{"id":61914,"date":"2018-11-13T11:23:21","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T11:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pockettactics.com\/articles\/command-and-conquer-rivals-beta-gameplay\/"},"modified":"2018-11-13T11:23:21","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T11:23:21","slug":"cc-rivals-is-a-great-mobile-rts-with-a-monkey-on-its-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2018\/11\/13\/cc-rivals-is-a-great-mobile-rts-with-a-monkey-on-its-back\/","title":{"rendered":"C&C Rivals is A Great Mobile RTS with a Monkey on its Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brandon Casteel<\/span> 13 Nov 2018<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

Players first thought EA had killed the Command & Conquer<\/em> franchise in 2010, when they discovered Command & Conquer 4<\/a><\/em> had made radical departures from the series\u2019 standards and that the campaign was something of a dumpster fire.\u00a0Players then thought EA had killed C&C<\/em> in 2012, when Tiberium Alliances<\/a><\/em> took the franchise into the world of the then-popular browser-based grind of ‘MMORTS’.<\/p>\n

They for sure thought EA had killed C&C<\/em> in 2013 when the company announced, then canned, Command & Conquer Generals 2<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

But then, in the year of our Lord 2018, we saw Uncanny Valley Kane in the ad for a new\u2026 mobile C&C<\/em> title called \u2018Rivals<\/em>\u2019, and we knew it had finally jumped the shark. This was the end, we were in the darkest timeline.<\/p>\n

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Only Command & Conquer Rivals<\/em><\/a> is a surprisingly good game. It\u2019s been in beta since August, and, well, it\u2019s impressed many. The gameplay is deep and responsive, the unit designs are fun; the dev studio has managed to create an accessible and enjoyable strategy game that just so happens<\/em> to be Command & Conquer<\/em> flavored.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s due to release on December 4th<\/sup> as a Free-to-Play game although mobile developers (especially attached to big publishers) struggle to find pay models that make everyone happy. So far, EA have done admirable work at minimizing the impact of freemium mechanics on the game, but that\u2019s unlikely to convince anyone who fundamentally dislikes loot box economics.<\/p>\n

Core Gameplay Experience<\/h3>\n

Before we look at how EA is hoping to get people to pay for things, let\u2019s look at what it is people are paying for. What is Command & Conquer Rivals and how does it work? When evaluating this title, let\u2019s first leave out the \u201cCommand & Conquer\u201d part, and just evaluate it on the game\u2019s own merits.<\/p>\n

When you look at the game this way, you find Rivals actually a really solid mobile strategy game. Far from being the 0-dimensional money grab that people often fear (or assume) that mobile games often are, Rivals has a well-considered and solid gameplay structure. It starts with the player choosing one of the game\u2019s factions (either GDI or Nod) and building a \u2018deck\u2019 of units to bring into battle.<\/p>\n

\"02<\/p>\n

Battle itself starts with the player and their opponent loading into the battlefield. Unlike the vast majority of PC RTS, C&C: Rivals<\/em> shows you the whole map at once; no panning or zooming is allowed or even necessary. While this might seem off-putting to the PC RTS enthusiast, it works really well on mobile. The reality of panning around while trying to direct your army by tapping on the game space is less than ideal, and plenty other games have fallen fowl of this.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll quickly find that the watchword for Rivals<\/em>\u2019 design is \u2018focus\u2019. Base-building sort-of exists in the game, but it serves more as a mechanism for gating access to certain unit types behind the cost of the structure that unlocks the unit. So, pay 40 Tiberium for the War Factory, and you can instantly access any units any units in your deck that require that structure. The systems are pared down to the most straightforward implementation, with substantial care taken to preserve depth.<\/p>\n

Ultimately players are fighting for control over 2 or 3 control points on the map. Own more of them than your opponent and you\u2019ll start working on building up the missile launch timer. Whoever owns the missile when it finally launches, gets a hit on their opponent\u2019s base structure. Two such hits, the base is down and you win.<\/p>\n

\"03<\/p>\n

So far, I\u2019ve been truly impressed with the unit design and the nuance and control you can get out of the game. Unlike popular mobile RTS-likes Clash Royale<\/em> and clones, you have full control of your units, which is a wonderful breath of fresh air in the mobile competitive strategy space.<\/p>\n

About That Monkey\u2026<\/h3>\n

Yeah, now it\u2019s time to talk about the ugly bugbear of mobile games: The freemium economy. Clash Royale<\/em> fans will have a good idea of how this all breaks down. If not, allow me to illuminate you.<\/p>\n

You earn loot boxes by playing the game. Some of them come from winning, and some come on a Pavlovian schedule: every 12 hours, you have a new crate of goodies to open. Inside of crates are a couple of things: cash to upgrade your units, Diamonds (sometimes) to do so more cost efficiently.<\/p>\n

Diamonds, of course, are mostly acquired via real currency. That is, your hard-earned money.<\/p>\n

\"04<\/p>\n

You can spend Diamonds to acquire better loot boxes that contain better stuff: more cards, more rare card types, and all of that jazz. Cards themselves, of course, are used in conjunction with cash to upgrade units. There are some differences from the standard system, as there is in every mobile game that\u2019s trying to feel original, but they don\u2019t have a lot of oomph to them.<\/p>\n

Cards are the lifeblood of the economy of games like this. You need them to unlock new unit types, which in Rivals<\/em> are also locked behind your player level. You don\u2019t get access to more complex unit types until you\u2019ve stuck around for a while to prove yourself. That\u2019s not to say that you\u2019re screwed unless you\u2019ve put tons of hours into the game: the most-used units, even in the higher leagues, are quite often the starter units you acquire early. These units, like Nod attack bikes or Flame Troopers, GDI Talon and Titan, the Nod Rockworm\u2026 a lot of the starter units are really consistent and well performing.<\/p>\n

But, there\u2019s always an exception that proves the rule. There are some really high-impact units that can feel downright unfair to not have. One of the best examples of this is Nod\u2019s Inferno bomber, and the GDI Disruptor vehicle. While not in every deck, these are such high impact units that it can REALLY feel nasty to fight against them without having used them yourself.<\/p>\n

\"05<\/p>\n

It\u2019s probably intentional, right? You put enough time into the game to see these units, but not enough to earn them. You lose to one and think it\u2019s so unfair that you don\u2019t have it yet. Maybe, you\u2019re tempted to plop some cash down to acquire some of those units, or to level up a unit that is under performing. This stuff probably happens a bit.<\/p>\n

Keeping Up with the Joneses<\/h3>\n

Full disclosure here, I\u2019ve personally spent $30 on the game myself. Not all at once mind: I was in the beta for quite some time before they introduced the store at all, but my purchases can be broken down as follows:<\/p>\n