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Ok, let me start by saying I played the Demo... Well, more correctly, I played the single Demo mission. After playing it I looked at the Skirmish button, and... well... More on that later Wink

Firstly, I did what I always do with an RTS - I try the tutorial. Each RTS has it nuances, and the tutorial is a good way to find them out. As I found out the tutorial was Ok, but was really just the basics. And was really only half of it in my eyes - it was how to move units, and shoot the enemy. Base building was touched on, but only the very basics. After I played the demo mission, I felt the tutorial was complete - it was in this mission that the vital stuff was touched on - repairing and selling buildings if featured, while support structures and engineers are introduced. Still didn't get to play with any tanks or ground vehicles though Sad

Controls are very basic. Select units by clicking, select multiples by lassoing them (or Shift + Click), double click selects all units of that type on screen (hold shift adds them to the already selected units). Right click to move, to use special abilities click the button and left click the ground, etc, etc.... Standard stuff straight from the previous C&C games (well, actually the same controls basically as Dune II). Actually, lets face it - the controls are identical to the previous C&C Games...

The units I saw were from the previous game as well. Not sure if GDI or NOD get any new toys, but honestly I am not sure they do... From my feelings thus far, it really was a remake of the previous ones with nothing new added. This means that it really is on par for EA - lets hope this one gets more "after release" support than the Battlefield series. Errr... Sorry, bit sidetracked there...

One thing that is being pushed by all the articles I have read is that C&C3 sees the return of Full Motion Video (or FMV for those that like TLAs) in a computer game. And for all the fans of Battlestar Gallactica, Starship Troopers and/or Star Wars - well, some of the big name actors from them are in it. I won't say who - I will let this comic from Ctrl-Alt-Del sums it up quite nicely Smile

Now I have seen the above movies and series, and I was impressed that which actors would be in it. Heck, they are good actors... So imagine my surprise when the best performances were given by Joe Kucan (the guy that plays Kane). The others I found to be fairly wooden, unemotional and very stiff in their acting, which was a major disappointment for me.

My other annoyance with the FMV (that is Full Motion Video for those that dislike Three Letter Acronyms) was that they didn't splash out for a steady cam. Ok, so I get the hint that the cameras point-of-view is supposed to be what I would be seeing if I was actually present, that is cool. The only thing is that I don't sway much in real life, unless I have been tasting a few glasses of Scotch... Actually, for the amount of swaying it was doing, make that bottles.

So, after the fun of the (single) Demo mission for the campaign, I was back at the main menu. I can assure you, I did fully intend to click on the Skirmish button, honest... However some part of my brain clicked Exit.

Overall, I was disappointed (after reading what I have written, I think that may be stating the obvious...). I bought Supreme Commander a month or two ago, for $10 less than the retail price for C&C3 - and thankfully I didn't wait. I loved the original C&C, and enjoyed C&C2 as well. As for C&C3... Maybe when the $20 Platinum Version comes out. Maybe... For $100 I want something a bit more than an old game with a new face...

I also thought I would have a look for some reviews. IGN has a review here, which they scored at 8.5 and echoed many of my feelings. The was also an IGN Australia review as well - which heaped plenty of praise on the game (IGN AU rates it as a 9.0).

Oh, and if you are interested, I also read an interview with Grace Park and Tricia Helfer... Well, I will let you read it for yourself and see what you think...

Anyways, if you made it this far, thank you for reading. I think I might go and see how much Scotch I need to drink before I wobble as much as the video cutscenes Smile