EA Makes Command & Conquer: Generals 2 Free

[vuckotadic 10]

Electronic Arts is transforming Command & Conquer: Generals 2, first announced last year, into a free-to-play title simply called Command & Conquer. That doesn’t mean Generals 2 is going away, it’s just not called Generals 2 anymore. It’s part of a Command & Conquer platform that, for EA, appears to be a big initial step toward reinventing its venerable real-time strategy franchise.

The news perhaps isn’t as shocking as it once might have been. Free-to-play games are common these days, including online shooters, MMOs and DotA-style games amongst many others. For EA VP and general manager Jon Van Caneghem, this move was the next natural step.

As of yet, no specific payment structure has been determined. “We are still building out the game and the exact scope of the advanced experience has not been announced yet. In our development, we are guided by the commitment to create a gameplay experience that offers the cerebral, strategic fun and fast-paced action that fans have come to expect from our franchise with no barrier or resistance.â€

The Generals portion of this new Command & Conquer will still be built with Frostbite 2, though it appears to be too early to get a sense of the exact amount of content that will be included at launch. “The content that we have already created for Generals 2 will be part of this new free-to-play experience. We aren’t ready to discuss specifics about factions and units, but we are building an experience that you’d expect from a traditional Command & Conquer game, with the advantage of continuously building new content based on player and community feedback.â€

Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a single-player portion anymore, a feature that seemed to be a prominent part of the game the last time we had a chance to ask about Generals 2. This new Command & Conquer will also require you to be connected online at all times. “At launch, the focus will be on multiplayer as we are currently focused on building a fun, high quality RTS experience that we want to get in your hands on as soon as possible. From there, we will continuously evaluate additional content based on a variety of player feedback.â€

Looks like this will be greater disaster than C&C4 FPDR

[Darkhorse 1-6 16]

EA can take Generals 2 and shove it up their arse. They murdered C&C as soon as they killed off Westwood. The only good game they made within the series was Generals/Zero Hour, but that shouldn't have even been a C&C game.

[celery 8]

Don't you love this "let's make a sequel with a re-invented concept and give it the same name as the original" trend? :p

[dmarkwick 261]

Don't you love this "let's make a sequel with a re-invented concept and give it the same name as the original" trend? :p

Good job it could never happen to us.

[Rak 0]

Well, there goes my hopes for the sequel for one of the best but underrated RTS' ever.

[mr burns 132]

Well, there goes my hopes for the sequel for one of the best but underrated RTS' ever.

Nobody killed the Z Name yet, lets hope for a sequel of that then :D

It was the only rts i know that didn´t rely on "outclicking" the AI macros as the games main design choice.

[Smurf 12]

Well, that just vanished from my radar.

[Tonci87 163]

Bye Bye C&C

[instagoat 133]

C&C has been dead for a long time. The browser game and the latest Tiberium C&C were just the nails in the coffin and the earth filling the pit. Generals was the only concept in the C&C series that hadn´t been summarily executed by EA. I guess they´re keen on changing that pronto :P

*slowclap* EA. Great job. I think the disaster surrounding C&C is unprecedented in any shape or form in the history of all media ever.

[nodunit 397]

Funny thing, despite loving Tiberian Dawn up to Tiberian Sun (and yeah perhaps a bit of RA2 though mostly the music, and who doesn't like "Drok") I actually did enjoy Generals: Zero Hour with the unique differences in which bases were built and how each side had their own music tracks.

This doesn't really feel all that related to even it.. The US forces look like a cross between the white pastels from generals while having future tech from C&C 4 and RA3, yet China is still using the same overlord tank and the GLA are still using scorpions and truck mounted zsu-23-2 the hell? If the GLA are still thriving so well they should at least have shilka's or something akin to them by now, and china should be mirroring the USA in technology.

I'm sure there will be all sorts of interesting pay to gain options and if the multiplayer is anything like the constant rush fest that was the original then..egh. IT also looks as though they are using those damned filters here just as they did in BF3. It's a shame that it is multiplayer only, fun as it is to play online, skirmish tends to offer a bit more flexibility in the "fucking around" department.

In the end, there is only one true "Command & Conquer"

Edited August 16, 2012 by NodUnit

[R0adki11 3949]

Very true i have the Original C&C Game and the Original Red Alert Collections, bought in 95 :)

[metalcraze 290]

Eh it's not like something of value was lost. RTS genre died out because of the lack of anything new in its gameplay.

Build base, gather resources, spam units, kill enemies - every match. Rock-paper-scissor gameplay. With EA it would've been just a reskin of the same concept again. And it most likely wouldn't have been successful.

StarCraft 2 just holds because of its name and competition status.

But on the bright side we have Theater of War and Combat Mission going strong.

[Cards525 10]

EA is NEVER getting a cent out of me again.

They ruined Mercenaries 2, and Zero Hour. I remember watching the early development trailers for those games :(

To explain my point better...

[Mr. Charles 22]

Lol, you don't have to pay a single cent because it is F2P :p

[batto 17]

Lol, you don't have to pay a single cent because it is F2P :p

I read a conversation where someone explained that free2play is marketing word for pay2play. For example: F2P version will put you only in battles where you have no chance to survive with your actual tech and after you die game will remind you that you can get buy better tech =P.

Never played it, but picture of the YT video speaks for itself. I expect that you'll be able to zoom in but not out so you won't miss all the fireworks...

This is how modern RTS should like IMO:

Spring games may not have best textures, but the game focues on strategy and tactics, not fireworks. It helps you with micro management while games like C&C:G2 or Startcraft intentionally don't care because they want you to compete in mouse clicks per seconds =/. (Spring is open source RTS engine inspired by Total Annihilation, ad mode off).

Edited August 16, 2012 by batto

[Smurf 12]

Free2play, Pay2win.

Speaking of Total Annihilation\TA Spring:

Another Kickstart ,links in the video description.

[jblackrupert 14]

EA might be up for sale

http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/28406-ea-might-be-up-for-sale

Maybe Trip Hawkins will make a comeback and things will go back the way they were.

[jacknorrisuk 146]

Good job it could never happen to us.

I dunno...instead of Arma 4, we could get, 'The Armed Assault'...

[gossamersolid 155]

Well, there goes my hopes for the sequel for one of the best but underrated RTS' ever.

How was Generals underrated?

It scored very high with people and reviewers, sold a lot and was a very popular game.

I don't think you know what underrated means...

[urquan 1]

Command & Conquer: Generals 2 Free::butbut: :mad:

[Opticalsnare 12]

Supreme Commander is the best RTS. Old C&C was the best is well, but then it got all kiddy and stupid might as well just called it donky dink exploding carts for 7 year olds....

[onlyrazor 11]

They made BF1942 free, as well. Though I'm suspecting they didn't change the business model to include DLCs and kit shortcuts.

[Mr. Charles 22]

BF1942 never had DLCs and kit shortcuts :)

Only 2 addons, Road to Rome and Secret Weapons of WW2, iirc.