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Not quite ready for prime time.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 23 / 25
Date: June 08, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Like many of the other previous reviewers, I bought the game because the demo was outstanding. I'm finding in practice that the game really doesn't measure up, however.

To Ground Control's credit, this is probably the best 3D land-based RTS game to come out yet. However, it still doesn't manage to escape from a lot of the shortcomings of its fellow 3D RTS's.

The nature of 3D RTS, at least so far, seems to be that units are more 'realistically' proportional to the terrain. While that may be nice on paper, in gameplay what it translates to is that you spend hours moving your units from one place on the map to the other, because they're so small in proportion to the terrain. In fighting battles, you're obligated to zoom out to such an extent that each unit is only a blip of a few pixels on your screen--not much fun to watch or look at while directing the troops.

I don't find the elimination of resource management to be a plus for Ground Control. What that ends up meaning is that there is no reinforcement available for you to build or buy; you can't simply play and have fun if you want to try different things in a mission. You have to carefully and tediously position your units so as to incur as few losses as possible. Add to this the fact that there is NO in-game saving in Ground Control, and you find yourself playing very carefully and tediously indeed.

Topping this off, there just isn't a good story happening here to keep you interested. It's mostly told through the thoughts of the two side commanders rather than through good character and dialog. The cutscenes are hands-down the worst I've ever seen--they are videos of the game engine, it looks like, and they're so badly compressed that they look like they're being streamed over the web--blocky, blurry, and awful to watch.

On the positive side, the game does look great, especially when you zoom in close to the units fighting. It plays better on lower-end systems than other games of its type, but you'll still need a blistering machine if you want to see it in its full glory.

Be warned also that it's not entirely stable. A patch was released the day after it hit retail, but not all of the bugs are out of it. One of the worst is that it will crash on completion of a mission, and you don't get credited with the mission. I've spent more hours replaying because of this than I'd care to admit.

As a former Army officer, I think there are some cool tactical things happening in Ground Control that haven't been modeled well in other games--friendly fire, fire support, formations--but in the end, when all is said and done, I have to say that the game just isn't that much fun to play.

You're getting 90% of the experience in the demo. If it really floats your boat after seeing it, then maybe you should try it. Other than that, buyer beware.

Incredible real-time tactics

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 13
Date: May 18, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Rather than the following the standard RTS formula of 80% resource management mixed with 20% battle tactics, this game follows the precedent set by the Myth series. You choose from a selection of units before the mission, along with a number of different configurations and equipment packs. You may choose to equip your infantry squads as stealthy, far-sighted Jaegers, or you might decide to outfit them as slow, powerful grunts. Special equipment including deployable sentry guns, explosive or armor-piercing ammunition, and vision-enhancers is also available. You must also choose which squads are necessary for a mission, since space on the dropships is limited. Control is at the squad level, with sizes ranging from 1 heavy artillery cannon to 8 marines. Proper coordination of different units is necessary for success. Your artillery might have enough firepower to turn the enemy into a smoking crater, but without proper scouting it becomes useless. This game also does what few other RTS games has ever accomplished; it successfully implements chain of command. Keep your Command APC safe, or your troops will be completely ineffective.

The graphics are good but not particularly distinguished, and the controls are reasonably simple, including all the standard elements of RTS (hotkeyed groups, formations, etc.) and adding a few nice touches, such as the ability to set a squad's movement and firing styles (rush blindly ahead firing at anyone who shows his face, or advance cautiously and sneakily to the enemy rear). The effects of high ground, rear and flank attacks, and suppressive fire are also well implemented.

I'd recommend this game to Myth fans, as well as to anyone who enjoys the strategy elements of RTS more than the resource management aspects.

Focus on tactics, instead of resource management

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: June 20, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Ground Control is all about tactics and strategy, realized in a beautiful 3-D landscape. Units increase effectiveness as they gain experience and earn kills. The game appeals to those who enjoy Chess, real-world tactics and military history, and movies such as Saving Private Ryan, The Longest Day, etc. It is not a traditional RTS.

