Command & Conquer: Rivals is another MMO strategy game among the likes of Clash of Clans and Tribal Wars that uses Command & Conquer motifs to hook you in. The Command & Conquer series has a place in every modern gamers’ childhood – with a rich, yet excessively silly, storyline and surprisingly high stakes plotlines, all meshed together with intricate unit balance and gameplay, Command & Conquer is just one of those series that remains beloved for years.
Sadly, the games got steadily worse until they stopped altogether. That is, until Command & Conquer: Rivals. Rivals is a PvP MMO, wherein you build units in small, focused 1 on 1 battles against enemy players. You gather money using Tiberium miners so as to fuel your war machine, recruiting units with various strengths and weaknesses against ground infantry, tanks, planes or otherwise strangely eclectic units, all trying to balance out a meaningful battle over the key objective.
[sc name=”quote” text=”You gather money using Tiberium miners so as to fuel your war machine, recruiting units with various strengths and weaknesses against ground infantry, tanks, planes or otherwise strangely eclectic units, all trying to balance out a meaningful battle over the key objective.”]
Each battle focuses on the control of three silo points, each with three slots to hold your units – you need to fight it out for control of these points, so as to build progress towards a nuke and devastate the enemy base. At the start of the game, each base can only take two nuke shots, but as you level up, your base can be given increased amounts of health so as to require actual combat against the base to win. The key system that allows for these level ups is a combination of gold, which you get for completing bounties and battles, and cards. These cards are randomly assigned to units you already have unlocked, allowing you to upgrade your units – once you get enough cards to progress to the next level; you just need to invest enough gold into them to be able to level them up, increasing their health and their damage.
As you work your way through the game, you’ll unlock new units and even new factions, allowing you a huge amount of control over what you want to bring to each fight. As every battle has a limited roster, you can only select a small number of your available units to fight, meaning you need to balance out low cost and versatility with high damage and long term investment. There is a surprisingly large quantity of different units available, as well as level up features included, that make Command & Conquer: Rivals an intricately deep, complex game. It almost feels like Hearthstone in its deck building system, but manages to turn it on its head to create a viable strategy game out of so many composite parts.
[sc name=”quote” text=”It almost feels like Hearthstone in its deck building system, but manages to turn it on its head and create a viable strategy game out of so many composite parts.”]
Command & Conquer: Rivals is not what you would expect from a mobile port of the Command & Conquer series, but it is surprisingly enjoyable, replete with strategic decisions, loss and magnificent success.
[review pros=”Actively addictive, despite endless deaths. You have an endless ability to draw more and interesting shapes, despite everyone trying to murder you.” cons=”Enemy players essentially play this game as a full time job.” score=8.5]
[appbox appstore id1261165213]
[appbox googleplay id=com.ea.gp.candcwarzones&hl=en_US]
