Command & Conquer: Generals

Command and Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour is the expansion pack for the computer game Generals. It was released one year after the main game and is currently on version 1.04.

Zero Hour added several new abilities to each side, and a new mode of play called Generals' Challenge. In Generals' Challenge, the player takes on the identity of one of nine generals (three representing each faction) and does battle against some of the other generals in what effectively amounts to wargames, eventually confronting a powerful "boss" general.

Campaigns

Zero Hour also contains three new campaigns of five missions each, one for each side, with their chronological order being USA first, GLA second, and China last. Unlike the previous campaigns, which were noted by Command and Conquer fans for not having cinema sequences during mission briefing, the Zero Hour campaigns return to that Command and Conquer tradition, each showing a video of a reporter of the respective side giving details about the situation behind the current mission. The plot behind the Zero Hour campaigns picks up where it left off at the end of the previous campaigns.

USA

At the beginning of the USA campaign, the GLA launches a biological weapon using a refitted Soyuz launch vehicle from the captured Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at a USA military base located in Northern Europe. The United States retaliates quickly, destroying the launch platform, before the GLA can fire another missile. As the campaign continues, the United States learns that a GLA general codenamed "Dr. Thrax" has been developing a more lethal variety of anthrax known as "Anthrax Gamma". When the USA locates his base of operations, they discover that he is planning on launching several missiles loaded with this toxin at major population centers within the USA itself. A swift strike by the USA soon after succeeds in preventing this atrocity, and brings an end to "Dr. Thrax".

GLA

In the GLA campaign, the GLA, though disappointed by the death of Dr. Thrax, receives a boost in morale with the successful appointment of their new leader, General Mohmar "Deathstrike". The GLA first attempts to reunite its splintered factions under "Deathstrike's" command, which it succeeds in doing after eliminating the defector Prince Kassad's forces in Egypt, and then begins a fervent mission to drive the Americans from Europe. Despite their lack of technology, the GLA succeeds in inflicting tremendous harm against the USA, by capturing an American particle uplink cannon which they then use to destroy the USS Reagan (splitting her in half from port to starboard) and infiltrating the US West Coast to steal toxins from a chemical storage facility. This reaches its climax when the GLA easily overruns the USA’s European central command base located in Germany, partially with the use of captured Chinese weaponry. This disaster prompts the United States to suspend its military involvement with foreign countries and return to isolationism, withdrawing its forces from Europe in an effort to defend the homeland. The GLA's primary objective accomplished, they now begin to invade a vulnerable Europe.

China

In the China campaign, China sends its army into Europe to relieve the USA and gain revenge against the GLA for their humiliating use of China's own military hardware in the capture of the American military base. In order to prevent the GLA from making use of advanced USA weapons, China launches a nuclear missile at the military base, destroying it, and then sends its forces into Germany, where the GLA invaders are concentrated. Afterwards a GLA attempt to destroy a Chinese Nuclear reactor results in an emergency arrival of Helix helicopters. With the Helixes, the remaining Chinese rid the area of the GLA. After more devastating losses, the nearly defeated GLA takes control of an evacuated USA military base and uses its weaponry against the Chinese army. China succeeds in recapturing this base, and eliminating the GLA for good, rooting out their influence in Europe. With NATO now a political afterthought, the Chinese gain new respect in the eyes of the rest of the world, which now looks to them rather than the Americans for leadership, culminated in the formation of the new Eurasian Unity League. Indeed, it would seem that China will grow larger...but will this mean true world peace? General Mohmar "Deathstrike" was never found and brought to justice, nor was the US completely destroyed. It would seem that the war shall continue...

Generals' Challenge

In this separate campaign, players may opt to take on the identity of one of nine generals, with three representatives for each of the standard factions (USA, China, and GLA). Each general has a particular speciality, and units and abilities not available to the 'vanilla' version of his/her side. Once players have selected a general, they are required to play against some (but not all) of the others through a series of unique and specially designed maps. In each map, the opposing AI general already has a large, established base, but the player must start from scratch. These clashes are presented as wargames, with the computer-controlled generals often playfully bantering with the player. Once a certain number of generals have been defeated, the player must face the far tougher 'boss' general.

Online play

Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour includes online play through Gamespy, on Windows, or Gameranger on Macs. The two services are not compatible. For the former players must first create a free Gamespy account in-game. Once in the main online lobby, players can choose from a number of options, including Quick Match, where players can have themselves matched up with other players of similar skill for 1 vs 1 games, and Custom Game, where players can create their own games with the settings they want, and wait for other players to join them.

Custom games can have up to eight players playing in one online game. Performance may decline in games with large numbers of players, however, due to the computation, memory, and communication demands of larger games. It is to be noted, though, that the Zero Hour expansion has a noticeably more efficient engine than the original Generals, so games run more smoothly than compared to the original Generals. Lag and failed connections do, however, remain a problem online.

External links

Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Command & Conquer: Generals - Zero Hour

Campaigns

USA

GLA

China

Generals' Challenge

Online play

See also

External links