Traditional real-time strategy games are all about base building and figuring out how to churn out disposable units faster than your opponent. They appeal to those who enjoy Axis & Allies, Starship Troopers (the movie), fast-paced action, and who don't care about patience / intricate plans.

The best thing about Ground Control is that you can rename and customize your squads. I say squads because unlike traditional RTS games and like real-world militaries, all your units in the game are squads of 3-10 individual soldiers/tanks/planes. In the first mission you get 1 squad of marines, and you can customize them to be Offensive (more firepower), Defensive (more armour), Recon (more speed), or Balanced. If they survive the mission, they may earn a medal of commendation, and will gain experience. The next mission, they'll fight a little harder and live a little longer than an inexperienced squad. Half the fun of the game is grooming units into elite squads, or feeling sorrow when you have to leave a n experienced squad behind to fight a suicide delaying action while the rest of your force escapes.

Customization goes further than experience, names, and general focus. You can also choose to add special equipment or weapons. This lets you tailor your forces to your unique strategic style. For example, you can give one unit of tanks indirect-fire mortars, and your other unit of tanks a loadout of armour piercing cannon shells. You put the mortar unit behind the anti-armour unit, then have some Recon-focused marines scout out the enemy. Shell the enemy with the mortars while retreating the marines, then decimate the enemy with the anti-armour tanks when they get close. Other commanders may wish to load all the tanks with the armour-piercing rounds and simply charge the enemy. Whatever your style, Ground Control delivers.

The fact that your forces are limited makes each of your soldiers that more precious. You have to PLAN your attack, using your squads' special abilities and unique equipment to their best advantage. Use terrain to give a better field of fire, use fast units to lure the enemy into an ambush, conceal your troops in the shadow of a ridge to protect them from return fire. Tactical finesse is needed if you are to avoid friendly fire casualties, efficiently destroy the enemy, and prevent the loss of key units.

Most missions have a time limit, adding even more excitement. All the missions are tied together with a pretty typical plot of Mega Corp vs. Techno-mystics, all fighting over something powerful that niether truly understands. There are a few recurring characters (like in StarCraft), but they pale in comparison to that game's memorable heroes. That's fine. While Ground Control won't win awards for story or writing, it deserves recognition as one of the more innovative, strategicaly satisfying, and FUN games of the year.

Ground Control ROCKS! email me limpbizcuit@stupid.com

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 20 / 27
Date: May 12, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the best RTS games I personally have ever played. I signed up for a beta multiplar cd, and guess what, I got it. I've been playing the multiplayer version, for over a month now. I just recieved my pc-gamer and inside was a full campaign for Ground Control. I opened it up and played it. If you have enough monitor to put it up to 1024X860 or whatever, I recommend you do. With that much resolution, the game is so realistic. Sierra did a nice job on the sand, sky, infantry, and even the trees, look real. You can get a wide range of units, ranging from a infantry soldier, to the best tank or even a bomber/fighter. I recently beat the demo, and one mission is excepsionally fun. You get artillery, and the graphics rule on explosions. If you zoom down you can see your guys blasting away. It's an incredible game. There are also special weapons you troops can get, infantry/mortar launchers, tanks/rockets. If you have a strond stomach(kinda) zoom in on the enemy troops, and then attack them with artillery, it's kinda bloody. This game is really good, I would recommend it to all, good singal player, and multiplayer. If I could have I would have given it 100 stars!

Amazing graphics but your system has to handle it

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: October 09, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Ground Control always makes me start humming 'Major Tom' - the game itself is quite down to earth, though. The premise is quite interesting. You're a 34 year old senior female military person, working for the Crayven Corporation. The Order is your enemy, and you fight them.

