Gameplay
Where’s Parker?
Ground Control’s sequel is based on the same universe as the first, but there is no Crayven Corporation, no Order of the New Dawn, and no Sarah Parker (although she is mentioned) this time round. You see, unlike most sequels that grace our screens GC2 slightly veers from the traditional path by removing the old empires you used to control in the original, thus going a long way to remove the “Oh look, it’s the same game but with better graphics” criticism almost entirely.
This time the game is focused around a planet called Morningstar Prime, which was colonised by the Crayven Corporation years ago. To cut a long story short the Crayven lost contact with the colony, and a war broke out between the remaining citizens and a invading empire thats attempting to fill the void left by the Crayven. This enemy is known as the Terran Empire (yes, not a very original name I know), whilst the good guys you play that are defending against this imperial force is called the Northern Star Alliance (NSA). Sadly, you cannot play the other side of the coin in this sequel as the Terrans, unlike last time where you could play either empires.
Old Favourites
Although a bit of a negative start to the review within only the second paragraph this I feel is a bit of a shot in the foot by the developers. You see, the Terrans have more than enough different unit types in the game, so even if the developers couldn’t create a valid Single player Campaign for the Terrans surely they could have allowed us to choose to play them in Multiplayer/Skirmish? Daft really, unless Massive Entainment are planning an expansion pack at a later date...
However there is another playable faction in GC2 to help soften this early negative blow, and they are called the Virons. This Alien race does add a bit of flavour to the battle between the human empires, so almost neutralising the disappointment of not being able to play as the villains. However I won’t spoil the game for you by telling you how the Virons are involved in the game.
While many hardcore GC fans will be disappointed that their old favourite empires won’t be present, I personally think it’s refreshing to learn to control two new forces. Plus it’s not as though things are THAT different if truth be known. The NSA is essentially the Crayven and the Terran Empire is basically the New Dawn. The similarities between units are so striking that I believe this will feel similar enough for die-hard fans.
Changes: For good or for worse?
Like most sequels, GC2 builds on the originals success in certain fields, whilst trying to remove those aspects that didn’t fair so well in turn.
Perhaps the biggest overall change to the game is how battles are fought. In GC2 you start the mission with a landing/drop zone. This zone is of vital importance, as it’s the only way you can call down units to fight in the battle. Using acquisition points you purchase the units you want and call them down using a drop ship. Over time you gain more acquisition points to get more troops. This is time consuming but you can get more acquisition points faster by taking over strategic locations across the map that are known as victory locations.
This is a fundamental change to Ground Control, as it bears a more striking resemblance to traditional RTS games that it supposedly turned its back on. Acquisition points are pretty much like credits and resources in other games. In the first GC things were different in that you selected which troops you wanted for the battle beforehand, and if you lost them all the game was over. In this sequel battles can last indefinitely, as long as you have enough acquisition points to call down and keep hold of a landing zone. Original fans will claim this is a bad move, because you don’t feel attached to the units you command. If they die in GC2 you just call down more units, whereas having a finite amount of troop’s means you are more cautious and you tend to think about your decisions. While I agree with that statement to some extent I believe this change actually makes the game more action packed and intense. You can take more high-risk gambles without losing outright, you can slowly wear away the enemy position with attrition, and you can now witness and take part in huge battles across the map. The original felt more like a small special elite commando unit going into battle, always unwilling to engage the big targets. Whereas this time you are now in charge of the full army on the front line! I prefer it, and I think people who turned their noses up at the last game will like it too.
Another positive change is the inclusion of secondary modes for all units. This is to replace the special equipment feature the last game had, which for me never worked very well. In the first GC you chose special weapons for your units before the battle, which you could choose to use via a special button once a unit was selected. However, in the heat of battle it was often difficult and time consuming to use, often meaning you lost your golden opportunity to benefit from it. In GC2 all units now have secondary modes that are simply toggled via one button. Equally these modes are extremely useful (as you find out when you reach further in the game) and often change the course of a battle. Secondary mode is a bit buggy mind you, as I noticed that when you select a secondary mode for some reason your current unit stops dead in its tracks, meaning you have to reissue a movement order if you already made one previously. This can be very annoying in the heat of battle, and will hopefully be fixed in a later patch.
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