Not every RTS gamer is a huge fan of unit caps, and C&C introduces a unit cap based on a command point system with each unit making up a certain amount of points. If you reach the limit then the ability to build new units is halted. Usually this would drive me up the wall, but due to the balancing and the way each unit compliments each other in combat, it makes the game incredibly fun. EA has stacked in a good assortment of units that are varied enough which makes tactical planning a pleasure rather than chore.

I mentioned there was no base building but that is not entirely true because, as the defensive class, there are rudimentary structures that can be built to help defend a location or objective such as gun and rocket turrets. The defense class armoured units are few and far between but the class features pretty powerful ground infantry units which can also be garrisoned into structures. Also, with the ability to move your MCV around the map, defensive locations can be picked out and built on assuming you can get a turret down within the control radius of the MCV and you have enough energy points. On occasions the AI would drive their MCV right next to mine and start pumping out units, because when the MCV is mobile it can still build units. When it's finally parked, all the units come flooding out which can make for some frantic moments.

Remember the good old days of some bastard attacking your Tiberium harvesters? Well thankfully those days are gone in C&C4. There is no resource collection. The game relies on the use of Command and Power Point caps to restrict the unit and structure building so resource collection is surplus to requirements. Hit these caps and you can't build any more units, they stay in the build queue until points are freed up.

With no resource collection and one structure that builds everything, the gameplay can come down to zone and neutral structure control, whether it be a building that can be garrisoned or a Tiberium Control Node. Controlling key locations on the map plays a part in the single player campaign but fortunately the campaigns don't rely on the player having to take control of key structures, most of the missions can be completed without capturing all these structures, unless they are part of the mission objective. Without base building the development team have had to create structures that can be captured or player controlled, otherwise the gameplay would have become stale very quickly and turned into unit vs unit battles.

There are key objects dotted around maps that can be collected, the most important being the red Tiberium crystals. These crystals give the player the ability to upgrade the MCV which then opens up higher tiered units on the tech tree and, although this is sort of resource collection, there is no need to rely on harvesting units, any unit can capture these crystals. It's not quite as simple as picking up loads of crystals to upgrade your technology quickly because EA has introduced an experience points system that stays with your player profile and is updated on the EA servers, storing this information as the player levels up. However, this feature can come at a rather annoying price.

During the review sessions over the past few weeks, and on a couple of occasions connection to EA's servers, game progress has been lost mid-mission. Now you would think that you could simply carry on the single player and forfeit your XP gain despite the loss of connection. Well think again. Some bright spark at EA thought it would be acceptable to disallow the completion of the mission. You can carry on with the mission but you cannot actually complete it; you have to do it all over again making sure your connection is restored to EA's servers before restarting. On one occasion I got so pissed off losing connection because I had to redo the same mission five times due to connection losses just to progress in the single player campaign. A sly piece of DRM?

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