Command & Conquer: The Covert Operations

THE BAD:
Very hard, even considering the “purpose” of this expansion pack
No new units
No cut-scenes

SUMMARY:
This expansion pack is really just a set of maps to be played through in no specific order and with no real storyline behind it. So if you play this expecting the cut-scenes like the original then you’ll be disappointed. But that’s not what this game’s about, it’s about giving the better players a challenge, because that’s what this game is. Some missions in the original game had you overcoming overwhelming odds, practically every mission in this pack does. I read a review that said the sheer difficulty of the game reduces you to a “move and save” strategy where you’ll save every few minutes after you don’t get annihilated and it’s pretty much true. If your base isn’t infiltrated from the minute you start, you’re not low on Tiberium or being surrounded, and then you’re probably under attack every few minutes. The challenge of each map is unique in its own way, it doesn’t take the same starting conditions and move them to a new area, each map presents its own challenges to overcome.

In the final few missions of the GDI campaign you could just build about 10 Mammoth Tanks and walk over the enemy base, such a tactic usually won’t work here because by the time you’re actually able to build 10 Mammoth Tanks (and not using the money building/replacing/repairing buildings and units) you’ll probably have almost beaten the map anyway. On that note it’s worth mentioning that full technology is available in every map, which is a help and a hindrance because the enemy has full technology as well.

The game can be extremely frustrating at times, especially if you’re trying to do a map in one go without saving. I know the point is to give the person playing a bit of a challenge and not just something they can win without doing anything. But there’s a fine line between difficult and cheap, a line that this game sometimes goes over. Any map designer can build overwhelming odds into a map, it doesn’t take much genius to give the player next to nothing and the enemy a fully constructed base with a huge army. It does take genius to make it interesting and fun to play, kind of like the mission in the original for GDI where you only have a Commando and have to infiltrate a base. The hardest mission here is arguably the last GDI one where you’re completely surrounded and are low on money with no Tiberium Refinery or Harvester to replenish your funds. Every map is of course beatable, but when you’re playing it feels that you need a close to perfect strategy that you can execute almost flawlessly (which is where move and save comes into play) to be able to win.

Unfortunately there’s also no new units to build in this game. You may get to use units you’ve never seen before (such as the SSM launcher) but they were all in the original game, something anyone who played a deathmatch would know, and you don’t get to see these units on every map either. While it was interesting to be able to use these units, some new ones wouldn’t have gone amiss, especially since on the back of the CD case it appeared that NOD had a new version of the Medium Tank.

The ability to slow the game down is invaluable in the early stages of many maps. On one map you have to clear the path on the right side of the map of NOD forces before you get an MCV. There’s several skirmishes going on but in almost every case if left to their own devices, you’ll lose each battle, mainly because your units are fighting the wrong type of enemy. Up at the top if you make your Mammoth Tanks fire their rockets instead of turrets, you’ll clear the area of infantry in no time, and trying to group your units together will also help. Basically save the Mammoth Tanks and you’ll can clear the road easily, don’t let such powerful units go to waste, you’ll need them to defend yourself. Micro-management in the early stages of a map can make the rest of it much easier.

Because of the difficulty, the replay value is somewhat limited. You may want to try different strategies, but in most cases there’s only one overall strategy that will work, maybe with a few changes to it here and there, but ultimately this is a one strategy game. Another thing which limits the replay value is the fact that once you’ve finally beaten all the maps, there’s little incentive to put yourself through that much frustration again.

I did enjoy it despite its difficulty and overall it’s a solid game if you’re looking for a challenge, or if you’re looking for more grey hairs, but otherwise you can probably give this a miss unless you pick it up with every other C&C game in The First Decade. It’s probably the hardest C&C game to date.