Customer Reviews

Ground Control 2

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just completed the DEMO of GCII. Being a big GCI fan, it was certainly satisfying to re-experience that universe. Overall impression is that GCII will be a great game (amazing graphics and sound). Regarding gameplay, it seems the game might benefit from a few fixes. (1) Unit pathfinding is sometimes vexing in that units periodically cannot get around other crowding units despite ample room to do so. (2) I also noticed that when you request infantry to FOLLOW an artillery piece that they will continue to push it around randomly once the piece stops moving. (3) Most disappointing is that the enemy AI tends to be somewhat naive in often walking directly in the line of fire (in fact a single enemy infantryman will try to walk directly through a whole crowd of combatants blasting him to pieces). I often saw enemy infantry men pace mindlessly back and forth in open territroy while being bombarded from a distance. It seems the AIs primary directive is to throw repeated waves opponents directly at you. Don't get me wrong - despite these annoyances the game is still alot of fun overall. I just hope the developers can work out some of the AI kinks in advance or soon after release. Keeping my fingers crossed.

First of all, let me point out that Ground Control 2 is not a traditional RTS game. This game is not about building bases and trying to keep them fortified, it's all about the combat and strategy! Those of you hard core RTS fans may not like this game very much because of it's traits but I love it! Another thing that I like about this game is that you don't have to spend half of your gaming expierence trying to collect resources. You get AP points (the resources) by gaining control over enemy victory locations, that means eliminating all enemys around the area where the victory location is. Once you have enough APs, you call in your dropship to a selected victory location that you have under your control with the infantry or vehicles that you bought. Another thing that I like about this game is tha camera. You can vertualy play this game at any camera angle possible (the camera can get a bit frustrating at times though). I think that anyone who is a RTS fan should try this game out...it's AWESOME!

This is 1 of the best games ive played in awhile. 1 of the best parts about the game is you dont have to worry about building a base and collecting resources all you have to worry about is the best way to fight the battle.
Another good feature is the AI the enemy will attack you where you have the least troops and when they lose a position they wont just let you keep it they will counter-attack. You allies are also rather capable it many games ure allies just sit around build a base n defend in this game they go on the offensive and can easliy defend themselves.
This is a good game for anyone who likes rts.

First of all, i've played GC1 and loved the Demo (c'mon it was
90% of the game), and ive yet to determine which one is
actually better [or if half of you even played the first one]
Down to the amazing level of detail, and innovative control
sceme, this is slightly remenicint of games like Homeworld, oh
well. I think that this is a must buy for any RTS fan, it had a
pretty good tutorial [but you should already know how to
play].Lastly what i wanted to say is that this IS an RTS. an
RTS is not simply an game where you build units and bases, it
is the opposite of turn-based where you can react, attack,
and strategize in a free enviroment in Real-Time [I hope I dont have
to explain what Real-Time means.] Anyway, i say go for it, this
game is worth the money and will do well to impress most RTS
fans and new-comers alike. Buy it. NOW

This game looks really sweet, i havent played strategy games in a while because i lost interest in them, but this is one that i just cant miss, i downloaded the demo because it looked cool, and after i played i kinda sat in my chair stunned. if you have a fast connection i definetely reccomend you download the demo and see for yourself, or if not just buy the game when it comes out

This game has the best cinematic clips I have ever seen on a PC game. It comes close to the CGI movie Final Fantasy The Spirits Within. The game graphics are also superb with fantastic detail.
The gameplay is the same as the first one with the player going up against enemy units and given various scenarios to complete. One big gripe I have though is that though there are three different factions in this game, only 2 are actually playable. The third faction, The Terrans only exist as the computer enemy which is too bad because it has some really cool units including walker strider units. Perhaps Massive will launch a expansion pack that will enable the player to play as the Terrans. Overall I rate the graphics a 10, the gameplay a 7, the sound a 8, and the storyline a 7.

After playing the original Ground Control (which is an epic game) as well as making our own mods, my brother and I both tried GCII and were disappointed. I can't say exactly why but the balance and pacing of the game didn't seem right. In my opinion, stick with the original Ground Control.

This is another game I picked up based on my love of the original. Unlike some other series (*cough*NeverwinterNights*cough*), this one actually got better, rather than much, much worse.

Set a couple hundred years after the events in Ground Control, GC2 details the plight of the Northern Star Alliance, protectors of a colony abandoned when the Crayven Corporation went belly-up. They're under attack by the Terran Empire, a vaguely Roman organization bent on (surprise!) galactic domination.

You play the role of a Captain in the Northern Star Alliance. The game's story follows the campaign to defend the colony, and then an audacious attempt to evacuate said colony so the Virons, new allies of the NSA, can stand and fight the Empire without civilians being in the way. There's a nice tie-in to the original game in there, as the ship they use to evacuate the colonists is none other than the Astrid, the battle cruiser you deploy from in GC1.

Gameplay is even faster-paced than the original, and you can now bring in fresh units using dropships, rather than being restricted to a pre-set number of units per level. This means you tend to get a lot more aggressive than before, and instead of holding back your units and moving them individually for optimal placement, you'll send whole squads of Terradynes out to hold a line, knowing full well they'll never come back--but it's alright, because you can call down reinforcements if you need them.

