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Generals 2

Blog: Why The Generals Series is Exceptional

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# 1DJ_Chill Jun 19 2012, 17:17 PM
The Generals series has always been very special to me, but not for some reasons which you may believe. I don't personally think it's the best game in the world, nor do I play it every day - in fact, I haven't played it for over 5 years! So why is this series so important to me? Well Generals was the first Real Time Strategy game that I ever played. Everyone's first video game has a special place in your heart, and being a 90's kid, Generals was mine. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what the game was, or even how to play it (which still remains the same now!) All I remember about the game is suicide bombing trucks and rocket launcher trucks, which I believe are called SCUD Launchers. So all in all, good memories!

I remember that day well. I was staying over at my best friend, whom I will call Barry (even though that is not his real name), at the time's house, we had just returned from the short walk to the local corner shop with our favourite delicacy, the 30 pence bag of "Bobby's Barbecue Sauce Potato Snax", which for some reason appeared to be exclusively sold at that store, a double finger "Twix" bar and an assorted bag of one penny sweets. It was our daily banquet, and a mighty fine banquet it was...

But more on food another time.

Down to Business


We got down to the business of playing a bit of football in the garden, before retiring to play some pre-dinner computer games. Settling down a little, we began to scan through the wallet of numerous CD's, for anything that interested us. Taking it in turns, we first played our favourite game at the time: "Railway Tycoon II" for several hours. The problem with Railway Tycoon II is that it is very repetitive and soon gets boring, and we'd played it numerous times beforehand. It was starting to get old and we were looking for a suitable replacement.

I returned to look through the CD wallet, to reassure myself that I hadn't missed anything. Then I saw it. Glimmering in the beams of sunlight from the nearby window, tempting me to move in closer for a better look. I took the plunge and moved closer to this mysterious gleaming object. As I moved closer, I could see that that this was indeed a game also. It was Generals! Cautiously, I reached out and picked up the information carrying drive, which would soon provide hours upon hours of pure enjoyment for myself. I entered the drive into the computer. Nothing. I was greeted with a blank screen, consisting of the default wallpaper of a red flower that Barry had at the time.

IPB Image
The infamous Windows XP wallpaper, that Barry had at the time (and still has today!)


"It must be broken" Barry said, in a slightly depressed tone. However I was determined not to give up on it! I persevered and on the second attempt at re-entering the CD into the computer, SUCCESS! The generals loading screen popped up onto the desktop, which initiated hours of enjoyment.

The Current Situation


Some of you will be asking if I've played Generals since that day. The answer is no. Generals holds a special spot in my heart, as my favourite Command and Conquer game of all time. I am afraid that if I go back to play the game again, I'll realise that it is not as good as I first imagined, ruining my thoughts about the game. It is and will always remain as a game that I played, enjoyed and won't go back to. So many people go back to play games they enjoyed as a child. They think it'll be amazing, but it ends up being a massive let down, as it's not as fantastic as you remember. I don't want to risk this happening.

IPB Image
Although it's a Zero Hour image, and I played the original Generals Game, this is still my favourite Generals based image ever. I don't know what's so epic about it but in my opinion, it just looks good.


So What About Generals 2?


As far as I'm concerned, Generals 2 is a totally different game, so is in a different ball park to the original Command and Conquer Generals games. So of course I'll play it, as long as it'll run on my computer. As any of you who have seen any of my Video Commentaries for Kane's Wrath will know, my computer is not the most powerful ever. So I'm hoping that this game won't be totally over-demanding on computers, which will allow me to enjoy what is probably the best series of games in possibly the best game genre ever.

So I haven't played Generals since that day as Barry's lost the Generals disc and has since un-installed the game from his vintage computer, but I couldn't be more excited for the release of Generals 2!

Let me know if you've enjoyed this blog, and as always, I'll see you on the battlefield, commander.



Author: DJ_Chill
DJ_Chill is an England-based editor for several GameReplays.org Command & Conquer Portals. When he's not keeping the content in check, he's conjuring up new ideas for features, and other weird and wonderful things.



This post has been edited by DJ_Chill: Jun 23 2012, 08:18 AM

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# 2gav73 Jun 19 2012, 17:49 PM
Good read Chill thanks!

How did you come away from CCG? I put the disk in for the first time, and despite several rage un-installs, i always come back smile.gif

So looking forward to CCG2, i'm going into it with an open mind, and i think all hardened CCG/ZH players should do the same. Let's just see what comes smile.gif

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# 3ScOtSmAn Jun 19 2012, 17:51 PM
That's not a ZH image tongue.gif someone's has just stuck "ZERO HOUR!" on it haha

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Clan: iWuB

Game: CNC Generals


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# 4DJ_Chill Jun 19 2012, 17:52 PM
QUOTE(gav73 @ Jun 19 2012, 18:49 PM) *

Good read Chill thanks!

How did you come away from CCG? I put the disk in for the first time, and despite several rage un-installs, i always come back smile.gif


Because I don't own the game, I played it on my friends PC. He lost the disc and uninstalled it, so I don't actually have a method of playing it. Which is good, because I don't want to ruin my childhood memories of this game.

QUOTE(gav73 @ Jun 19 2012, 18:49 PM) *

So looking forward to CCG2, i'm going into it with an open mind, and i think all hardened CCG/ZH players should do the same. Let's just see what comes smile.gif


Same here. I can't believe it's taking them as long as it is though.

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# 5DJ_Chill Jun 19 2012, 17:52 PM
QUOTE(Dovahkiin- @ Jun 19 2012, 18:51 PM) *

That's not a ZH image tongue.gif someone's has just stuck "ZERO HOUR!" on it haha


Hahaha. I never knew tongue.gif

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# 6lionengine Jun 20 2012, 01:20 AM
Generals is exceptional, because it is an awesome 3d-strategy game that is perfectly balanced and very well designed in aspect of graphics and different powers of armies.
After a loss u need to buy a new cd DJ_Chill. Playing CCG is best training for ccg2 smile.gif

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# 7Murder- Jun 20 2012, 07:07 AM
I can totally imagine your nostalgic feelings bro. Good read.

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# 8DJ_Chill Jun 20 2012, 17:12 PM
QUOTE(WoMaNiZeR^ @ Jun 20 2012, 08:07 AM) *

I can totally imagine your nostalgic feelings bro. Good read.


Thanks smile.gif

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Game: Red Alert 3


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# 9foofightersrule Jun 22 2012, 08:24 AM
QUOTE(DJ_Chill @ Jun 19 2012, 10:52 AM) *

Because I don't own the game, I played it on my friends PC. He lost the disc and uninstalled it, so I don't actually have a method of playing it. Which is good, because I don't want to ruin my childhood memories of this game.

Nooooo... that's bad!
You appreciate the nostalgia of the game but you're missing out on how awesome it is competitively! No reason why they have to be mutually exclusive. You can get the first decade for like $10. Do it! biggrin.gif

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# 10HiDrauLiCk`o Jun 23 2012, 13:55 PM
My english is getting better atm and i really enjoy to read this stuffs.
Good one tnx DJ

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# 11Edtjuh Jun 23 2012, 15:31 PM
Do you have a bigger picture of that CCG image?

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# 12saintgoten.th Jun 28 2012, 02:40 AM
I thought this post is called "Why the Generals series is exceptional" and not "the day I got Generals and fell in love with it"

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