That's about all you know as you begin the game. You fight them because you're told to by the cold manager, Enrica Hayes who has no brains and couldn't care why you do what you do. When you get your mission briefings from Enrica, you then get to configure your units with whatever options are available, fill your drop ships, and land to attack.

The game works with individuals grouped together into set units. While a set of 4 tanks move together, a particular tank can get wounded and die. You can't tell a particular tank to go somewhere on its own, though. The unit moves together. This makes it easier to manage many missions, simply grabbing units and pointing them in directions.

The graphics are great! Ground Control has the move-anywhere view that Dark Reign 2 uses. Very intuitive and easy to use. Follow along with a unit, or get a birds-eye view of the great graphical combats. While my Athlon-750 often choked on some of the larger scale combats (boding poor results for slower machines), in general it whisked along at a good clip.

The landscape is fully three dimensional and fully rendered. Hide in the shadow of a cliff to get an ambush jump on your enemy. Sneak along under trees or overhangings to avoid being seen. Troops have options for weaponry and healing that can be customized. Troops can be carried in APCs to zip from location to location, and peel out quickly into whichever formation you specify.

The downsides on the game are the stuttering I mentioned before on heavy-graphic situations, and also the general situation you, Major Sarah Parker, find yourself in. While it's great that the lead player and her boss are both women, it's very, very annoying playing a game in which you watch your 'friends' shoot up hospitals, where you're berated by your commander and where no matter how quickly you get to someone, the program insists it's "too late" and you must watch the person die to further the plot. I have enough frustration in real life without playing a game in which the lead character is drinking after each mission, wondering why she even keeps fighting. Does that provide any incentive for the player to want to keep playing?

Also, most games of this style allow the player to choose amongst factions and decide which side to play. In this game it's very linear. Each mission is forced on you, and what you do in the mission is pre-set. While replaying the same mission 10 times might have them decide to attack from the NE or the SE randomly, they always attack, and then the same exact messages always appear, which you cannot click through.

If you enjoy strategy combat without building units or structures, and have a fast enough machine to handle this, Ground Control might be the perfect game for you!

I will never play earth 2150 again!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: December 01, 2000
Author: Amazon User

If you are like me and you love RTS games but you hate all the building and researching it takes to get decent units then this game is for you. In ground control you are given your units and given a task to complete. NO building, NO researching. Only combat. Of course as you go along you will earn bigger and better units, but the ones you start with are by no means flimsy. and I garauntee that the units you start with will be units you continue to use even at the end of the game. The little marine infantry units are actually WORTH SOMETHING...almost a first for RTS games. The graphics are fantastic (even without an expensive store-bought video card). And you can move the camera from a high altitude view for a better overall look....or you can get the camera literally 4 feet off the ground for "in the thick of it" viewing. If you like real time strategies....GET THIS GAME!!!

Ground Control is the best 3D RTS game of all time!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: May 15, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Last week I purchased the PC Gamer magazine (June '00) issue and in it it brought a CD with demos and it had a world exclusive of Ground Control! I was all hyped up and immediately left the bookstore after purchasing it and went home to play it! Once I got home, I played the demo for 2 hours straight! I still haven't beaten the demo because the third real mission is pretty tough. Anyway, I recommend that anyone who likes action purchase this game. It comes out on June 2! Don't be lead out onto not liking it because it's a 3d real-time-strategy(3D RTS). I don't care much about RTS but once I played this one, it blew me away! This is the incredible action-packed sci-fi 3D RTS game I have ever played and believe me, I have played hundreds of PC games and own alot of them too. You can bet that I'll buy it once it comes out! You definitely should too! You can see what you're missing by downloading the demo in massiveentertainment.com, or much easier, buy the PC Gamer June '00 issue in your local newstand and/or bookstore.

A few good features....

