Welcome to another Retro Review, guys! This is a very special one because it’s about a game that I absolutely adore – Command and Conquer: Generals, released back in 2003, and specifically its expansion pack, Zero Hour. To me, Generals is the best Command and Conquer game ever made. It was created by Westwood Studios, who originally developed the Command and Conquer series until Electronic Arts acquired them in 1998. Westwood Studios then went on to create Tiberium Blizzard, followed by Generals and its expansion pack, Zero Hour. Unfortunately, after that, the series went downhill. However, Generals and Zero Hour were Command and Conquer at its best.
Choose different generals
You could choose different generals, each with their own unique personality, and there was even a challenge mode where you could be randomly matched up with another general and they would all play differently.
I specialize in using nuclear weapons, tanks, ion cannons, and other weapons in this game.
Made for older PC’s
However, there is a big problem with this game because it is quite old. At the time when it was made, we didn’t have massively powerful personal computers, so the game was not built to handle them. Additionally, the game was never patched to address this issue. As a result, especially in skirmish modes with multiple players, the game would crash when there were too many units on the table. It would simply freeze or run very slowly.
Campaign and Skirmish
It was a fantastic game with a great campaign that was especially loved by many players. The campaign had some really tough and brutal missions that required players to think carefully. It was a good game for the average player of real-time strategy games, as it offered a decent level of challenge in the campaign for both Zero Hour skirmish and co-op modes. The game had loads of well-designed maps that were really fun to play. In skirmish mode, the AI was great and would throw everything but the kitchen sink at your base, including nukes. However, it was unlikely that you would find fantastically good AI in RTS games.
Generals and factions
The generals in this game have different personalities, allowing you to choose ones that specialize in tanks or nukes, for example. The factions are also fantastic. The USA has powerful paladin tanks, excellent aircraft, and missile launches. The GLA faction is unique and has unconventional weapons and tactics that I can’t mention in 2023 due to censorship algorithms. They have units that wear explosive vests and run at you, which I can’t talk about because of the limitations of free speech.
They also have tunnels that they can bury underground and come out in your base, which is just brutal, absolutely brutal. And they use chemical weapons as well. Then you have China, which is my favorite. They are fantastic. They have gatling tanks, nuclear warheads, huge Emperor tanks, and Mammoth tanks. I think they’ve got Emperor tanks, but I can’t remember if they had twin guns on the top. You can put add-ons on them as well to have them heal, or to have gatling guns or just use them as a kind of troop carrier.
There are all different kinds of aircraft in this game, from stealth bombers to fighters to helicopters and things like that. You’ve got a lot of variety in the game.
There are different types of infantry available in the game, and an infrastructure system that allows you to build anywhere and farm resources. Late game resources can also be created through different means, such as China’s use of hackers in a tech center to hack money. There are strategically placed things around the map that can be captured as well. The game is versatile, allowing you to play a rush game or a turtle game. It caters to all kinds of players and can result in some great battles, until it crashes due to too many units.
Command and conquer generals evolution
However, I discovered something amazing today. It may have been out for a while, but I found an updated version made by fans that is fantastic.
It’s called Command and Conquer Generals Evolution, and my goodness, guys, it’s up to beta 3 now, and it’s great. You need Red Alert 3 on Steam, I believe, to get this thing working. And then there’s Apache you can download, which allows Red Alert to utilize way more memory than it was designed for, which changes everything. No more lagging, no more crashing when you get loads and loads of units on. And then you download the mod, which is Command and Conquer Generals Evolution. It’s a total conversion.
Let’s remember Red Alert Three, the one with Left and Right, and hilarious cutscenes. I’m bringing this up in the retro review of Zero Hour because it’s pretty much just a hip-hop version of it. The gameplay is slightly different, and I’m still trying to find the hackers in the game. I make an internet center, but I can’t find anyone to put in it. You also build things slightly differently – you don’t control the bulldozer that goes around and builds everything.
In the game, you no longer use the bulldozer to build everything, it’s just there to build a command center and repair buildings. Instead, you do everything directly by clicking on the command center, which is a bit odd. But everything else in the game is better, and I mean everything. The sound quality is better, the graphics are better, and it runs much smoother. The bombs dropping, nukes going off, and particle cannon erupting all look and sound amazing. The game allows for huge battles, and when the particle cannon is activated or nuclear missiles are launched, it’s intense.
There are a lot of maps available and although it doesn’t have a campaign yet, it’s still being worked on. I highly recommend it. Red Alert 3 is available at a low price on Steam, so it’s definitely worth getting if you enjoy Zero Hour and Generals. You can download this mod and try it out because it’s absolutely fantastic. I’ve been playing Zero Hour for the last three days, and all day today I’ve been playing this mod. I thought I had to include it in this review because I’m going to play it a lot more times. I love it, and I’m addicted to it again. I’m getting all the vibes that I had back in the day. The only reason I haven’t played Zero Hour as much is because it doesn’t have this mod.
Designed specifically for modern PCs, this game utilizes advanced memory technology to deliver an exceptional gaming experience. If you enjoyed Command & Conquer Generals, you won’t want to miss the opportunity to play this evolution of the game. Command and Conquer Zero Hour is a brilliant game that was highly rated when it first came out, with IGN giving it a 9 out of 10. While some reviews were a bit lower, if this game was released today with modern graphics, it would undoubtedly earn a perfect score from me. It is simply amazing.
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