Those who have played the C&C franchise, and those who played Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth II, likely had little doubt that EA would put some serious muscle behind C&C 3, and deliver a well-scripted game that looks great. The question in most gamer’s minds is how will this game port to a console that lacks a keyboard and mouse combination? EA has done a decent job to adapt the C&C 3 interface to the Xbox 360 controller, though understandably it feels somewhat unnatural at first.
The controls are the most likely question mark for Xbox gamers that are yet undecided about C&C 3, so I’ll discuss them in some detail. The left stick acts as your cursor, and tries to approximate the movement of a mouse by moving quickly or slowly, depending on how far you move the stick. The cursor speed can be adjusted, but you will want this to move as quickly as you can handle, so that you can jump to various areas of the battlefield swiftly. The A button is used to select units and structures. Because there is no click-and-drag functionality, the gamer can hold the A button to select all units that the cursor touches, press LT + A to select all units on screen, press LB + A to add a unit to the selection group, or press RB + A to select all units of a certain type. As you can probably surmise, it will take a couple hours of game play to get fully accustomed to the various controls. Once you have selected units, pressing down on the D-Pad will assign the units to one of 8 group slots. Pressing up on the D-pad allows you to cycle through all the groups you have created. The X button moves the camera to the currently selected unit, while Y moves the camera to the location of an event, such as incoming enemies or reinforcements. The right trigger opens a Command menu that allows you to give instruction to individual units or buildings, or to queue up construction at your base while you are on the other side of the map. Clicking the Left Stick will instantly bring the camera back to your base. There is a lot to take in the first time you play C&C 3, and it will take some time and patience to master the control layout. EA seems to have gotten the most out of the controller they had to work with, but the learning curve may be too much for some gamers.
Besides the slew of campaign missions available, there is also a Skirmish mode for offline quick play, and a very, very robust Xbox Live experience. C&C 3 supports 4 online players that can battle individually, or can be organized into teams of 2. Xbox Live has 5 different game modes that provide a lot variety and replay value. The most fundamental game mode is “Versus”, in which you simply slug it out with your opponent. The “King of the Hill” and “Capture and Hold” modes require the gamer to take over certain locations on the map and defend them. “Capture the Flag” will task you to grab neutral flags and return them to your base, while preventing your opponents from doing the same. Are you yearning for a massive, full-scale battle with your foes? If so, “Siege” mode is for you. Siege begins with a countdown timer, and barriers to prevent you from attacking your enemies, and vise versa. This allows the combatants to focus on building their bases, armies and economies. Once the timer expires, the barriers come down and the gloves come off, leading to a colossal fight to the death. It should be noted that you are free to choose any of the 3 factions for online play, even if you’ve not unlocked them in campaign mode. If you enjoy RTS games and Xbox Live, C&C 3 is a “must have” for your library.