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: August 08, 2000
Author: Amazon User

A veteran of a number of these sorts of small unit tactics games, I have often complained about the grouping functions being exclusive. That is, you cannot group 'long range' in group 1, 'fast' in group 2 and 'stealthy' in group 3 if you have overlaps in the units between them. Ground Control gives you complete freedom to classify and group your units any way you like. I find that indispensable when facing the need to react quickly to any of several different threats. Group 'fast' units under hot key 1 and, for instance, when you come under fire from enemy artillery, you can press 1, click on the offending gun and then concentrate on moving the rest of your units out of the line of fire. Find yourself facing heavy armor in an ambush, press the hotkey you designated for 'kill the tanks', click-surround the target group, and move your more vulnerable units out of the way. The ability to have a unit in both groupings means not having artificial restrictions on the ability to react quickly. All by itself, this feature places GC above TA and C&C.

I find the graphics stunning, but I spent the bucks for a stellar graphics card, in software mode it's average to poor. I did run into an odd bug (not necessarliy GC's fault) that caused a system lock-up after mission 14, reloading the GC software and cleaning up my own PC with unInstaller fixed it (I never did identify the exact conflict and I have found no other players that had that problem - it's most likely my own machine).

I have not delved deeply into the authoring tools that came with the CD other than to download all of the updates from the vendor, but the ability to create maps, and more importantly, create interlinking maps as a campaign looks interesting. When I get tired of playing what came with the game I'll probably spend some time creating missions. I did not, however, see any sort of a unit editor. Perhaps that will be released at a later date.

If you like TA or C&C for the combat (not for the resource management) or if you are an afficianado of small unit tactics board games you will enjoy this. The interface is less click happy than most, scaling in and out of the battlefield POF is simple and intuitive. Commands are carried out with relative intelligence on the part of the ordered units. Things behave as you would expect them to.

The sad thing is...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 9
Date: January 21, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The sad thing about Ground Control is that it could have been great. The game in and of itself, though, isn't. Regardless of how beautifully the sprites are rendered, or how great the specular lighting is, the game at its core has to be what counts. Well, folks, there ain't much at the core of this game.

This is not to say the game is _all_ bad. The graphics, for example, are top notch. Take an artillery piece and force fire at the ground during a night mission. You will truly experience what graphics cards are for. The camera control is one of the easiest I've ever seen to negotiate. The sounds are good, too. The unit designs are just plain cool; works of art that someone put a lot of thought into. They look...just right: like the ships in Homeworld, they just look real. They impart a certain something into the game. These things I won't deny.

However, the game's "pro" list ends right there-if you take the outer panels of a BMW and strap them onto a Renault Dauphine, you may have an externally beautiful thing; nonetheless, the capacity to get past the driveway without stalling is somewhat more important.

Thankfully, I never had any of the stability problems others have reported with Ground Control. I never got the CTD or the lockups or any of that. Given that my computer runs only about half of the games out there, that isn't at all bad. If you have concerns about getting the game to run, discard them. It's what happens after the opening cutscene has cleared and the single player campaign has started that you realize what _exactly_ you've gotten yourself into.

The missions are one long, repetitive chain. Some of them are near impossible to beat, yes. I won't claim that this game is too easy, just that it isn't good. But, they're all the same. Kill all of the evil religious fanatics (which have been...er, tastefully portrayed as rather cruel and vicious looking, which is of potential concern to those who don't believe that religious folks are paranoid wackos) and either the mission ends at that or! You get to capture an alien artifact by: destroying it. 30 missions is really far to long for a game that could have compressed all of its actual substance into 4.

