Command and Conquer: Renegade Screenshots The Final Say! Gameplay 9.5 Graphics 8.5 Sound 8.5 Value 9.0 Command and Conquer: Renegade - reviewed by   Tory F Review Date: 05 February 2002 Review Score: 9/10  Distributor: Electronic Arts

"It's time to cause some HAVOC!" Welcome one and all to the world of Command and Conquer. For those of you who have visited before it is probably a touch of shellshock for you. For those who have made this their first visit, most likely you are saying "Hell Yeah!" You see, this Westwood title is one of the most popular Real Time Strategies on the planet now brought over to the first person genre with amazingly fantastic results. For newcomers, basically the Command and Conquer Universe goes like this. The world is Earth however there are two main opposing forces: Global Defense Initiative (GDI) and the Evil Brotherhood of Nod. GDI was formed by the United Nations in an attempt to stop Nod and it's plot to take over third world countries.  The game is mission based, giving you primary and secondary objectives to complete thereby lengthening the gameplay time. The style is mildly cartoonish and you feel as though you are taking part in something big! Which of course you are.  Renegade has a variety of vehicles for you to command such as buggies, light and heavy tanks and other equipment with varying degrees of firepower. The heads up display in Renegade is second to none with an inbuilt radar showing you the location of friendlies and enemies alike. Old school C&C fans will be pleased to note that the damage meters are similar to previous games giving you absolute knowledge of the strength of your enemy and which strategy is going to be used to best effect. AI is a tiny bit remiss with enemy forces allowing me to jump up and walk directly behind them before administering the coup de grace. This was not the case all the time and as such was noticeable when it occurred. An extremely comprehensive menu rounds out the title, giving you information on all that you have encountered and the abilities of your weaponry. A detailed map feature is available to pinpoint locations as well. Different troops have different abilities as well. For example a Nod soldier is reasonably dopey but has great firepower at his disposal, whereas a Nod officer can call for backup, airdrops and the like. Then character classes progress along the lines of what weaponry the individual is carrying or where they are working.

The ability to switch from first to third person is also featured though I found the game to work best in first person. The missions are detailed are you will find yourself in some circumstances spending well over an hour on a mission if you also pursue all secondary objectives.

Graphically the game impresses. Explosions, fog effects are all present and accounted for, Sir! Character models are highly detailed down to little items on uniforms. The slightly unreal look of the game world makes for some fast paced action and gives you a truly arcade feel which you can adopt if you like.

The radar does take some of the guesswork out of the game but for what it takes away, it also gives plenty and then some! Seeing a blip on the screen get closer and closer will make you tighten your grip on that mouse!

Configuring the controls are a breeze and you can then save that configuration for later use. The video and audio options are very easy to manipulate as well.

Command & Conquer: Renegade is a definite must buy title for any fan of the series or first person shooter enthusiast and is a credit to both Westwood and Electronic Arts!

- Tory F