stratego.  There are a good amount of tutorials to step you through how to play the game but those things are for losers right?  Once you get a good grasp on how to play the game, there is little that will piss off any player.  Extra difficulty occurs dependent on the faction you chose at the start (large naval presence of northern European countries like Sweden vs almost exclusive land military presence with central Europe like Prussia) and may make for very different starting points and strategies but with one choice there are advantages and disadvantages abound.  

Loading screens can get lengthy at times and Empire relishes in the latest technology by taking time to point out that it is "best played" with the newest i7 chip during initial loading screens.  And it's just like a company to help remind the world how to spend all the disposable income we all have during this economic time.  

Some pathing of your troops can be harrowing.  On the map screen it may seem like only the most direct route can be chosen while the AI controlled troops will show you some type of tricky avoidance pathing.  You will see the AI sidestepping right around forts and cities with troops in them making a sprint for your capital.  Similarly in battles your troops will walk right in front of your artillery and take friendly fire causalities instead of walking behind them.  After losing a general in battle to your own cannons you'll quickly learn what seems like a simple command can turn into a slap in the face and an embarrassment that your kids will never forget. 

Great battles, graphics, sound, historical alignment, depth, and play make Total War: Empire an all-around strategy game into a benchmark of the first decade in the 21st century.  With little to complain about, this game is worth the time it takes to complete just the "short campaign" and worth the extra time to replay it over and over trying out different sections of the world in the 18th century.  I only wish that more people would be able to see games such as this and realize how great history class could of been as well as what most kids were probably daydreaming about in those 6th grade classes.  Yup, you and Heather L., I mean the wars and what they must of been like.

Rating: 8.0 {on a scale of -10 to 10, a 5+ being a must play}

Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing