Realism is the name of the game in C&C Game Studio's new strategy game, Command & Control. The game blends tower defense mechanics with more free-form strategic planning in a way few browser games can match. Rather than simply marching single file down a corridor of death into the range of your artillery, the enemies will attack from multiple angles in increasing strength and speed. Tanks, trucks, and basic grunts will come parading down the dusty streets of these real-world warzones with nothing but you to stop them. Place riflemen and rocket launchers on the rooftops and be ready to call upon the chopper and bomber for some gloriously rendered retribution. It's modern warfare with a bird's eye view, always tense and thrilling.
The more free form enemy attack patterns evoke the newer slate of tower defense titles like Demonic Flower except with terrorists instead of trolls. The realistic aesthetic is gorgeously rendered (our hat's off to the sound design, you can feel your teeth rattle with every rocket blast) but it may feel a bit tacky mining the conflicts that rage across the real world for browser game escapism. That's hardly a criticism unique to Command & Control, however, and if we're going to have modern warfare games at least they should be this good. Enemies fire back at your entrenched units but they just stun them when their health runs out, leading to some gloriously tense moments where you're begging your wounded unit to get back on its feet before the enemy breaches the next defense.This can also make the combat feel a bit back-and-forth when a wave of enemies clobbers your frontlines, passes forward, then gets clobbered in turn when your guys' health replenishes. On the other hand, the choppers and planes you can deploy do a good job shaking things up. Plus, everything's upgradeable (because what's a tower defense game without upgrades?). In the end, Command & Control is a fun, realistic browser experience, the closest most of us will get to the frustrations and triumphs of leading an army. Which is probably a good thing...
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