The real joy in this game, as before, is zooming the camera in close and joining your troops on the battlefield. The fights here can become epic in scale. Pushes, counter-pushes, advances, retreats--they'll all happen in the natural course of the game. The challenge level is just right. You'll never feel as though a level is too hard to beat, nor will you ever get complacent and leave anything unguarded. The AI is smart enough to adapt to your tactics. If you bring in Helidynes, they'll bring in Helidynes and rocket Terradynes to shoot them down. Bring in Terradynes, and they'll bring in Destroyers to chew them up. In the end, you'll mix-and-match your forces to keep them well-rounded. Leave a hole in your deployment choices, and the enemy will exploit it, guaranteed.

The multiplayer mode is fun and customizable and lends itself to many extra hours of gameplay once you've finished the single-player campaign. The music is fast-paced and fits nicely.

All in all, this is a good choice. Recommended.

Currently with what has been presented, the game represents a landmark in graphical in-game rendering / effects concerning RTS (Real Time Strategy) games. I was stunned by the fact that I experienced practically no lag at all with the graphics set to maximum settings (at 1024x768 resolution). The cities had such a high level of detail that upon zooming in, one can even see trash and pieces of paper rolling in the wind. The backgrounds are breath taking with their animated asteroid belts and planetary systems. While Command and Conquer Generals has a pretty impressive engine, it still comes nowhere near to what I've seen with GC2. Additionally, C&C Generals lagged horribly even against just two comps, so that rules it out as an alternative RTS. At the moment (3/14/04) GC2 still has some bugs to be worked out, but thanks to the closed beta test, the game will be all refined and polished within a few months for release.

Ground Control II, originally released in 2004, is fairly obviously the sequel to Ground Control, the classic real-time tactics game. GC2 picks up the story centuries further on and it initially appears that there is no relationship between the two games, save being set in the same universe. However, as the game continues it becomes clear that the events of the original game set in motion a chain of events that are now coming to fruition, and a new generation of heroes must complete the work begun by Major Sarah Parker and Deacon Jared Stone in the first game.

There are, however, some significant differences between the two games. Ground Control was excellent because it strictly limited the military forces available to take into battle, putting the emphasis firmly on tactical decision-making, battle formations and picking the opportune route across the battlefield. With no ability to save mid-mission, the game encouraged genuine tactical decision-making rather than quicksaving and then hoping for the best. Whilst for hardcore strategy fans this was good stuff, more casual players were put off by the game's rock-hard reputation, despite fantastic reviews at the time.

GC2 is, by contrast, far more commercial. You can save mid-mission and you can reinforce your army in the field at any time through the seizing of landing zones and the deployment of dropships. Destroying enemy forces, seizing 'victory locations' and achieving objectives earns you points you can put towards recruiting new units or upgrading the dropship. You can order the dropship to remain on-station after delivering units and use it as a gun platform or a scout before it runs out of fuel and has to return to base. This is actually a pretty clever idea, and it's not unusual for the success or failure of a mission to turn on how you outfit and deploy the dropship effectively.

You control both the NSA army and a Viron taskforce during the two campaigns. Both sides are well-developed and fun to play, but the Virons take the edge for ingenuity and originality. They are based on organic technology and have both secondary modes granting them different skills and the ability to 'meld' two units together into a more powerful one. Playing as the Virons offers superior tactical possibilities and a greater variety of units and tactics.

Unfortunately, the addition of the in-mission saves means that getting through missions is sometimes more a question of stubbornness and reloading than using genuine tactical skills. The game creators minimise this as best they can by making the missions quite challenging and not having a quicksave key (you have to go through the menu), encouraging more experimenting with unit combinations and formations.

Graphically, the game uses a very similar engine to the original GC, although the maps are not quite as insanely huge. Obviously for a game that's four years newer, the graphics are notably better than the original game (which still had very impressive graphics for a game released in 2000), but the UI is, curiously, a lot more restrictive than the original. The viewing area of the screen is reduced by at least a third due to a fancy border and lots of unnecessary buttons you never use, standing in contrast to the smooth, streamlined and (ironically) far more modern interface of the first game.

The game has an excellent storyline with some really good twists and turns, and the characters are a pretty cool bunch. Their desperate struggle against the odds is compelling, although sadly incomplete: the game ends on a cliffhanger with a number of questions left dangling. Although the primary story arc of the game is complete, the fate of several key characters is left up in the air. It is clear that Massive were going to release either a third game or an expansion to address these elements, but the relatively mediocre commercial performance of GC2 meant this did not happen. Massive went on to develop World in Conflict and its recent expansion for a different publisher, and it sounds unlikely there will be further Ground Control games, at least not in the near future.

Ground Control II is a fast-paced and very satisfying real-time strategy game, with frantic combat, excellent graphics and sound (the game has aged very well indeed) and a challenging difficulty level. However, the commercialization of the game means that some elements of uniqueness from Ground Control have been lost. The game is rather more traditional and less ambitious than its forebear. Still, it remains a very fine example of the RTS genre and was a notably superior game to Dawn of War, which came out several months after it and used some similar ideas, but to weaker effect.

Ground Control II (****½) is a very satisfying and enjoyable RTS, and if it disappoints it is only in comparison to its excellent forebear.