Some of the elements really aren't _so_ bad. For example, the musings of your character are fit to make you fall off your chair laughing. Listening to her as she whines at the end of EVERY SINGLE MISSION gets kinda annoying. The characters by themselves, of course, are so unlikable that I've destroyed my characters vehicle for fun. By which I mean, telling my heavy Main Battle Tanks to put holes in it. There also isn't a skirmish mode, which I personally don't like, and which _is_ a failing of the game, but not so much as to render it unplayable. The AI is stupid when it isn't impossible to beat; there isn't a middle ground. The manual talks a lot about using strategy and terrain, and high ground, and all of that. That's funny, in a way, since in Ground Control it doesn't work. If you try to use the terrain, you're setting yourself up for trouble, since the enemy doesn't and they make you realize why. Rommel or Napoleon couldn't use terrain to their advantage in this game, though they both were military geniuses. For example, in one mission I tried to shoot down at enemy troops in a valley/canyon style depression. Most of my shots missed; _they_ shot back up at me and took out two tanks before I pulled back. Oddly enough, I lost yet more tanks when I _joined_ them in the valley and we just fired at each other from a straight perspective. (Nuclear weapons are also 'fun'. The "very powerful" things that you have to be given special permission to use. Hah! A pathetic spritelike wisp floats up from the ground...And Suprise! that's it. I've wasted 6 bombs without destroying anything before. But I digress...)

The simple, un-escapable fact is that Ground Control just isn't fun. The missions are repetitive to the point of tedium and the fact that there's no in-game save feature means you have to play the whole [repetitively tedious] mission again if you fail it. Earth 2150 is a much better choice. The graphics and sound, for example, are roughly on par and the gameplay is captivating. You actually want to _finish_ the game. The missions are varied and refreshing, and you feel like you actually have control.

The fact that this game does not let you build your own units on the spot is a mixed blessing. Personally, I like being able to build units, but as my friend pointed out, its not really very realistic and tends to degenerate the game into tank rushes (Ground Control, by comparison, _doesn't_ allow unit construction and degenerates into tank rushes). The dropships you use give it a kind of neat "Starship Troopers" kind of feel. At the same time, though, I'm not entirely sure that 10-unit skirmishes really captures the FEEL of a major war where the objective truly is "Ground Control." There must be other commanders out there, waging war against the evils of...religion, but we don't see that. In fact, the entire operation seems to be based out of one ship, and to the best of my recollection the only other commander we see is Major Thomas, your Fun and Friendly crackpot who shoots at hospitals for fun and sounds like a bad John Wayne impression.

I personally would recommend against buying Ground Control. There are better ways to use that money. For example, putting it in a pile and burning it. It's certainly more fun and is liable to last longer than it takes to install, play, and then (inevitably) uninstall this game from your hard drive.

Actually that isn't quite fair. If you want a game that's pretty but has nothing to back it up, go for Ground Control. Make videos through a `TV out' port and send them to your friends. A lot of reviewers here give it a 5/5 or something close to that based on those graphics. Personally, the requisite for those stars is "how fun is it." Not graphics. So, a word of advice: don't expect to get more out of this game than good screenshots. And in all seriousness, Earth 2150 or even C&C: Red Alert is a much better buy.

Ground Control: Awesome

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: April 23, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I loved the demo. I just had to get the real game, so I ordered it off of AMAZON for "a good price". I was amazed. Alright, so it's the end of the third world war and their are two sides, the Crayven corporation and the Religious order of the "new dawn" (sounds like something out od Delta Force Landwarrior) You start by playing the Crayven people. You step into the shoes, or should I say boots of Major Sarah Parker. You get to read a biography about her in the manual. The Crayvens have "Terradynes" (basically a tank with treads) and "Aerodynes" (planes.) The new dawn people have "Hoverdynes" or hover tanks and Aerodynes. The briefings on my part are not so good however. Even if I have a 1.7 gig computer and 256 mb of RAM, the talking doesn't work. For example, I was listening to a briefing and when Parker spoke I heard "At all costs?, At all costs?, At all costs?, the lines seem to repeat themselves! Anyway, that's just a precaution, the rest of the game rocks. There is no resource gathering or building. You command customizable squads and everything is 3-d. You can zoom and rotate around your units. For 9 bucks, it's a great game! Buy it on AMAZON today!

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