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Trash78 -> Just some impressions and observations. (7/9/2010 3:12:25 PM)
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Been playing this game for the past few hours since I'm going to write a review for it on www.tacticularcancer.net. As an old-time fan of the CC series I must say that I was really looking forward to trying a remake to what is easily my most favourite CC so far. So far I've come away with some rather mixed feelings.
Presentation is the best yet in the entire CC series (including the remakes) Nice mission briefings, clear operational and campaign updates and a level of detail and care put into the entire structure which exceeds my expectations. Well done!
Graphics are also clear and crisp. Not only do the maps have the feeling of the old CC2 maps, they also look incredibly good. Little details like smoking and burning vehicles, exhaust fumes, cannon blasts and all look very nice indeed. Not to even mention the care that went into portraying the different vehicles and teams. While the core engine might be ancient by now, this looks very much like a professional product.
Sounds and music are your usual fare. What bothered me with the previous remakes was the rather limited sound set for weapon sounds, soldier sounds and explosions. It got tiresome to hear your troops say the exact same thing everytime a situation repeated itself. I've got the strong impression that a lot of work has been put in adding new voices and sounds. You'll still hear all the old ones but there defenitely seems to have been added quite a few.
Unit diversity was also something which bothered me with the last two remakes. You often saw each battle sport almost the exact same troops, with little variation being possible. Last Stand at Arnhem adds lots of new weapons, unit layouts and vehicles and the like. New toys to play with are always fun!
However I must point out some very niggling things I've noticed so far. Battle map AI seems to perform adequately on the defense but is an incoherent mess while on the offense. The pathfinding for armor seems to have returned to CC2 levels with halftracks being unable to drive along a straight stretch of road without being babysitted with waypoints all the way. This is very puzzling to me concerning just how well the armor behaved ever since the Wacht am Rhein remake. The strategic map AI also seems to be way too timid. I tried to play the last stand at Arnhem operation where a single unit must keep the Arnhem bridges while the AI gets airstrikes, artillery and mortar backup and new units in the areas around it. Imagine my surprise that after trying this op for 4 times now not once did the German AI attack the map with the bridge.
So far I would say the game has everything needed to be the single best remake so far. Unless the AI battle map, pathfinding and campaign map AI issues are solved however I couldn't recommend it over, say, WaR or LD.
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