Command and Conquer Generals Funny Serius
As video games become increasingly dumbed-down in the age of so-called "pay-to-win" and "freemium gaming" schemes, many gamers -especially those itching for real-time-strategy -... 
As video games become increasingly dumbed-down in the age of so-called "pay-to-win" and "freemium gaming" schemes, many gamers -especially those itching for real-time-strategy [RTS]- have been looking to the past to scratch their strategic itch.
This topic has come up several times over the years in the War is Boring idea suggestion box, which, contrary to popular notion, is not a mini-basketball hoop over a waste bin.
To simply write about RTS games would be an arduous task in itself, so today's entry in a new mini-series of articles will cover one that is nearly two decades old, but prophetic in its story telling and going strong to this day: Command & Conquer: Generals.
Released in February of 2003, C&C Generals' USA campaign begins with the invasion of Iraq in an effort to stop a Middle Eastern-themed terror cell from launching a Weapon of Mass Destruction. A month after the game's release, the US and coalition forces would invade Iraq for eerily similar reason.
While it is important to keep in mind that games are not developed overnight [and that the plot of this game was likely inspired by the sabre-rattling that preceeded the actual invasion of Iraq for several years] the foreshadowing of Operation Iraqi Freedom was nothing short of ironic, and not the only card of this nature that the game would play.
The aforementioned "Middle Eastern-themed terror cell" is known in the game as the Global Liberation Army, or GLA for short. While often comically caricature-ish to the point of offensive for overly-sensitive types, the GLA would be the decades-early precursor to the real life Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
The glimpses into the future would not stop with these two examples, however, as the Zero-Hour expansion pack would also show the rise of the third faction, China. Through hacking, digital theft and sheer manpower, China would take on a superpower status through global expansion, taking advantage of a weakened and demoralized United States to execute an attempt to upstage them.
Playing the game as "research" for this article was probably the best use of "on the clock" time that one could ask for. Starting from the beginning of the original Generals and going all the way through Zero Hour, the gameplay is as enjoyable as it was when first played in 2003, if one can overlook the graphics limitations at the time. That said, modern gaming culture unfortunately tends to value graphics over gameplay, so it was a refreshing change of pace.
Certain aspects of the game are certainly dated- the HMMWV is still the premier light way for the US to move troops across the battlefield, the RAH-66 Commanche became a mass-production scout/attack helicopter, and the US infantry unit -known in-game as a Ranger- is loaded from head to toe with that "Early GWOT" aesthetic that causes one to say "peak drip," or whatever jargon the kids are using these days.
While it was effectively obsolete since the mid 1990s, the F-117 "Stealth Fighter" in the game is way cooler than its real world counterpart. It can carry more weapons, is undetectable by anti-aircraft units [sorry, Serbia], and is capable of supersonic flight.
On the other hand of this coin, the F-22 Raptor is still the symbol of air supremacy, so the time-frozen US faction of the game at least has that going for it. Unlike real life, the F-22 program was never canceled, so you can build, deploy and crash as many of them as your budget will allow.
The gameplay itself is still very fun, and playing in "Skirmish" or multiplayer modes [the latter being thanks in part to a dedicated fanbase that keep third-party servers alive] is a testament to how good of a game it still is, even nearly twenty years down the road.
Yes, twenty years. At the time of this article's writing, C&C Generals is around nineteen years of age, and still has infinite playability, especially for those who feel patronized by the "dumbed down" RTS of modern era.
Also, the game is so good, it is banned in China and had to be severely modified for release in Germany, because apparently fun is not allowed in either country.
While we only had time to play the US campaigns, we watched the cutscenes for every faction and re-immersed ourselves in a lore we enjoyed as teenagers. It was fun to pair off against both the computer [hard setting is the best setting] and other humans, often recounting time-tested tactics of our youth and developing new ones.
Command & Conquer Generals is availiable for Windows on both Origin [the route we took] and Amazon as part of the "Command and Conquer Ultimate Collection", and is a must-play for those looking for a great RTS experience with a touch of nostalgia.
Sometimes, older is better.
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Source: https://warisboring.com/nearly-20-years-later-command-conquer-generals-is-as-prophetic-as-it-is-playable/
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