Ground Control 2: Operation Exodus Review

Product: Ground Control 2: Operation Exodus
Author: Weiye Zhou
Date Published: 07/30/04
MSRP: $50
Provided By: Vivendi Universal Games

If you thought all games in the RTS genre were about bad graphics, boring storylines, and time-consuming base-building, then Ground Control 2: Operation Exodus will surely change your mind! The game starts out with you taking the role of Jacob Angelus, a captain who's been transfered to help defend New Darwin, the planitary capital of Morningstar. This is the last planet held by the NSA and with the Terren Empire closing in for the victory, it's up to you to drive them out and protect your homeworld.

Included with the game are two tutorials. The first one teaches you basic controls and eventually you destroy a convoy that's passing by. Tutorial two introduces you to landing zones (LZ), victory points, and acquisition points (AP). There are numerous landing zones scattered throughout any map, the more LZ's you capture, the more places your can land your reinforcements. Reinforcements are brought to your LZ of choice (since only one can be used at any time) by a transport ship. You can upgrade the ship's armor, weapons (you can order the ship to stay and attack or defend until its fuel runs out), sensors, cargo capacity, speed, and fuel capacity. Once the ship has unloaded your reinforcements, it leaves the map and returns to the base. If you want more reinforcements, you have to wait until the ship returns to base, and then you can order which you units you want and click on the "deploy" button. Victory points are also scattered throughout the map, they represent strategic points of importance and the more you capture, the more AP you receive. AP is the currency of the game; they get used up when you order troops, tanks, aircraft, etc... You also recieve AP by destroying enemy units. By far the most interesting thing about this game is the absence of base building or resource gathering, vital components to any RTS game. The tutorials do a good job of introducing you to this "type" of RTS.

Here's a view of Ground Control 2's standard RTS user interface with an explosion for your viewing pleasure.

The game comes with 2 campaigns, 12 missions each. I immediately began the first campaign which continues the story from the tutorials. Like any campaign, I started out with access to only a few units, but the first mission was fairly easy. All I had to do was capture an LZ, a few victory points and eliminate all opposition while wading through an urban setting. While I was going through the mission I found out you can occupy just about anything, but what's more interesting is you can choose which side of the building to occupy. This really helps if you want to setup a ambush through a narrow path with building on either side. Another thing I found was your troops shoot by line of site, not like some RTS's that let you shoot through buildings. If there's a ridge or a hill in the way, you won't see anything until you get to it. This gives you more things to consider when elevation is one of the many factors. The game even factors in terrain. For example, if your troops go into a forest, they get an attack bonus, same thing happens when you have an elevation advantage.

Simply amazing water effects.

As I progressed through the mission, I was amazed at the graphics... Everything looked great, even at 1024x768. What really caught my eye was the water, it reflected everything perfectly and it actually looked like water. Now if that wasn't enough, you can change your perspective of the battlefield by clicking and holding on your middle mouse button and rotating it wherever you'd like, or as close as you'd like. You can even stare at the sky if you want (which also looks amazing)... Not that it would help you in a battle. It seems like they put a lot of work into every little detail.

Wow...

After that walk-in-the-park mission, I slowly advanced through the next missions. What I started noticing was the difficulty was increasing dramatically and the missions took much longer to complete. Sometimes it seemed like the missions were being dragged on purposefully. Then again, it's probably just my impatience. Finally, after what seemed like weeks, I finally beat the first campaign. All I have to say is the story was excellent, it really pulled me in and made me want to play more... even at 2AM in the morning. The story gets even more interesting when the Virons get into the mix, but I'd prefer not to spoil it for you. On the otherside, what really annoyed me were the unit responses. Some of them were outright annoying, especially Sergeant Rho, I just want to give him a few whacks. They should've put a little more variety.

After completing the first campaign and most of the second one, I decided to do a few skirmishes against the AI. So, I start out the game with nothing but an LZ and 7000 AP. First thing I do is order in some units, they come and I take the closest victory point. No problem, I take another victory point and LZ. Maybe the AI is in an infinite loop? WRONG! After capturing the second LZ, they AI decided to mass attack me in a very unpleasant way. They then took both the victory point and LZ I had just captured and proceeded to rape me for the rest of the game. Right, I guess the AI isn't that bad. I did a few more skirmishes and observed the AI using very effective tactics. Now, micromanagement isn't really my thing, but it would really help if you want to play against the AI or online.

Nice names don't you think?

Multiplayer is basically the same thing as playing against the AI; you start out with one LZ (shared with your teammates if you have any) and lots of AP. The online function in GC2 is controlled through the "Massgate". After clicking on it for the first time, it verified my CD-Key and asked me to create a new account so I could login and play. I found the multiplayer interface easy to understand and even easier to use. Finding a game is as simple as clicking on the big "Games" tab at the top of the screen. After doing so, I was given a list of all the available games, most of which were hosted by Vivendi Universal Games. I decided to join an eight player game. After waiting for everyone else to join, it turned out to be a 4v4 game on MP02 - Cromwell Stone. What's interesting is everyone on my team started out sharing the only LZ we had. Initially, it was very crowded, but as we got more LZ's, it wasn't so bad. Evidently, I didn't have a very deep understanding of the game and my "teammates" ended up scorning me the entire time. Even after that little adventure, I still enjoyed playing GC2 online with it's user base of 30 or so players. Over time you'll get to know them VERY well.

The multiplayer interface in all it's glory.

This being my first time playing a game from the Ground Control series, I found it to be very unique. I expected lots of base building and resource gathering like in every other RTS, but I was very surprised when I found out there was none. GC2 focuses mainly on strategy and using anomalies on the map to your advantage. The tutorials did an excellent job of teaching me the basics of the game and provided me with some action. Now the single player missions are a whole different thing. I mean, the first missions are easy, but after that, they get very brutal and time consuming. But, they also do a good job of slowly introducing me to every unit in the game and showing me basic tactics. My multiplayer experience was a positive one; playing with a small community definitely has its advantages. In general, I enjoyed playing GC2 online, although I usually end up loosing (It's always fun annoying your opponent(s)). Then again, if I ever wanted to practice, the AI is always waiting to rape me! Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed playing GC2. It's a very unique game that any RTS fan should try out. Finally, I'd like to extend my thanks to Vivendi Universal Games for providing me with this great game to review, thank you!

Pro's
Tons of strategy
Excellent storyline
Amazing graphics
Fun online play
Smart AI
Helpful tutorials

Con's
Annoying unit responses
Brutal single player missions